2d9 
On the Erection of Labourers' Cottages. 
planted the little garden in front with useful vegetables; cultivated a large 
bed of English Mercury, (the luxury of the county) and reared a China 
Rose, beside the door. This gives an air of comfort to the dwelling, and • 
if there be naturally a wood behind as a background, and a good oak in 
front, this Cottage \^ill make a pleasing picture, rendered still more in¬ 
teresting by the ducks dabbling in the pool, and the sow with her litter, 
feasting on the acorns. This shows at least that Content might reside in 
the dwelling, and that the possessor may as an Englishman ought, walk 
uprightly, and feel his value, as a man, a husband, and a father. 
Without extending my observations on Cottages, I beg, gentlemen, to 
be permitted to repeat one remark. It appears to me that the subject 
while confined to the building only^ is not necessarily a part of the 
Horticultural Register. So far as the cottager can be instructed in the 
management of his garden and his orchard, (generally the same plot of 
ground,) so far as he can be assisted with seeds, or plants, or trees. Cot¬ 
tages form an integral part of your work; but to interfere in the laying 
down plans and elevations for those non-descript erections, which we 
so frequently meet with under the name of Cottages, seems to me to be 
deviating too widely from your original plan. Other periodicals may 
perhaps claim a greater latitude, but yours, being professedly horticultu¬ 
ral, ought in all its essays to have an eye to gardening. 
Laying the form of the Cottage entirely out of the question, much 
may be yet done in improving its general appearance, and in adding to 
the comfort and enjoyment of its inmates. For this end nothing appears 
to me moi'e eligible than to encourage a taste for gardening. This would 
make a man fond of his own fireside, would keep him at home on a sum¬ 
mer's evening, and the beans and peas gathered on the Saturday, would 
taste the better at his Sunday’s dinner, from being the produce of his own 
leisure labour, and of the joint assistance of his wife and his little ones. 
There are, I am sorry to say, many Cottages which have no gardens. 
It would not be too much to expect the Lord of the Manor, or the parish 
authorities, in such (,‘ases to allot to the industrious cottager a small garden 
plot, from the wa.ste beside the roads, or rather, if it could be done, of 
some field or enclosure adjoining the Cottage. A small rent, might be 
paid for it, and the proprietor, besides being no loser, would have the 
additional satisfaction of having assisted an honest industrious man to 
rear his family, and keep himself above want. But this topic has already 
been so ably treated, that I shall forbear to expatiate, reserving for my 
next letter a few hints, which will, at least, have practicability to recom¬ 
mend them, for improving the residences, and as the common phrase 
has it, for “bettering the condition of the poor.” 
Wishing every success to your publication, and hoping that it will 
continue to increase in public estimation, 
I remain. Gentlemen, yoyrs, respectfully, 
Derhy^ Oct. 3, 1831. Arthur Fitz-Arthur. 
