1843. 
THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 
397 
by showing him how to inerease his produce from year to 
year, and thus expedite, more perhaps than by any other 
proceeding, the return to Agricultural prosperity gene- 
rally. Whilst it would proportionately benefit the’coun- 
try by the increase of produce of its own soil, and 
practically refute the taunting argument that ‘the land 
eannot feed the population.”—J. Prideauz, (Eatracted 
From the Plymouth Herald.) 
Agricultural Labourers.—[The following is the con- 
clusion of Mr. Lawrence’s Pamphlet, from p. 343.] 
“* General Directions.—1 must now give you a few 
general directions. Be very particular in keeping your 
garden free from weeds; do not put off hoeing till weeds 
ecome a crop, for then rain may come, and you cannot 
get rid of them. When the weather is dry, hoe as often 
a8 any weeds appear above ground ; you can go over the 
whole of your garden in avery short time in this way, and 
you will find, by following this upin April and May, your 
grouud will be clean all the summer, and with much less 
labour than is required when weeds are once let get ahead. 
You should have a tool to use between your crops, like 
the common hoe, but with two prongs instead of the cut- 
ting edge; the prongs should be a little larger than those 
of a dung-fork, six inches long, and about four inches 
part. You will find it very beneficial to your crops to 
loosen the earth with this occasionally, between the rows 
of plants. In November and December, throw up every 
bed, not under crop, in ridges, as I have suggested for the 
bed intended for Barley; this gets the mould in nice 
Working order, and renders it much more fruitful. I wish 
also to press on your attention, with respect to all crops, 
that which I have hinted at in the case of Potatoes: 
namely, that much is lost by planting too closely, let the 
Sround be ever so good. This is a mistake you are all 
apt to fall into, for want of knowing something of that 
which is called the physiology or principles of vegetation. 
free exposure to air is absolutely necessary to the support 
both of animal and vegetable life. The blood of animals, 
after being forced from one part of the heart, through 
the vessels called arteries, all over the body, returns by 
another set of vessels called veins, to a different part of the 
heart, in a very impure state ; from thence it passes into 
the lungs, or lights as you would call them, where it is 
€xposed to the action of the air we breathe; this purifies 
it, and renders it, with some additions, again fit for circu- 
lation. | It then returns to the heart again, and is again 
Sent round the body as before: and thus it circulates, 
regularly undergoing purification in the lungs every turn. 
Nature performs a like process in some respects in vege- 
tation. Plants derive their nourishment partly from air, 
and in part from water, or earth combined with water, and 
the earth derives all its fertility from the air. The leaves 
are the lungs of vegetables; their juices also circulate 
through one set of vessels, from the roots to the leaves, 
where they absorb the main principle of their support, 
and return by another set of vessels, and deposit the mate- 
tials which cause the growth of plants. Your vegetables 
Would not grow without air and light in the richest soil 
that ever was made. It follows, therefore, that the earth 
about your plants should be freely exposed to the atmo- 
Sphere or air, that it may absorb the necessary moisture 
for the nourishment of the roots; and that the leaves 
should allbe freely exposed, in order that the fluids cireula- 
ting through them may also absorb from the air the mate- 
Nials necessary for the support of the plant. I hope you 
how understand that, what you call making the most of 
Your ground, by planting close, is, in truth, making’ the 
Teast of it; thatis to say, when the plants are so near to 
€ach other as to prevent the exposure of the roots and 
leaves of all toa free circulation of air. You have ail 
Planted rows of Potatoes so near together that the haulms 
of the rows, when high and strong, met; and you have 
Probably observed, in this case, nearly all the under leaves 
Yellow and decayed. Nature intended every one of these 
to increase your crop, but you have frustrated her kind 
Mtentions, which I hope you will avoid in future. You 
Must make a hole on the waste, near each of your gardens, 
to take decayed leaves of all sorts, Cabbage-stems, weeds, 
&e., for these will rot in time, and make good manure. 
