380 On Public Institutions /o7' the 



Dismissino^ then from our consideration the above, as an ex- 

 ample, perhaps likely in ordinary cases to mislead rather than to 

 instruct, I will briefly point out, what I consider to be the merits, 

 and what the defects, of those other arrangements which I have 

 explained. 



Now, in the first place, without entering into the general 

 C{uestion as to the comparative advantages and disadvantages of 

 large as contrasted with small farms, a subject which I may per- 

 haps discuss on a future occasion, certain circumstances may, I 

 conceive, be hinted at, which will assist in explaining the apparent 

 success which Mrs. Gilbert attributes to her plan of allotments, 

 without affording countenance to the introduction of the Irish cot- 

 tier system into British husbandry. 



Where the quantities of land let out to a cottager are no more 

 than what he and his family can cultivate in their leisure hours, 

 without depriving the farmer of any portion of those services for 

 which he has contracted, it is plain that whatever produce has 

 been reared upon his private ground must be so much clear gain 

 to the nation, and contribute at once to the comforts and to the 

 independence of the labourer. It is also generally admitted that 

 spade -husbandry yields of all others the greatest return : and even 

 conceding, what some respectable authorities are disposed to ques- 

 tion, and which the success of the Belgian practice of farming 

 may seem to controvert, that the additional produce gained will 

 not compensate for the increased outlay; and that the plough 

 is to the spade in husbandry what machinery is to manual labour 

 in the arts, enabling us to complete the same work, if not so 

 well, at least in a far shorter time ; — admitting all this, I say, 

 still, in those small plots of ground, to which alone the poor man 

 is competent to attend, there are many circumstances which render 

 the plough less applicable than it would be on a farm of larger 

 extent. That for such small portions of land the cottager can 

 afford to pay a higher rent in proportion, than the farmer can 

 do for a larger tract, is consistent, I believe, with general expe- 

 rience, and perhaps admits of explanation from the following 

 considerations. 



The most important, perhaps, of these is the care with which 

 every portion of animal manure produced upon the premises is 

 taken ad\antage of. I have already mentioned the tanks for 

 containing the liquid portion attached to each cottage, and like- 

 wise the means by which the solid matters of all descriptions that 

 can contribute to the same result are treasured up and preserved. 

 Here at least the exertions of Mrs. Gilbert have been pro- 

 ductive of unmixed good ; and it is easy to understand, that these 

 cxcrementitious matters may be at once more abundant in pro- 

 portion to the extent of land to which they are added, and may be 



