CO-OPERATIOx\ IN FARMING. 255 



lord and of the ^ame sum by my wife, who ever took 

 the greatest personal interest in the well-being of the 

 wives and children of the men, and I then distributed 

 the amount in prizes for their produce. The specimens 

 of their vegetables were splendid, and my labourers 

 were generally most successful at the Horticultural 

 Society's Show in the town. With little expense nearly 

 every farmer throughout England, if he will only take 

 the trouble, might benefit in the same way the men he 

 employs on the land, and endear them to the soil they 

 are helping to cultivate by giving them an interest in 

 part of it ; the only essential is that, where this plan 

 is carried out, the gardens should be as near as possible 

 to the homestead, as the men after a hard day's work, 

 naturally, do not like to walk a mile there and back to 

 their allotment ground, and they should, besides, have 

 every opportunity of getting manure easily. I set apart 

 four acres out of 200 for this purpose, and I never 

 regretted it, and felt sure it benefited me as much as 

 the men, as they were always fresh to their work, 

 and were certain to be on the spot whenever they were 

 wanted. 



In co-operation I found another feature in which the 

 lot of the agricultural labourer could be largely amelior- 

 ated, and be made of immense service to his employer 

 at but little expense. My purpose was to encourage 

 the men to do their best with the machinery I purchased 

 and employed on the farm. When 1 first became con- 

 vinced that steam culture was im fait accompli, I went 

 to Mr. Howard's, of Bedford, and bought my own set 

 of steam-tackle, the system of Smith, of Wolstone ; my 



