HOUSES AND GARDENS 



give ample space for cooking-utensils. In the centre of the brick floor 

 stands the table of scrubbed deal, while the settle, the dresser with its array 

 of homely china, and the sturdy Windsor chairs complete the furnishing of 

 a room, which, instead of the heartless and brutal utilities of the model 

 dwelling, would seem to minister to something more than mere material needs. 



In the scullery, besides the boiler, there is a small fireplace, which is always 

 a welcome adjunct to the cottage household. It is here that in sultry 

 summer weather the simple cooking, which in such a season is all that is 

 required, is effected without lighting the kitchen range. 



The little square court set in patterns of cobble-stones crossed by paved 

 ways is common to both cottages, and this merging of garden paths and 

 garden gates simplifies the approach and obviates the competing duplication 

 of these features. 



On the south side, however, the gardens are completely separated by a 

 dividing hedge. The actual extent of the garden should be such as to 

 amply provide the family at least with all the vegetables it requires, if not 

 fruit, while its borders would also be set with all the old-fashioned cottage 

 flowers. Such accommodation as is provided here should not be too much 

 for the average cottager to expect. It is difficult accurately to estimate the 

 cost, but in most districts this pair of cottages should be built for from 

 ^400 to 500. 



It is impossible entirely to sympathise with the earnest desire of the 

 modern philanthropist for the cheapest possible kind of country cottage, or 

 to object entirely to restrictive by-laws in so far at least as they prevent the 

 wholesale use of galvanised iron in country dwellings. 



It is true that cottages constructed of wood might reasonably be erected 

 in many cases with roofs of pantile, but it should not be forgotten that 

 while the temporary building is cheaper in its cost, its shorter life and need 

 for constant repairs makes its eventually more costly than the permanent 

 building. Temporary building may possibly enrich the fathers, it will 

 surely impoverish the sons, and the only possible excuse for temporary 

 structures is that they are only built for temporary purposes. One cannot 

 but deplore modern commercial conditions, which seem to make mean 

 dwellings inevitable, and the work expended in building the cottage, so 

 grudgingly bestowed by a contractor and workmen, who will do no more 

 than is in the bond, and not so much in many cases. Under the more 

 human conditions of rural England in the past, cottage building was done 

 in a different spirit. One may suppose that a man then, who needed a 

 dwelling for his family, would call together his neighbours and friends, each 

 of whom would contribute their share of labour. All would be imbued 

 with the primary idea of making a comely little dwelling. This would be 

 the first consideration, and however important the financial side of the 

 question, it would still be secondary. And this is the rule in all good work 

 a rule which cannot be too often insisted on. A man working in such a 

 spirit would be ashamed to stint his work, when, by perhaps a few hours 

 more labour he could do it well. It has been truly said that a thing of 



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