316 Cottage- Gardening 



a little ; even this evil world would lose much of its sorrow if man would but 

 shake off his indolence, and pluck the berries from among the thorns, when, 

 instead of living discontented among weeds and wildings, he might, in a great 

 measure, have " Paradise restored." When a man has a comfortable house, 

 and a garden to cultivate, and takes delight in both, we generally find that 

 man showing himself a progressive being, with a mind capable of higher 

 attainments, and ready to make himself useful in the sphere of life in which 

 Providence has placed him. There are some minds that will raise themselves, in 

 spite of every opposition, from a state of poverty to a more comfortable station 

 in society ; and these, though few, serve to show what can be done by un- 

 wearied perseverance. In general, the majority of mankind require to be 

 helped, or, not only do they require the course to be pointed out for them, 

 but also apilot to guide them; and it is well for those of the present and future 

 generations that these helps are not wanting. The comfort that has already 

 been bestowed upon thousands through the instrumentality of the Encyclo- 

 pcedia of Cottage Architecture, in the shape of commodious dwellings, is but a 

 foretaste of what our country may expect, when once the full influence of the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, the Royal Agricultural So- 

 ciety of England, and other societies of a kindred nature, is made to bear upon 

 the welfare of the rural population. Then may we expect a race of rational 

 and intelligent beings, instead of many who reckon themselves men, yet are 

 little better than creatures of instinct. The time may yet come when the 

 labourer will be giving his children lessons in architecture from the various 

 parts of his cottage ; making them acquainted with the arch and its proper- 

 ties ; pointing out the various members of the base, the shaft, the architrave, 

 the frieze, and the cornice, of the different orders of architecture ; making 

 known to them what is Grecian, what Roman, what Norman or Gothic ; and 

 be able to read the history of his country in the progress of its buildings. 



But the cottager must have more than his comfortable house to occupy 

 his attention ; in order to supply his wants and increase his pleasure, he 

 would feel unhappy without his garden, which will yield him comfort all the 

 days of his life, and afford him in its cultivation a salutary preparation for a 

 higher state of enjoyment beyond the grave. How much ground ought a 

 cottager to have for a garden ? this is a question to which varying circum- 

 stances would suggest varying answers. When cottages are joined together, 

 the gardens are commonly at the back or front of their dwellings, and the 

 breadth of the garden corresponds with the length of the house. Sometimes 

 the garden extends a considerable length, but in general it is by far too little. 

 I would plead for a large garden. Let it be 1000 square yards at least, and 

 from that to an acre. This may be thought extravagant by some, but I think 

 sufficient reason can be shown why the cottager should have plenty of garden 

 ground. When I see a cottage with a small garden attached to it, when there 

 was nothing to prevent the possessor from having a large one, I imagine that 

 he is only a few steps removed from barbarism ; it shows the possessor 

 ignorant of what would increase his own and his family's comfort, ignorant of 

 what would multiply their animal and mental enjoyment. 1 look upon it as a 

 blot in the landscape, and a mark of stationary ignorance. What a difference 

 in appearance do we often meet with, when the cottage has a large garden 

 belonging to it. Instead of a kw unprotected common vegetables, we behold 

 a well enclosed garden abounding in vegetables, fruits, and flowers, producing 

 more than the family can consume, and, besides, abundant feed for the pig. A 

 few pounds sterling, the produce of the surplus stock, often find their way into 

 the pocket of the possessor of such a garden. I have seldom known its owner 

 come to want, or require aid from the parish. 



Before I say any thing about the laying out of the garden, I would wish to 

 say a little about draining. It is somewhat surprising that so little is said 

 about that most important operation ; the bulk of the writers on gardening 

 pass it over with a carelessness which it does not merit. Nicol, in his Forcing, 

 Fruit, and Kitchen Gardener (sect. 2., " On the Soil for Orchards "), admits 





