and Cottage Economy. 205 



soils the time employed will be less; twenty-six days of a man and about 

 six of a boy will be an ordinary average to make the most of the ground. 

 With regard to cooking, I must confess, I know little about it, and I think 

 I will maintain my credit best with the housewife to say little on the subject. 

 She is certainly not deserving the name of wife or mother if she cannot 

 dress the vegetables ; I have given directions about raising, in various ways, 

 to suit the taste of her husband, her children, and herself, and that to every 

 advantage. I may mention that potato flour made in the way which 

 every housewife knows to make potato starch, makes an excellent dish 

 boiled with milk, a la Sir John Sinclair ; but labourers think it rather soft. 

 I fear the mode of cooking kidneybeans dry, that I am acquainted with, 

 takes too much fire and time for a cottager's wife. The offals of the 

 kitchen and garden, however, will feed two pigs annually, of about seven 

 months' age each ; the one to be bought in about February, and the 

 other about September ; one to be killed in November, and the other in 

 March, weighing about 144 lbs. each. The poultry should be of the Polish 

 or Cossack breed : I mean the hens ; those I have of that breed, having their 

 feet feathered to the ground, scrape little, seldom hatch, and lay eggs al- 

 most perpetually. I have taken no account of the time the wife or children 

 take in feeding the pigs, rabbits, and poultry, as it is only a recreation. 



Fruit Trees and Shrubs. — I have hitherto said nothing of fruit ; but a9 

 some can be easily obtained, I would recommend a few apple trees to be 

 trained as espaliers between the divisions, and the kidneybeans could be 

 raised somewhere else. One tree of the white codlin, one of the eve, one 

 of the Cambusnethan pippin, or Scots redstreak, and one of the winter 

 wine apple, one of the Crawford and one of the black Auchan pear trees, 

 with six currant and ten gooseberry bushes trained on an espalier rail, 

 would afford some of what the cottager esteems as the real luxuries of a 

 garden, without occupying much room. Having thus far endeavoured to 

 procure pork, eggs, and vegetables, I shall now attend to the second query. 



II. What additional ground and what arrangements will be necessary to add 

 hvo goats for milk to the stock ? 



Goats are easily tamed, and may be easily habituated to eat any thing ; 

 but they are volatile and mischievous, and will require to be confined, and 

 to have room to frisk about in that confinement. Their dung, too, will be 

 of little consequence ; but as it is requisite to notice this part of the query, 

 I shall humbly submit to the philanthropic querist a mode of obtaining 

 milk, on a small scale, with the same ground as would be requisite for the 

 keep of two goats, and put it in the cottager's power either to have two 

 milk goats, or one small Shetland cow. The ground requisite for both being, 

 in my opinion, nearly the same, I shall give the directions which may suit 

 for either. 



Shetland cows, I may remark, may be had as small as 10 to 12 stones 

 Amsterdam, and such will yield from 8 to 10 quarts of excellent milk daily j 

 they are easily kept, easily fed, and when fat afford the best beef in the 

 world; besides, the dung and urine to the cottager's garden are of immense 

 importance. To keep either two milk goats, or one small Shetland cow, 

 another three roods of ground would be necessary ; this would be on the 

 whole one acre, Scots measure. If goats are preferred, about ten falls 

 would require to be enclosed with a railing at least 6 ft. high, with a door 

 at one side to enter for the purpose of feeding and milking. A covered 

 track should stand somewhere near the centre, so contrived as to keep 

 them and their food dry in the time of rain, with access to scramble over 

 its top. The cow would dispense with either the ground or the fence, 1 

 shall therefore proceed to give directions about the management of the 

 ground, as it is the same in both cases, with this difference, that if goats 

 are kept, the ground and the produce, as well as the expense of culture, 



