^92 Plan of a Double Cottage, 



for hot water, to assist the heating of the two pine pits. The 

 position of the boiler is shown by the dotted lines. ^ is a 

 wall to shelter the pits from the north wind, &c. The entrance 

 to the furnace should be at the back of this wall, by which 

 means gardeners may attend the fire without coming in con- 

 tact with any company who may be examining the plants, &c. 

 The two centre pits may be used for growing pines, and the 

 others for melons and cucumbers, or for forcing flowers. 



Fig. 54. is an isometrical projection of the pits, showing 

 the inclination of them. The steps are to be at each end, to 

 enable persons to ascend the upper or terrace walk without 

 passing between the pits. 



Fig. 55. is a section of half the range, which, I believe, 

 requires no explanation. 



I am, Sir, &c. 

 6. Wijndham Street, London, T>. D. Neeve. 



Feb. 7. 1831. 



Art. XII. Plan of a Double Cottage, uniting the Picturesque ivith 

 internal Comfort. With Introductory Remarks on the present 

 State of Labourers Cottages in Wiltshire. By Selim. 



Sir, 



My object in this letter is to notice the subject of labourers' 

 cottages, to which you invite the attention of your readers. It 

 is a subject of great importance to the happiness and comfort 

 of the labouring classes, whose miserable habitations certainly 

 stand in great need of a " reform.''^ In this neighbourhood, 

 many of the cottages are little better than the farmers' stables ; 

 they frequently contain only a sitting-room and loft : in the 

 latter of which all the members of the family sleep, old and 

 young, married and single, sick and whole, and, as I have 

 known in many instances, the living by the dead. But the 

 misery is not confined to the bed-room : the lower apartment 

 is very frequently a damp, cold, wretched hole, without a 

 single convenience ; often with a mud floor, which is always 

 damp. Indeed, I have seen a spring rising in the room. It 

 is also the receptacle for every thing : wood in one corner, 

 potatoes in another, dirty clothes, mixed with pots and pans, 

 in another ; so that any approach to tidiness is quite out of 

 the question ; and, as the floor cannot be washed, even common 

 cleanliness is equally impossible. 



Now, for this abode of wretchedness, which has, I find, a 

 very demoralising effect on the character of its inmates, I 



