COTTAGE GARDENS ASSOCIATION. 521 



I would here ask you momentarily to contrast the 

 moral influences likely to ensue from a recreation such as 

 this, with those engendered by the too common practice of 

 the cottager in separating himself from his family when his 

 work is over, and resorting to the unhealthy atmosphere of 

 a taproom and its surroundings. Once there, he too 

 often spends his hard-earned wages in drinking and 

 smoking to an extent which is both extravagant and harm- 

 ful, and to which he is often stimulated by conversations 

 and amusements which are the reverse of healthful. Do 

 not, however, let it be supposed that I am passing an 

 unqualified condemnation on these luxuries and amuse- 

 ments ; it is the abuse of them only that I would condemn. 

 Let the cottager smoke his pipe, quaff his ale, and chat 

 with his neighbours if so inclined in his garden plot and 

 elsewhere. Labour creates thirst, physical exertion needs 

 rest, and happy the man who can be content to assuage the 

 one and enjoy the other under the healthy conditions of 

 his own home or garden. Here, as in the ale-house, he 

 may come in contact with men of his own age, men of the 

 same mental calibre and social status, seeking one common 

 aim, while his energies are aroused by the desire to do as 

 well or better than his compeers, and as this is a kind of 

 labour which naturally leads to healthy thinking while 

 working, his whole nature is likely to be improved by the 

 trains of thought awakened. 



As a means of SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT with the 

 humbler classes, cottage gardening must, I think, stand 

 in the very front rank of accessory measures. It is the 

 least selfish of social pleasures. It is at once social and 

 profitable. A man's wife and children can help in the 

 work, and while doing so look forward to share the 

 pleasures and substantial benefits of it day by day. 

 While he engages in digging and planting, they may 

 perform the lighter work. Can there be a pleasanter 

 sight than that of a cottager in his garden surrounded 

 with his children digging and sowing in spring, watering 



