and Cottage Economy. 195 



quire hoeing, 4 hrs. ; after that it will want no more until ready for the 

 sickle in August. 



f, Spring Wheat. 6 pecks, 9s. 6d. ; produce, 15 bushels. Dig in No- 

 vember, 20 hrs., and December, 20 hrs., then let it lie till the last week 

 of March ; then dig, rake, and sow broadcast 6 pecks of spring wheat, 20 

 hrs. ; roll in April, 2 hrs ; weed in May, 5 hrs ; nothing more will be wanted 

 till August, when the reaping of both e and/must be commenced, if ripe; 

 which, by the man, his wife, and children, may be done in two days, or 24 hrs. 

 If the weather be unfavourable, take into the open shed to dry. An open 

 shed I consider of primary importance to the cottager ; for, if the weather 

 is unfavourable for one week after he has cut his corn, his subsistence 

 for the next twelvemonth is entirely wasted ; therefore give me leave 

 again to recommend to you, in your proposed plans of cottages, not to omit 

 this most useful of buildings. Threshing may be performed at three dif- 

 ferent times, viz., September, 16 hrs., December, 16 hrs., January, 16 hrs. 

 Keep some straw for the thatching of the haystack, and the rest may 

 be sold, which will pay for the expense of the seed ; or lay it out in dung, 

 which, I think, will in the end be most profitable. 



Rotation of Crops. — In the second year the crops of a and b, with the cul- 

 ture directed, must be removed to /, and/ to e, and e to a and h, and the 

 third year remove round again, so that in the fourth year it will be again 

 the same as Plan 5, by which rotation good crops may be produced. 



Hogs. — Exactly the same as classes first and second, which see. 



Cow. — As class second, which see. 



Hens. — More advantages are presented to this class for fowls than either 

 of the others ; therefore four hens and one cock may be kept, and a brood 

 of chickens may be raised every year, which will sell for 18s. Produce of 

 eggs, 230, of which 100 may be sold, Ss.M. 



From g to h may be planted a row of gooseberries or currants. 



By the following table it will be seen, that as the labourer's comforts and 

 means of getting his livelihood are increased, he will become a more profitable 

 member of society ; for, as I have shown in class second, the benefits resulting 

 from keeping a cow are still greater if he can grow his bread corn. As ap- 

 pears from my calculation, there is 13/. 19.?. 10c?. at the disposal of a labourer 

 of the third class ; so if 1000 of these were established in any part of the 

 country, and were only to spend 51. a piece, it would be 5,000/. more in cir- 

 culation in that part of the country; and then if the remaining 8/. 19s. 10c?. 

 were lodged in a savings bank every year, it would entirely free the parish from 

 this class, when they were no longer able to cultivate their land, or earn their 

 bread ; they would have an independency of their own, gained by their own 

 industry.* 



* It would thus appear that a man in possession of 2| acres of land, by 

 bestowing on it 186 hours of labour in the course of the year, may main- 

 tain himself and family. This labour, with the exception of 3 weeks, our 

 correspondent proposes to be wholly performed as a recreation during lei- 

 sure hours. We scarcely think he has allowed time sufficient ; but if the 

 object can be attained with so small a quantity of land, and even double 

 the number of hours' labour, it affords a gratifying prospect of the comforts 

 and enjoyments that humane and sympathising landlords in Europe might 

 confer on their labourers and mechanics, and of what emigrants to America 

 and Australia may look forward to for themselves and their children for an 

 indefinite number of generations. It is useful to view such an important 

 subject as the prospects of the labouring, or what always has been and 

 always will be the very lowest, class of society, in every possible way. — 

 Cond. 



o 2 



