and Cottage Economy. 171 



good beer, affording three pints a day for a fortnight : and this, too, with- 

 out any extra-expense ; for nothing can be fairly charged against the beer 

 for fuel, &c, for the grains and yest cover all expenses ; the yest will keep, 

 and will always be ready for baking. Thus, in addition to all the benefits 

 attending baking and brewing at home, there is this important advantage, in 

 having a quantity of bran and grains occasionally to add to the daily accu- 

 mulating mixture of cabbages, greens, carrots, turnips, greasy wash, &c. &c, 

 in the hog-tubs, to make a provision for a pig.* I say hog-tubs ; for be it 

 remembered that one tub is not enough even for one pig ; and, however 

 contrary it may be to general opinion or common practice, it will be found 

 (and it is a thing worth knowing) that a pig will fatten sooner on stale food 

 than on fresh : why I do not know, unless it is owing to the more uniform 

 quality of the food ; for, although a pig is a gross, and certainly an accom- 

 modating, feeder, nevertheless he prefers a regular or a gradually improving 

 diet to one of a fluctuating nature ; and great inequality must inevitably 

 attend the daily mixture of fresh food, f For this reason, two tubs should 



ments of all classes, and especially of the lowest ; introduce luxuries among 

 them to such an extent as that they may become necessaries ; you will thus, 

 as long as they can procure them, increase their happiness, and, by increas- 

 ing the consumption of produce and manufactures, promote general pros- 

 perity. Let every labourer, therefore, have good ale, at all events, and try 

 hard for tea, coffee, and sugar for his wife, and milk for his children : what 

 is powerfully desired will be found, and what is found essential will be 

 retained. 



At the same time it must not be forgotten, that the only way in which a 

 labourer, or any one else, can acquire capital, is by saving it out of his in- 

 come ; and, therefore, having once procured such wages as will enable him 

 to enjoy tea, coffee, and other things, the secret of his making a little money 

 is to deny himself such a part of those things, to which he is entitled, as he 

 can do without, and yet not lessen his strength, nor injure his health. In this 

 view of the subject, the objections of our correspondent against tea maybe de- 

 fended ; but, on general principles, we would no more banish tea and sugar 

 from the cottager's table than we would flowers and fruits from his garden. 



Our correspondent mentions gossip as one of the products of tea ; but 

 why should not the cottager's wife have her gossip as well as the wife of the 

 landlord ? Some relaxation is necessary to every human being ; let the 

 wife, therefore, enjoy herself in the evening over a cup of tea, and it will 

 be something for her to look forward to during the labours of the morning. 

 Neither man nor woman can go on for any length of time without relax- 

 ation ; nay, even dissipation. Our correspondent hints that tea exhilarates to 

 produce palsied debility ; but surely this can only result from an immoderate 

 use of the article : ale will do as much, if taken to excess. We have no fear 

 of the labourer's injuring himself with tea, or even spirits, respecting which 

 so much has been said lately in the newspapers and magazines ; all that we 

 are anxious for is, that they should have plenty of both. If a man chooses to 

 kill himself with spirits, ale, or tea, so much the worse for him ; he is to be 

 pitied for his bad taste : but the government need not legislate on this ac- 

 count ; all they have to do is, to take care that men who are killing them- 

 selves do not kill, injure, or demoralise their neighbours. The cares of life 

 must be forgotten at intervals; and, therefore, the greater the care and 

 misery, the greater the necessity for dissipation : nobody hears of men in 

 comfortable circumstances killing themselves by drinking. Make labourers 

 comfortable, therefore, and you may safely leave spirits as low in price as 

 they can be sold : any evil result will soon cure itself. — Cond. 



* Let the cotter's children collect all the acorns and beech-mast they 

 possibly can. — Shibboleth. 



f The Pig. — The sty ought to be constructed with a shed-roof, and 



