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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



persons to have too much laud. He bad seen instances 

 in which shoemakers, tailors, &c., had neglected their 

 regular work in consequence of having to cultivate a 

 large garden ; and the result was that they suffered both 

 ways — they lost their customers, and they were unable 

 to pay their rent. Another and a most grievous evil 

 was, that in many parishes — he believed in all the 

 parishes in his own district — a considerable number of 

 persons cultivated their allotments on Sunday. He had 

 been exceedingly pained at witnessing this desecration. 

 Notwithstanding his opinion as to the ability of labourers 

 generally !o work for an hour or two for themselves in 

 the evening, he thought nothing could be more desirable 

 for the human frame than a Sabbath of quiet, and of 

 perfect freedom from physical labour. " Godliness" 

 was " profitable for all things," and nothing was more 

 beneficial to man than the Sabbath day's rest : that rest 

 was essential in order that the labour of the six clays 

 might be carried on successfully. He would sum up his 

 remarks on this point by suggesting that, in letting 

 allotments, it should always be made a condition that no 

 labour should be performed on Sunday, and that who- 

 ever was found spending any portion of that day ia 

 working on his land should forfeit his allotment. 



Mr. Meg HI : What county is yours ? 



Dr. Ellis : Surrey. 



Mr. Mechi: What you speak of is never done in 

 Essex ( Hear, hear). 



Dr. Ellis said a question might be raised with re- 

 gard to the impossibility in some districts of obtaining 

 allotments, whether there should be an Act of Parliament 

 to meet such cases, or whether they should trust to the 

 diffusion of a feeling in the public mind which would 

 render land always available for this purpose. There 

 were parishes in which landowners would not allow their 

 land to be " cut about," as they expressed it, and there 

 were other obstacles of the same kind. He considered 

 it a great pity that the labourer did not in all cases live 

 in some degree by the cultivation of the soil ; and he 

 thought it very desirable that such persons should be 

 able to feel that they had a piece of land which was their 

 own— at all events as tenants-at-will — for the occupa- 

 tion of their spare hours in labour. 



Mr. S. Sidney (Peckham) said, being a close 

 observer of the allotment system, though not a farmer, 

 he had listened to the remarks of gentlemen who were 

 practically engaged in agriculture with deep interest. 

 The allotment question had undoubtedly made very 

 great progress since it was first agitated by the poet 

 Southey, and he was glad that evening to find 

 gentlemen representing different parts of the 

 country concurring in a few leading principles. 

 In the first place, all the gentlemen who had spoken 

 were agreed that it was a good thing for the labourer to 

 have a piece of land where he might amuse himself in 

 the evening, and where he might invest the spare capital 

 and labour of himself and his family ; and secondly, 

 that it was important that this land should be as near as 

 possible to the labourer's dwelling. Although Mr. Tre- 

 thewy thought that the labourer might in some cases do 

 Tery well with land at a distance, he evidently regarded 



such a state of things as exceptional, and would prefer 

 the rood of land being always attached to the cottage 

 (Hear, hear). No farmer would like his farm to be a 

 mile from his own residence : and it was exceedingly 

 desirable that as little as possible of the labourer's time 

 and strength should be wasted in going to and from the 

 allotment. He could not help remarking that, however 

 they might pity them, they had no right to speak harshly 

 of those labourers who frequented places of amusement. 

 They all frequented such places themselves, most of 

 them having a great many sources of amuse- 

 ment ; and it should be borne in mind that it was only 

 within the last few years that any earnest endeavours had 

 been made to provide labourers with substitutes for the 

 public-house (Hear, hear). He was glad to see a gene- 

 ral agreement as to the limitation of the quantity of land 

 to be cultivated by the labourers. It was clear that no 

 man could follow two pursuits with advantage. No 

 man could labour much for himself and labour for hire 

 at the same time. If he had the spirit and ability which 

 raised him above labour for hire, he would naturally 

 seek some other employment ; but such cases were rare, 

 and care should always be taken that the occupations of 

 farmer and labourer did not interfere with each other. 

 Another point on which he was glad to find general 

 agreement was this — that the working of the allotment 

 system should not be chained down by a number of regu- 

 lations (Hear, hear). In the original plans of allotment, 

 the labourer was treated altogether like a child. Just as 

 a child was dressed and washed, and told where he might 

 go, and what he might do ; so the agricultural labourer 

 was formerly treated ; in a manner different from any 

 other labourer, and not allowed to think for himself. 

 He was very glad to hear Mr. Trethewy, and others who 

 followed him, advocating the leaving the labourer at 

 liberty to crop as he pleased. The labourer must, like 

 others, be allowed to gain experience and acquire intelli- 

 gence by his own efforts. With regard to the observa- 

 tions of Dr. Ellis and others, as to the working of 

 labourers on Sunday, he thought it would gene- 

 rally be found that labourers worked on Sun- 

 day where they had before them the example 

 of the rich playing on Sunday. Dr. Ellis resided, 

 he believed, in the neighbourhood of Richmond, and a 

 great many rich people spent a portion of their time 

 occasionally on Sunday in dining at the Star and Garter, 

 and in drinking, and other pursuits which were certainly 

 not of a pious character (Hear, hear). He had observed 

 that in every parish labourers were very much influenced 

 by the example of those who were above them in social 

 position. There was one part of Mr. Trethewy's ex- 

 cellent iutroductiou which was especially valuable ; he 

 referred to the table, giving a statistical epitome of the 

 progress made during the last few years. lie agreed 

 with Mr. Trethewy that the improvement which had 

 taken place in the condition of the labouring poor was 

 attributable in a great degree to the operation of the new 

 poor-law. Not that the poor-law had done anything 

 directly for the labourer, but it had placed him in a 

 better position for doing something to improve his own 

 condition. Moreover, if they looked at the legislation 



