Cottages for Agricultural Labourers. 231 



agricultural districts in the kingdom is he indebted for his ac- 

 quaintance with the subject. lii preparing the accompanying 

 plans it has been his — • 



Object. — To attain at the smallest cost the greatest amount of 

 comfort and convenience in the construction of suitable residences 

 for the large majority of the bona fide agricultural labourers. In 

 effecting this,, it has been his desire to avoid excess in cost and 

 size, and the sacrifice of interior comforts for the sake of pic- 

 torial effect. It has also been his aim to avoid if possible the 

 creation of facilities to induce the tenant to "let off" a portion of 

 the rooms which are designed for the exclusive use and due 

 classification of his own family. 



Situation, Aspect, Soil, Sfc, — Such a variety of circumstances, 

 both natural and local, have to be considered in determining upon 

 sites for the erection of labourers' cottages, that the adoption of 

 any fixed rules seems almost impracticable. It may not be amiss, 

 however, to suggest that a plot of land abutting upon, and at a 

 level of from two to four feet above a good road, forming part or 

 being in the immediate vicinity of an allotment of land available 

 for spade husbandry, and possessing facilities for efficient drain- 

 age, seems most desirable ; and in all cases care should be taken 

 that the habitation of the labourer is not too remote from the 

 locality of his daily avocations. The aspect should be south, or 

 as nearly so as can be obtained, and the value of the situation 

 would be enhanced if protected on the north and east from the 

 inclemency of the weather, but the close proximity of forest trees 

 should be avoided as having a tendency to deteriorate the value 

 of the garden ground, and in the autumn to clog up the gutters 

 and spouts of the cottages with dead leaves. A good soil of easy 

 cultivation, with a substratum of gravel or sand, is essential, or 

 (when the prevailing prejudices are overcome) a piece of used-up 

 old grass-land, sufficiently elevated for draining purposes, would 

 not be unsuitable. 



Exterior Arrangements. — The cottages are proposed to be 

 built in pairs, and should be placed at a distance of five or six 

 yards from the road, leaving a small space for the cultivation of 

 flowers, herbs, and the smaller kinds of garden produce ; and 

 the good feeling which it is desirable should exist between the 

 occupants, is most likely to be secured by rendering them as inde- 

 pendent of each other as circumstances will permit. With this 

 view a separate entrance is made to each, and in the minor arrange- 

 ments the pump only is used by both tenants. If further sepa- 

 ration is desired, it may be accomplished by planting a privet fence 

 between the two in front, and a post and rail fence at the back, 

 and making the pump with a double handle to work both ways. 