igs.—I have a word or two to say about your pigs, as 
q ®xpect every one of you to keep one. In the first place, 
It is very material that the pig be kept quite dry; you 
Must therefore always be attentive to the roof of the sty, 
8nd see that it does not let wet. ‘The open part of the 
Sty, where the pig feeds and exercises, should be planked, 
and Sloped sufficiently from the covered part or bed for all 
eg to drain away to the dungheap. The sty must be 
ept clean ; it should be cleansed every day. Dry leaves 
’nd fern, collected in the autumn, are good substitutes for 
Straw for the bed, when straw isscarce. I would recom- 
Mend you not to buy in your pig before May, as you 
Would have some difficulty in finding sufficient food for 
cae earlier without going to expense ; he should then be 
tae than six or seven months old. As there is very 
i © common or waste on which your pigs could be turned 
ee” you must treasure up all the refuse Cabbage- 
sna? Pods of Peas, and Beans, &c. to supply them with 
ig clent food in the sty during the summer. One hog 
she You must have, and as soon as you can afford it you 
is ud get another, that one may be filling while the other 
the eing emptied } moreover, it is an advantage not to give 
b Wash while it is fresh, for pigs are found to thrive 
fitter on it when stale. Let the Potatoes and Carrots 
Mtended for 4 es * i tt 
up with or the pigs be boiled, and then mashed 
nuts a the wash. As soon as the Acorns and Beech- 
Very. bes set the children to collect them, as they are 
Y Nourishing food for pigs. In the beginning of October 
you 5 4 rt 
and es prepare for fatting, by giving less green food, 
mixed with the wash every week during this month; but 
as the appetites of pigs will vary, you must watch them 
when feeding, and give a little more or less at a meal, 
taking care not to give at one feed more than they eat up 
clean. They should be fed three times a day at the least, 
T should say four times during November and December, 
while fatting. During the last week of October, mix 
about hajf a peck of Barley-meal with the allow- 
ance of wash for the week; each of the two first 
weeks in November, one peck ; each of the two last weeks, 
a peck anda half; the two first weeks in December, two 
pecks each ; the third week, three pecks ; and the fourth 
week, four pecks. It is necessary to be careful in 
increasing the Barley-meal; this must be done gradually 
in order to prevent surfeit, which will throw the pig 
back. If your crops of Peas should be very abundant, 
and produce more than you want as vegetable food, let 
them ripen well, and put them by for fatting the pigs to 
save meal. By the end of December,' if you have 
managed the pig well, he will be fat; if he be not, you 
must give him a little more time, for he ought! to be tho- 
roughly fat before he is killed. Icannot dispose of the 
pig, when killed and burned, better than in the words of 
the Author of “Cottage Economy.” He proceeds as 
follows: ‘‘ The inwards are next taken out, and if the 
wife be nota slattern, here, in the mere offal, in the mere 
garbage, there is food, andfdelicate food too, for a large 
family for a week, and hog’s puddings for the children, 
&c.” The butcher the next day cuts the hog up, and 
then the house is filled with meat—souse, griskins, blade- 
bones, thigh-bones, spare-ribs, chines, belly pieces, 
cheeks, all coming into use one after the other, and the 
last of the latter not before the end of about four or 
five weeks.” ‘All the other parts taken away, the two 
sides that remain, and that are called flitches, are to. be 
cured for bacon. They are firstrubbed with salt on their 
insides or flesh sides, then placed one on the other, the 
flesh sides uppermost, in a salting-trough, which has a 
gutter round its edges to drain away tlie brine ; for to have 
sweet and fine bacon the flitches must not lie sopping in 
brine, which gives it a bad taste. Every one knows how 
different is the taste of fresh dry salt from that of salt in 
a dissolved state ; the one is savoury the other nauseous ; 
therefore, change the salt often—once in four or five days 5 
let it melt, and sink in, but not lie too long ; change the 
flitches ; put that at bottom which was first put on the 
top; do this a couple of times. As to the time required 
for making the flitches sufficiently salt, it depends on cir- 
cumstances—the thickness of the flitch, the state of the 
weather, the place where the salting is going on. It takes 
a longer time for a thick than a thin flitch ; it takes longer 
in dry than in damp weather; it takes longer in a dry 
than a damp place. But, for flitches of a hog of twelve 
score, in weather not very dry nor very damp, about six 
weeks may do; and as yours is to be fat, which receives 
little injury from over salting, give time enough, for you 
are to have bacon till Christmas comes again. The place 
for salting should be cool, and where there is a free circu- 
lation of air. Confined air, though cool, will taint meat 
sooner than the mid-day sun accompanied by a breeze.’’ 
