Retrospective Criticism. 369 



stands forth as the prockiction of Mr. Smith, who is gardener to the land- 

 lord of Messrs. R. Jeffries and Sons. In this case, however, 1 may 

 venture my suspicion that Mr. Smith's name is insufficient to veil the real 

 actor, Mr. Smith being a man -not professing any acquaintance with plants, 

 although a very creditable kitchen-gardener. In the wish, Sii', that these 

 remarks may cause future lists to be restricted to public usefulness, and to 

 be frankly authenticated by the name of the proprietor of the plants it 

 enumerates, I remain, your constant subscriber, — H. Laundy. Woodhndge ' 

 Nursery, March 3. 1833. 



Letting of Land to Cottagers is the best Means of benefiting them and our- 

 selves. — Sir, You and I think so much alike on the subject of cottage 

 allotments, and the arguments in their favour appear so convincing, that it 

 seems almost superfluous to add a word to what has already been so power- 

 fully advanced in their support in the pages of this Magazine ; and I only 

 advert to the subject at this time to point out what I think is an error in 

 the reasoning of a celebrated political economist of the present day. Miss 

 Harriet Martineau, for whom and for whose writings I entertain very 

 high respect, in No. x. of her Illustrations of Political Economy, has, I con- 

 ceive, greatly overrated the advantages of emigration, and proportionally 

 underrated those of home colonisation. Now, to say nothing of the in- 

 adequacy of the former as a means of relief to our surplus population, 

 surely we cannot shut our eyes to the fact, that wherever the system of 

 cottage allotments has been fairly and judiciously tried, it has been found 

 productive of very great advantages, by inducing the labourer to draw the 

 supplies for himself and family from the land, instead of from the poor- 

 rates. I cannot appeal to a better authority on this matter than Mr. John 

 Denson, who, in his valuable little treatise, A Peasant's Voice to Land- 

 oiune7's, has presented us with a series of facts which no theory, however 

 ingenious, can overcome or gainsay. I agree with Selim (Vol. VIII. 

 p. 647.) that too large an extent of land may not be desirable; but 

 just as much as the cottager and his family can cultivate without ham- 

 pering themselves, must surely be an important acquisition. Grant them 

 this, and there will be no necessity to banish them as useless lumber from 

 the country. — Samuel Taylor. Stoke Ferry, Noifolk, Jan. 21.1 833, 



Mr. Weeks's Boiler does not fur up ; and a Notice of some Lnprovements 

 by Mr. Weeks. — Sir, I beg to be allowed to point out an error in your 

 Magazine, in p. 37., where you state my boiler to be liable to corrosion. 

 It holds but ten gallons, and flows seven a minute : the rapid flow and 

 quickness of circulation act more as a cleanser than otherwise ; for in- 

 stance, I had one fixed for a few months, partly as a steam-boiler ; and I 

 afterwards applied the same for a quick circulation of hot water to my hot- 

 house. It had not been there long, before it threw up as much as a quart 

 of the earthy particles of water which had before been deposited; and 

 this gave it a thorough cleansing. I have also pulled my boilers to pieces 

 after having been fixed six or nine months, and have found them cleaner, 

 if possible, than on the day in which they were first made. 



I also take the liberty of informing you, I have made some improve- 

 ments : — 1st, by a half-circular trough, which surrounds the uppermost 

 pipe, which is filled with water for keeping up a constant steam in houses ; 

 2dl3', by heating and letting in external air by means of a pipe at every six 

 feet passing through the hot water down the standards, the bottom end 

 going through the front wall to receive cold air, which is heated by passing 

 up through the water; and the other end lets it into the house gently 

 heated ; and by this process the air will continually keep on in circulation, 



I have likewise a plan of ventilating to cleanse the houses or pits from 

 stagnant or foul air ; first, by letting in the heated air, and then by means 



Vol. IX. — No. 44. pu 



