Oil the Farmimj of Ilantln(jdoa. 
271 
this part of tlie country Is dotted. It is true tlicre are some excep- 
tions, yet 1 am <^ricvcd to say the majority of the cottages are of the 
most miserable description, many of their walls !)oing only mud and 
plaster, with dirt floors, and without sufficient sleeping-room 
lor the separation of the di(r(nent sexes or the maintenance of 
common decency. Happily Boards of Health are taking up the 
question of cottage-improvement ; for great as have been the 
efforts made to educate the agricultural labourer, the dwellings 
must be improved before a high standard of morals can be ex- 
pected among their occupants. 
Farm Buildings. — These are mostly of an inferior kind, and 
on many farms quite inadequate to the requirements of modern 
times ; many of the outbuildings being merely erections of clay 
and stubble, and serving only as a temporary shelter for the stock. 
It is not unusual to find a barn and cart-horse stable of a tolerably 
substantial kind ; but the rest seem Improvised to meet the re- 
quirements of the moment, and to be Increased in extent from 
time to time, as Improved cultivation proceeds. The farmhouses 
also call loudly for improvement : quite a revolution in society 
has taken place Avithin the last quarter of a century, and why 
should the farmer be compelled to lag behind ? Should he not 
occupy the same social position as the tradesman or manufacturer 
with an equal amount of capital embarked in his business ? This 
is a landlord's question, and should have his serious considera- 
tion, since it Is found that farms with good houses upon them 
are much more inquired after than where the reverse is the 
case, and that, too, by a superior class of tenants. 
Mr. John Chapman, of Worndltch, near Kimbolton, who 
has died since the following paragraph was written, occupied 
about 1300 acres ; 900 acres being his own property, and 400 
rented of the Duke of Manchester. The occupation is about 
equally divided between grass and tillage. The farm is worked 
on the four-course, and as Mi". Chapman was an extensive grazier, 
he produced as much green crop as possible : viz., tares, man- 
gold, kohl-rabi, and common turnips. Thorough drainage and 
the liberal use of cake on the grass land for a great number 
of years have produced pastures of good quality, and at the pre- 
sent time 160 to 180 beasts are turned out fat each year, part 
being sold from grass land, and the others finished off with 
cake and roots in the stalls. Mr. Chapman preferred a good 
Shorthorn to animals of any other breed. Many of his beasts at 
Christmas, 1867, made from 30Z. to 40Z. each; and when the 
writer visited his farm at the end of Januar}^ there were still 
some beasts worth from 34Z. to 36Z. each left in the stalls. 
On the farm about 1300 sheep of the improved Lincoln type 
are kept. For some years rams have been used from the flock 
