532 Extension of Gardening 



shepherd, who has high wages and little leisure time, might 

 easily manage a cow and two or three acres of grass land, 

 though he might not be able to cultivate properly a quarter 

 of an acre of garden ground ; and, after all, I may observe 

 that the success of the plan of letting land to labourers, whe- 

 ther grass or arable, will chiefly depend on adapting the grant 

 to the character of the person to be benefited. A cow, 

 for instance, which is a little fortune to a steady industrious 

 family, would be quite useless to the idle and unthrifty. The 

 allotments of land, therefore, and every thing connected with 

 them, should be managed by the resident landlord, or his 

 agent, who may be supposed to be well acquainted with the 

 character and circumstances of the labourers in the parish. 



I remain, Sir, yours, &c. 

 Near Salisbury, July 12. 1882, Selim. 



Art. V. On the Means of inspiring a Taste for Gardening among 

 the labouring Classes of Scotland. By James Stuart Men- 

 teath, Jun., Esq. of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire. 



" Between the upper and lower classes in Scotland, cordiality, mutual con- 

 fidence, and support prevail, to which many other nations are strangers. 

 It behoves the higher classes to endeavour, by protection, by kindness, 

 and by example, to preserve those principles and relations which have 

 been so honourable to Scotland, which form the basis of good education, 

 and without which education is unavailing." 



" And round about he taught sweet flowers to grow." Spenser. 



No country abounds more with seminaries for the education 

 of youth than Scotland; and much of the successful enterprise 

 of her inhabitants may be attributed to the education obtained 

 in these seminaries, of which parochial schools may justly be 

 reckoned the principal. But the education, how good soever 

 it may be, acquired at these schools, might be rendered more 

 perfect, by incorporating with them somewhat of a practical 

 nature, to train the hand as well as the mind. Many em- 

 ployments suited to this purpose might be suggested ; but 

 scarcely any could be at once more agreeable and beneficial, 

 than instructing the children in the operations of common 

 kitchen-gardening. The proposal of such a new scheme may 

 startle some, who are not aware that nearly every parochial 

 schoolmaster in Scotland already possesses a garden, of a 

 smaller or larger extent, which might be employed for this 

 purpose ; the extent of every schoolmaster's garden being fixed 

 by an act of parliament to be a rood, or quarter of an acre, of 

 ground. Others, again, may suppose that the other business 



