BARRACK GARDENS. 
355 
giving them a twelvemonth^s notice they 
should be prepared to receive their discharge, 
and in like manner v^^ith six months' notice, 
they ought to be allowed to claim it. The 
way is thus paved to the promotion of the 
studious disciples of the art, and the service 
relieved of men who would, in time, become 
useless burdens upon the finances of the 
country, unless they were made to combine 
the labours of the garden with the military 
duties of the country. 
To protect the little plantation from rude 
invasion or wanton injury, a sentry should 
be placed at the entrance gate ; and as some 
difficulty would attend the making this a 
voluntary service upon the part of the soldier- 
gardeners, the commanding officer of a regi- 
ment might fairly enough impose the work 
upon the whole corps in due rotation. Sen- 
tinels are placed over the bad and ill- con- 
ducted soldiery ; it is, surely, no great addi- 
tional tax to demand that they should be 
employed in the service of the creditable and 
industrious. 
It has been represented to us that some 
of the barracks in Great Britain are, like 
the St, George's Barracks in London, so 
surrounded by buildings that it would be 
impossible to carry out our scheme without 
trenching upon the parade ground; — while, in 
the manufacturing districts, the quarters of 
the soldiery are immediately within the in- 
fluence of the smoke of factories, so prejudi- 
cial to the healthiness of vegetation. Without 
stopping to anathematize a system which 
debars to hundreds of the most valuable ser- 
vants of the State the blessings and advantages 
of free ventilation, we meet the objection that 
has been advanced by suggesting that where- 
ever it is impracticable to create gardens at 
the very doors of the soldiers' dwelling, they 
should be furmed at convenient distances from 
the barracks. No difficulty is advanced by 
the men on the score of the remoteness of 
an ale-house ; the well-disposed are not there- 
fore likely to be disinclined to walk a few 
hundred yards to indulge in a pastime con- 
genial to their inclinations and promotive of 
their welfare. 
In regulating the subscriptions of the men 
to the first expenses of gardens, much will 
depend, of course, upon the size of the ground 
applicable to the plantations, the quality of 
the vegetables, fruits, and flowers the tem- 
porary proprietors may be disposed to rear, 
and the amount allowed by the Government 
in the first instance. In any event, however, 
a very few pence from each soldier will suf- 
fice ; and as the capital so employed will 
return a handsome interest in the shape of 
produce, (to say nothing of the entertainment 
purchased, and the health unconsciously pro- 
moted,) we cannot anticipate any objections 
to the necessary deduction from pay. As we 
said in our former article upon this subject, 
it should be impressed upon the men that, 
although they may sometimes be ordered to 
march to another station before they can reap 
the reward of their industry and outlay, they 
will, in all probability, find a garden equally 
prepared in their new location. By making 
the system general, this end would be secured 
by the Government, excepting in cases of 
the embarkation of troops for a distant colony, 
or other foreign service. In such events, 
the men might receive an indemnity for their 
outlay and the barrack-master could arrange 
for the disposal of the produce to some mar- 
ket-gardener, unless the departing regiment 
was immediately succeeded by another. 
It need scarcely be added that we contem- 
plate the extension of our project to India, 
the Colonial Stations, and the Mediter- 
ranean. Indeed, Ave are much mistaken 
if greater facilities will not be found in 
those places for the establishment of gar- 
dens, than in almost any part of the United 
Kingdom where troops are quartered. 
Generally speaking, there will be found 
plenty of men in the ranks well acquainted 
with all the routine of practical gardening, 
and in such cases there would be no occasion 
j to seek for a gardener elsewhere ; but the 
gardener to the barracks, whether taken from 
j the ranks, or otherwise, should be a perma- 
I nent appointment, and not be removed with 
j the regiment. If there were any difficulty 
arising out of the property which the labourers 
may be supposed to have in the stock of the 
garden, let there be a low scale of payment 
for all who work in the garden, and let all 
who work be paid. The soldier would then 
have his choice whether he worked or re- 
mained idle, and there only need be compul- 
sory labour when necessity pressed ; but if 
soldiers have other modes of employing their 
time — and this is frequently the case — it would 
be hard to force them to labour on a garden 
at a disadvantage to themselves. There 
would be this advantage in barrack gardening, 
which does not occur in all cases, the produce 
can always be disposed of. There is no rea- 
son why cabbages and potatoes, carrots, or 
any other vegetable, should not be distributed 
as well as their bread, and the quantities of 
the various crops could be so regulated as 
to affiDrd this. In such case a man could do 
as he pleased about eating the produce, or 
disposing of it. It may be that the soldier's 
pay will not afford money for seeds, and there 
might be many objections to any of them 
being called upon for contributions in the 
form of money ; and the difficulty which has 
only been glanced at, of regulating claims on 
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