The Author then directs that the bacon should be smoked, 
and not dried, that the flitches should be hung up in a 
chimney where no rain could fall upon them, and not so 
near the fire as to melt ; that the smoke should proceed 
from wood fires, not coal. If there bea fire constantly 
by day, a month would be long enough for the flitches to 
remain in the chimney ; but if not, rather more time must 
be given, taking care not to leave them long enough to get 
rusty ; that the flitches should be dried to the hardness of 
a board, but yet not quite dry; that before the bacon is 
hung up in the chimney it should be laid on the floor, 
powdered over pretty thickly with bran, that this should 
be rubbed on the flesh and patted well down upon it. The 
lard must be taken care of and put away in bladders, 
mixing a little salt with it will make it keep good for a 
longer time. I have been very desirous of collecting 
for you all the knowledge I could about the pig, for he 
will furnish you with a great number of good, hearty, and 
nourishing meals after your day’s toil, throughout the 
year; and I hope you will not only attend to all I have 
written, but pick up all the information you can as to the 
best plan of feeding and management. Never regard a 
little additional trouble, for ‘there are no gains without 
2. 
“ Cleanliness, Neatness, Regularity, and Order.— 
Strict attention to these qualities is of the utmost import- 
ance to your welfare. Make them the habits of your 
household; they will prove a blessing to your children, 
and a great advantage to them through life. Cleanliness 
is said to be next to godliness : on the latter it is unneces- 
sary for me to say anything more than to urge your regular 
attendance at your church ona Sunday, where you will be 
taught the vast importance of this virtue to your condition, 
here and hereafter, by your good minister, who, I know, 
takes a deep interest in your well-being in all respects. 
Cleanliness contributes greatly to your health, as well as 
comfort and appearance. 
reward, it is always pleasing to behold, and particularly 
where it is least expected, in the dwellings of the poor. 
It shows a disposition to make the most of the little 
advantages you may have; it is an encouragement to those 
who have done something to serve you to do more. Order 
and regularity in all things are well worth your attention ; 
they will save you both time and money ; have a place for 
everything, and everything in its place. The wife should 
have a regular time, every day, allotted for the perform- 
ance of her various household duties; and should so 
arrange them as to devote as much time as possible, of the 
Potatoes and Carrots, which ill then h; 
‘you will then have 
Mnabundance. A pig will require about two bushels of 
most favourable part of the day, to the garden ; but she 
Potatoes, and one of Carrots or Parsnips boiled, and 
Neatness carries with it its own | 
must never lose a day’s work when she can get paid for 
one, unless prevented by illness, or the necessary care of 
young children. As every day brings its own occupations, 
never put off to to-morrow that which can be done to-day. 
There is some truth in the old proverb, ‘ One to-day is 
worth two to-morrows.”” Regularity in your payments is 
a most important consideration ; without the strictest 
attention to this, neither your own labour, nor any advan- 
tages that may be offered to you, will long mend your 
condition, or save you from wretchedness. While you 
pay ready money you can go to the best market, buy the 
best articles, and at the cheapest rate ; you are indepen- 
dent, and have nothing to fear. If you once get in debt 
you have no chance of paying off old scores, for your wants 
and your means continue to bear the same proportion to 
one another. For fear of offending those in whose power 
you have thus placed yourself, you must continue dealing 
with them; you must be content to take those articles, 
of inferior quality, which others who go with money in 
their hands, have refused ; and you must pay the best 
price, nevertheless, to cover the risk the shopkeeper runs 
in trusting you. You become dependent, your spirit 
becomes broken by difficulties, you become careless and 
negligent, and are lost men. if you are thrown behind 
hand by any chance accident, borrow of your masters, who 
will always help a good servant in these eases ; but do not 
run in debt at the shop; do not even resort to this if you 
can possibly avoid it, for ‘‘ he that goes a borrowing goes 
a sorrowing.”’ Cleanliness, neatness, regularity, and order, 
must be enforced on your children, both by your advice and 
example. They will all have to get their livelihood in one 
kind of service or other; most of them will look for places 
in families, and the possession of these qualities makes 
nearly all the difference between a valuable and a worth- 
less servant. I have seen many cases in which really 
industrious servants, who were never idle, but who were 
always in a muddle, and had never done their work, merely 
for want of method and regularity, replaced by others 
who have performed all the same duties, with ease to 
themselves, with time to spare for their own purposes, and 
with sati ion to their employers.” 
