THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



501 



the allotment system beyond its legitimate bounds would 

 have the effect of completely changing its character, and 

 turning that which was intended to be an auxiliary into 

 a leading pursuit. 



Mr. Bennett (of Cambridge) said it would have besn 

 far more agreeable to him to have sat aud beard the sen- 

 timents of his friends arouud him iipou this interesting sub- 

 ject rather than obtrude his own at so early a part of the dis- 

 cussion. He would not, however, shriiik from taking his part 

 on a subject in which he had for many years of hia life felt a 

 very lively interest. Fi-st ot aH, he must beg permission to 

 tender his best thanks to Mr. Trethewy for having 'called at- 

 tention to a subject of great importance to the labouring 

 classes, aud more or less so to the community at large. He 

 felt the obligation the greater to that gcutlsraan, because 

 he very properly directed attention to the abuses as well as 

 the usefulness of the cottage allotment systom. (Cheers). 

 For himself he thought he could more usefully follow in the 

 discussion, by giving somewhat greater prominence to what 

 may be regarded as some of the leading abuses of this other- 

 wise very beneficial practice. First and foremost of its evils 

 was the allotting unsuitable land, and often at a very incoQ- 

 venient distance from the dwellings of the labourers. (Cheers). 

 To allot from a rood to half an acre of poor claj- land to a 

 labourer, and that sometimes from half-a-mile to a mile from 

 his cottage, so far from benefiting hira, they did him a great 

 disservice. In such cases they adde J much to the toil of the 

 poor body, and harassed his mind without the remotest chance 

 of doing him good. lam aware (continued Mr. B.) that good 

 strong land will often yield a greater crop than a lighter soil ; 

 but in thit case it must first be well-draired ; and moat of all 

 as contiguous to his home as possible : otherwise the result 

 can only be great improvement to the land, and increased 

 poverty aud discomfiture to the labourer. (Cheers). The 

 rent the labourer pays must not be left out of consideration. 

 He had known land let out to labourers at such prices as pre- 

 cluded all hope of the occupier deriving the least profit — poor 

 wretched glebe land, for instance, let at double its value, and 

 irrespective of its distance from the dwellings of the labourers. 

 In such cases there was ao wonder that the result should be 

 anything than beneficial. The quantity of land granted 

 was also sometimes more than could ' be well managed, 

 offering a temptation to the labourer to apply him- 

 self at his allotment when he should be rendering 

 service to his master. Those were some among the many 

 abuses of the allotment system ; and he thought Mr. Tre- 

 thewy would agree with him (cries of Hear, hear, from that 

 gentleman). In the teeth of all those abuses, which in 

 many cases had been but too manifest, he (Mr. Bennett) 

 was fully of opinion that the good results to the labourers, 

 where skilfully managed, far more than counterbalanced all 

 the evils incident thereto. In some parts of the kingdom 

 they were justly regarded as a great boon to ttie labourer, 

 making a nice addition to his wages, and greatly adding to 

 his comfort ; and perhaps nowhere more so than on the 

 estate of the Right Hon. Earl de Grey, so skilfully watched 

 over as it was by the gentleman who had so ably brought this 

 subject before the attention of the club (cheers). That 

 there had been great improvement in the condition of the 

 British laboiu-er within the last quarter of a century must be 

 evident to every observant agriculturist. That the establish- 

 ment of cottage allotments, however, must not have the en- 

 tire credit of this improvement he was free to admit. The 

 improved poor-laws had done even more. On the old 

 system (which offered a sort of bounty on improvidence), 

 they could do nothing effectively in that way. They re- 



garded the overseer as their national parent, and flew to 

 him on every emergency, and often from one year's end to 

 the other. But recently the law had taught a man that liis 

 first dependence must be on his own exertions, and on tlie 

 overseer only when all other means fail. Good cottage 

 allotments were now properly prized and sought after, and 

 had already very materially aided the honest and industrious 

 labourer ; and if wisely and prudently managed, were destined 

 to be of far higher service to the entire rural population: 

 f )r it was a fact patent to all, that if a man possessed but the 

 smallest portion of property, so that he bad something he 

 coiilJ call his own, they gave him a sortof stake, and attached 

 liimraoreor less to the common weal of his country. He (Mr. 

 Bennett) thought, therefore, that every true patriot should 

 lend his willing aid to carrj'' out in the most efficient manner 

 this highly beneficial system (cheers). 



Mr. Alderman Mechi entirely concurred in the ad- 

 miration expressed by Mr. Bennett of the manner in 

 which Mr. Trethewy had introduced the subject. He, 

 for one, went very much with that gentleman in his con- 

 clusions ; but there were some points on which he differed 

 from him. He thought that every farm should, if pos- 

 sible, have a sufficient number of cottages for the 

 labourers employed upon it (Hear, hear). He was also 

 of opinion that the cottages should invariably have at- 

 tached to thom such a portion of land as the labourer 

 could conveniently cultivate (Hear, hear). He agreed 

 with Mr. Trethewy that an eighth of an acre, or a little 

 more, was generally quite enough. He did not concur 

 with him, however, that a cottage garden so situated 

 would not possess the same advantages of comparison 

 as an allotment, because there would be other cottages 

 and other cottage-gardens on the same property, 

 or in the neighbourhood. They all knew that 

 labourers mixed together, and they might just 

 as easily observe the difference between good fenc- 

 ing and trimming and bad fencing and trimming in 

 their gardens as the farmers could make such compari- 

 sons on their farms ; that might be done just as well 

 from cottage to cottage, and from garden to garden, as 

 from one allotment to another. The aggregation of 

 cottages without gardens was a disgrace to past manage- 

 ment. The horrid system of getting rid of labourers by 

 driving them to another parish had placed such persons 

 to a very great extent at the mercy of itinerant builders, 

 who raise dwellings for them as close together 

 as possible, and took care that there was very 

 little land attached to them (Hear, hear). He 

 hoped that a better feeling was now abroad 

 among both landlords and tenants in reference to 

 this question ; he hoped they had now begun to fed 

 that it was as necessary to have labourers near their 

 work as it was to have horses near their work. (Hear, 

 hear.) In his own neighbourhood, he might remark in 

 passing, a practical farmer was now building three cot- 

 tages near his farm, for the occupation of some of his 

 labourers. If a labouring man had to walk two or three 

 miles in the morning before he could begin his work, 

 and two or three miles on his way home when the work 

 was over, his labour must be proportionately less valu- 

 able to his employer. It was clear that you could only 

 have a certain amount of physical power out of a man, 



