962 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



is to trench and manure it heavily, taking it for granted that it is well 

 drained. Half this land should be planted with standard trees of Apples, 

 Pears, and Plums, with bush fruit between, such as Currants, Raspberries, 

 and Gooseberries, as is the custom of our best market gardeners. The 

 remaining quarter of an acre could be devoted partly to Bush Apples, 

 Pears, Cherries, and Strawberries, and in the hedge (which for preference 

 should be formed of Quick) standard trees of Damsons, Prunes, and Crabs 

 should be planted at distances of twenty feet apart. Moderate space must 

 be allotted for the growth of vegetables, and part should be laid down 

 under permanent crops, such as will occasion little trouble or labour in 

 looking after, including Asparagus, Seakale, Rhubarb, Artichokes (these 

 would come in for selling purposes), the remainder of the garden to be 

 cropped with Potatos, Peas, Cauliflowers, and the usual vegetables 

 annually grown from seed. The walls of the cottage could be furnished 

 with fruit-trees. On the south and west Apricots and Peaches would 

 succeed, and Plums and Cherries on the north and east. Once the 

 labourer and his family became proficient in the growth of these crops, 

 and realised their value, whether as daily food or for the purpose of sale, 

 a new interest would come into their lives, and ample, interesting, and 

 remunerative employment for their leisure, which would effectively drive 

 away one of the prime conditions of discontent which I mentioned — 

 namely, the poverty of interest associated with their homes. 



We now come to the second cause of discontent— namely, low wages. 

 Wages of agricultural labourers in the past, especially in some counties, 

 have undoubtedly been very low as compared with labourers' wages in 

 towns, hence the temptation to forsake the country ; and I fear there is 

 no immediate prospect of any material improvement in this respect unless 

 recourse is had to putting an instrument in the labourer's hand, in the 

 shape of a garden, wherewith he can, by his own and his family's labour 

 in their leisure, supplement their week's wage. It is needless to say that 

 a cottage and a garden, planted and cultivated as I suggest, might be 

 made worth nearly as much to the labourer and his family in the course 

 of the year as his wages. Indeed, this idea should be the moving spirit in 

 the scheme, as nothing will convince a working man sooner of the ad- 

 vantage to him of any work he may do than the chink of the money in 

 his pocket resulting from his labour. With the garden would be included 

 such aspects of rural economy as preserving fruit, the pig yard, poultry 

 run, and bee-keeping. As years passed on, so would this garden increase 

 in fertility, and the crops in value, bringing to the workman in kind and 

 in money a more satisfactory return for his labour than that which the 

 town labourer receives, to say nothing of the more healthful conditions 

 under which the countryman works and lives. 



It may be objected that my suggestions are not capable of practical 

 development, necessitating as they do a considerable expenditure of 

 money to establish, as well as much technical skill and knowledge on the 

 labourer's part in carrying out the work successfully. I grant that there 

 are difficulties in the way ; but they arc only difficulties which could be 

 easily removed ; and I hold that the subject is so pregnant with beneficial 

 possibility to the country workers of the future that the adoption of some 

 such scheme is imperative. The question of expense in the initial stage 