“« Service.—The few last observations have suggested 
to my mind some reflections on the subject of service in 
general, which I think may be useful to you, and with 
which I shall close my observations. I have always heard 
very general complaints by servants, both agricultural and 
domestic, of the treatment and conduct of their masters 
and mistresses ; sometimes, no doubt, with good reason, 
for we are all erring mortals. But the number of the 
satisfied bear avery small proportion to the mamber of 
the dissatisfied ; and truth compels me to say, that I have 
generally found those who were contented with their situ- 
ations happened to be the best of servants. Again I 
have known some servants give a man the worst of cha- 
racters as a master, and others give the very same man a 
character just the reverse. How come these things to 
pass? J will tell you. Careful, industrious, and faithful 
servants generally make good masters; and th 
very few exceptions to this. Good men make gi 
masters to such servants from a natural feeling and sense 
of justice. Bad men, in other respects, often make good 
masters for their own interest only. Every man, be. his 
character what it may, feels that good servants are neces- 
sary to his own peace and comfort; and to keep them, 
he knows he must, at any rate, treat them well, or they 
will leave him. I know this to be the feeling of every 
master and mistress I have ever talked with on this sub- 
ject. I never find any one who is not sensible of the 
value of a really good servant, in any situation; or, who 
is not ready and willing to make any reasonable sacrifice 
to keep such aservant. When, therefore, I find servants 
complain of neglect or jll-treatment—though such com- 
plaints are, 1 am aware, too often well founded—I am 
sure that in nine eases out of ten it arises from their own 
inattention or misconduct, in some way or other; and as 
the same causes will lead to the same consequences, 
wherever they go, as soon as they feel from their master’s 
conduct towards them, that they are losirig his esteem and 
consideration, let me advise them, at once, instead of 
leaving a master and abusing him, to look carefully back 
upon, and examine their own conduct, and see if they have 
been, upon all occasions, faithful, just, and obedient to 
him. If they do this sincerely and honestly, I suspect 
they will seldom fail to find the cause of any alteration in 
their master’s conduct towards them. If, npon reflection, 
they find that they have failed in their duty, they must 
exert themselves to repair the mischief, and regain lost 
ground. If they feel they have done their duty, they 
should respectfully inquire whether their employer has 
any complaint to make, and tell him, at the same time, 
the cause of their inquiry. This would oftentimes prevent 
a separation, and lead to @ good understanding in future. 
You are always too ready to change your masters, on very 
slight grounds, without recollecting that you must meet 
with difficulties and something you may not like in every 
situation; and that in changing, you.are probably 
flying from one evil merely to run into another, perhaps 
agreater. Neither you, nor your sons and daughters in 
service, appear to me to be aware how waterial it is 
to your interest to continue as long as possible in the 
same place. After long service, a servant becomes ac- 
quainted with all his master’s views, wants, and habits, 
and knows how to serve and please him better than any 
one else. This gives an old servant a great advantage that 
he cannot have in a new placee As the period of service 
increases, so does the attachment of the master ; and from 
this naturally spring acts of consideration and kindness ; 
it leads to numerous little privileges and advantages, 
which a servant, continually on the move, can never know. 
Should death, or any other circumstance render it neces- 
