TO HIS GARDENER 29 



things and advance by degrees while he . lives or while he 

 inclines to be doing any thing himself, tho^ehe should not take 

 your advice in every thing, and when I see you next I shall 

 possibly propose to you what may make you incline to reside 

 there and do my business and push your own on strongly at 

 the same time, for my chief view in the many advices I give 

 to people at Orm: is to advance their own thriving. Tho' 

 sometimes all I can write or say is little regarded, I need not 

 tell you this is designed for yourself only. This was begun 

 on Saturday. Tell Brodies friends he sets out to-morrow. I 

 have written again and again to advise them to stock him well 

 with good well seasoned timber, without which he can''t make 

 good work, and he will get a bad character at first setting out. 

 Their not doing this cleverly will lose him much of the 

 advantage of what he has learned. There is as I am writing, 

 a Gardiner who has ten acres of Garden Ground at the lower 

 end of this Town, with his Cart at my door with all sorts of 

 Garden stuff. I talked to him just now. There are also a 

 great many who bring every day from London to my door. 

 Young Beans and Pease are 6d. pr. peck, fine Colly flowers at 

 3d. a piece. Cabbages at 2cl., Goss^ Letuces at Id a piece. 

 The Garden here pays 40 Sh: pr. Acre rent, which you know 

 is at the rate of 50 Sh: for our Acre. He pays the tenth to 

 the Parson, high parish and Road taxes, 6 Sh: for every load 

 of dung, 18d. a day to every labourer. I need not mention 

 his other charges he is at more than with us, and I assure you 

 his soil far from being so good, and he buys or carries in a 

 cart, every drop of Water he uses. The failure must be in our 

 peoples working, diligence care or some other neglect, other- 

 wise a Gardiner with us could afford things for half price, and 

 get as great or more profit as this one does, for every thing 

 costs him more than double. This seems a demonstration to 

 me, but I will men tain no argument to which a good answer 

 can be given, tho' till I get one, I shall ascribe our not 

 succeeding in many things as I think we may, to our inactivity 

 and slow thinking and acting, in both which our people proceed 

 as half asleep without any lively spirit in contriving or 



^ Goss, probably for gross"= large. 



