Farming of LincolnsJdre. 



407 



injjs accompanying the Allotment system enough has been pub- 

 lished to show that a wide adoption of that system is needed 

 throughout the kingdom, providing that it be done upon suitable 

 and equitable principles. In Lincolnshire it is frequently but not 

 generally found, the various examples being of a pleasing and 

 satisfactory character. A plot of land adjoining his cottage is of 

 more value to the labouring man; and it is here that improve- 

 ment is greatly required in most parts of the kingdom. Though 

 a great portion of Lincolnshire belongs to large landed proprie- 

 tors, there are in it more small freeholders and copyholders than 

 are to be found in most other counties in England, hence the pre- 

 valence of the cottage system. Arthur Young says — It is impos- 

 sible to speak too highly in praise of the cottage system of Lin- 

 colnshire, where land, gardens, cows, and pigs are so general in 

 the hands of the poor. Upon views only of humanity and bene- 

 volence it is gratifying to every honest heart to see that class of 

 the people comfortable upon which all others depend. Wherever 

 this system is found poor's-rates are low; and another object, yet 

 more important, is the attachment which men must inevitably feel 

 to their country, when they partake thus in the property of it." 



In the winter of 1800-1, Mr. Gourlay visited eight villages in 

 Rutland and thirty- two in Lincolnshire, and published a Report 

 of the cottages in each parish, in the ' Annals of Agriculture.' 

 The average population of each was 226'3, the average number 

 of cottagers with cows 15'4, the quantity of land occupied by 

 each cottager 6-4 acres, the live stock kept were both cows, pigs, 

 sheep, and horses, the average being equal to 2 cows and 2 pigs 

 to each cottager. In those parishes where cottagers had cows 

 the poor's-rates averaged \s. b^d. ; in those where few or no cot- 

 tagers had cows, 55. l\d. And a table is given, showing that in 

 proportion as the number of cottagers decreases, the rate and 

 average expense to each individual increases. At the present time 

 gardens are universally attached to the cottages, but the " six 

 acres" of ground has certainly been very much curtailed, and cows 

 are comparatively rare. Most of the labourers have 1 or 2 pigs 

 each to fatten. As population has increased new houses have 

 been built, but without a proportion of land being set apart for 

 them sufficient for grazing cows or sheep. In the marsh and fen 

 districts, and other clay lands, a large proportion of the cottages 

 in Young's time were constructed of ''stud and mud," z.e., with 

 walls of wood and clay, and many yet remain ; the principal por- 

 tion of the newer cottages, however, are of brick, tile, and slate. 

 Reed thatch was the old-fashioned material for roofing, but is 

 very little used in modern erections. Many convenient and com- 

 fortable habitations are to be seen in all parts of the county, but 

 a greater part of the cottages are small, low, and incommodious; 



