On the Cottage- Homes of Eufjland. 303 
shallow, as nearly all of it was taken up in earthing. Mr. Knight 
t;aid he expected 700 bushels to the acre. 
Watering Celery, at Downton, is done by causing a stream to run 
through the trenches; and Mr. Knight's fine Marrow Peas T found 
attended to by the same kind of watering, a drill drawn out on one 
side the row; by which means they are kept longer in bearing. 
I am. Gentlemen, 
Yours, &c. 
Lancashire, Norember 7, 1831. F. H. S. 
Article XI. — On the '^Cottage -Homes of England^ By 
Philo-Cot. 
* 
Gentlemen, 
If the following observations fall in with the plan of your 
\\'ork, they are entirely at your service. 
" The Cottage-Homes of England ! 
" By thousands on her plains ; 
"They are smiling o'er the silv^y brooks, 
" And round the hamlet Fanes. 
" Through glowing orchards forth they peep 
" Each from its nook of leaves, 
"And fearless there the lowly sleep, 
'• As the bird beneath the eaves." 
Mrs. Hemans. 
Perhaps it would be difficult to find in any language a more glow- 
ing, a more just description of that fascinating featiu-e of landscape, 
the Cottdges of England, than the fair authoress has comprized in the 
stanza selected for my motto. This stanza, however, is but one of a 
series descriptive of the " Homes of England," and its beautifid tran- 
sition to the home of the lowly cottager, will ever be admired by the 
lover of simplicity in poetry. The poetess seems, however, rather to 
have alluded to the period thus described by Goldsmith, — 
" A time there was ere England's griefs began, 
"When ev'ry rood of ground maintain'd its man; 
" For him light labour spread her wholesome store, 
"Just gave what life requir'd, but gave no more: 
"His best companions, Innocence and Health; 
"And his best wishes, ignorance of wealth," 
than to the degraded cottager of the present day. In such a state a 
labourer would enjoy the happiness of his own fire-side, and the cot- 
tage home of England would be an enviable situation to every mind 
which could appreciate the value of content and competence. 
"But times are alter'd! Trade's unfeeling train 
" Usurp the land, and dispossess the swain ; 
