THE COTTAGE. 143 



lated by the habits formed by the younger men during 

 service in the Army. The " parlour " question also was 

 discussed. On the one hand, it was urged that if it were 

 provided it was not really used, except on rare occasions, 

 and that extra space in the living-room, scullery and pantry 

 was preferable. On the other hand, it was objected that 

 farm workers were as much entitled to the amenities of life 

 as other classes and, as one speaker put it, the parlour 

 could be used for study or for " spooning " by the young 

 folks. 



In October, 1919, an address was to have been delivered 

 by Mr. E. R. Forber, Assistant Secretary in the Housing 

 Department of the Ministry of Health, but he was prevented 

 at the last moment by official duties. Under these circum- 

 stances the subject was submitted from the Chair for 

 discussion, and Mr. H. R. Aldridge, a well-known authority 

 on the subject, who was fortunately present as a visitor, 

 gave, on the spur of the moment, an interesting address. 

 In the course of his remarks he appealed to all interested in 

 Agriculture to set their faces against the lowering of the 

 standard of building. He advised them to be wary as 

 to wooden buildings. Some figures recently produced as 

 regards wooden buildings were hopelessly absurd. He hoped 

 they would bring common sense to bear on the subject and 

 not depart lightly from the old traditions. There was one 

 material present almost everywhere, that was earth for good 

 bricks. They should as far as possible use brick and stone, 

 as most easily available. 



Cottages should have three bedrooms, if not four, and a 

 parlour. They should build houses of which to be proud. 

 The Government was committed to a high standard and 

 they could rest content if the local authorities put up houses 

 of the types shown in the Ministry of Health manual. They 

 must not have a merely standardised cottage ; they must 

 make the villages beautiful and not ugly, and that would 

 necessitate planning, grouping cottages round the village 

 green, etc. It meant using the brains of architects. 

 Housing architecture was not an engineering problem, and 

 anything like the bad specimens of arrangement and type 



