568 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XLV. 



labourer, and faring perhaps little better, yet were distinguished by their 

 honest manliness of character and devoted attachment to the laws and 

 constitution of the country. They felt, indeed, a certain degree of inde- 

 pendence which raised them to respectability, and they formed a connecting 

 link between the wealthy farmer and the mere peasant, which the latter 

 might hope with good conduct to attain ; but from which prospect he has 

 been latterly altogether excluded. AVe fear, however, that it will be long 

 ere it can be accomplished, for tliere is an evident jealousy on the part of 

 the farmers in recjard to the plan, as dreading that it will render their ser- 

 vants saucy and disobedient; and even were these impediments surmounted, 

 it will require long experience of the character of the labourer before he 

 may be safely intrusted with the means of independence*. We, therefore, 

 think a quarter of an acre should be the utmost quantity allotted to any one 

 labourer, as that, if well managed, will fully occupy his leisure time, toge- 

 ther with that of his familyf. 



SPADE HUSBANDRY. 



It will be at once perceived that the smallness of these allotments must 

 confine them to cultivation with the spade ; the comparative advantage of 

 which mode of husbandry, and that by the plough, has excited considerable 

 attention since the pressure of population against the means of subsistence 

 lias called for the increased employment of the people. Whatever may be 

 the supposed superiority of the spade, it has been generally abandoned to 

 the use of the plough, as a much greater quantity of land can be tilled in a 

 given space of time by the aid of animal labour ; without which corn could 

 not be grown in amount equal to the supply of that portion of the commu- 

 nity which is not engaged in agriculture. The benefits which have been 

 derived in some parts of England from small portions of land being granted 

 to labourers, together with the example instanced in Holland, might indeed, 

 at first sight, appear to countenance the plan of rendering them by such 

 means entirely dependent for their support ; as exemplified by the cottier 

 system adopted for the greater portion of the peasantry of Ireland. It is 



* In the Third Report of the Emifrration Committee, published by Ihe House of 

 Commons, an estimate is stated of the expense attendant upon the location of a familj', 

 consisting of a man, his wife, and three children, upon waste land, fit for cultivation^ in 

 any part of the United Kingdom : — 



Transport of the family — say, on an average, 50 miles — 

 to their location ...... 



Implements ........ 



Household furniture ...... 



Cottage, cow-shed, and pig-stye .... 



Potatdcs and seed ....... 



Provisions fur one year ...... 



Cow, pig, and poultry ...... 



Proportion of the cobt of superintendence . 



£75 



And it is calculated that, by the produce of four acres cultivated by the spade, " the 

 family may maintain themselves, and dispose of produce to the amount of 21A or 22/. 

 per annum, after paying 8/. yearly rent." p. 363. From the statements preceding the 

 estimate, it however appears that these profits are only expected to arise afier a lapse of 

 seven years: if realized at all we apprehend it would not require so much time ; but we 

 consider 100/. to be nearer the mark than /.'i/. for the realization of the plan. 



t See the publications of the Labourer's Friend Society; and those of Jacob, " On the 

 Cultivation of P(ior Soils :" Rowland Hill, " On the gradual Extinction of Pauperism:" 

 Demainbray, "The Poor Man's Best Friend:" Withers, " Facts, addressed to the Far- 

 mers of North Hampshire :"' Pollen, and a Letter addressed to the Right Hon, Sturges 

 Bourne, « On Spade Cultivation." 



