Novembek 14.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
103 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
OUR VILLAGERS. 
By the Authoress of “ My Flowers," Ac. 
Tiie love of dress among the female portion of the poor 
has been greatly and lamentably increasing of late years; and 
j is a fruitful source of mischief in many ways. I remember, in 
my childhood, the neat and comfortable dress of the female 
| peasantry—the dark stuff or cotton gown, the milk-white 
; apron, the warm red cloak, and the large black puckered 
bonnet,—all seeming to last from womanhood to age, and 
that gave so respectable an appearance to the rural congre¬ 
gation on the Lord's day. The dress of those times seemed 
j to last for life,—it was so strong, so good, and so carefully 
i treated, so that when once the purchase was made, little 
I expense was needed for the future. Rut now things are 
wholly changed, and the two or three stout scarlet cloaks 
which still linger in the village, form a striking contrast to 
j the tawdry, unbecoming finery that prevails now, and makes 
us continually regret the simple propriety of bygone days. 
The very children in the streets, ragged and dirty, have their 
long hair plaited and tied with bits of greasy faded ribbon, 
in imitation of their betters (a style which, I must observe, 
is by no means so pretty and child like for the higher classes 
as the simple crop I remember in my youthful days); and 
their bonnets are filled up with bunches, as they call them, 
and decorated with ribbon in needless and wasteful abun¬ 
dance. Instead of delighting to be neat and clean, young 
people are only trying to be fine; and there is nothing so un¬ 
pleasing to the eye, as well as distressing to the mind, as un¬ 
becoming finery in a labourer’s cottage. Many shillings are 
thrown away or debts incurred by this love of dress; and it 
is to young women the root of a thousand evils. 
The cheapness of all articles of clothing, especially of that 
which is worthless and unsuited to the lower orders, may be 
considered a real misfortune, because they can so easily give 
way to their fondness for finely. Imitation-lace, flowers, 
ribbons, beads, and trumpery of all descriptions are so cheap, 
that it is a sore temptation to the young and vain; and 
servants spend their wages upon then - persons, instead of 
assisting their families, or laying their money by for time of 
need. 
The classes immediately above the common labourer, who 
are, in fact, little removed from him iu point of circumstances, 
are equally wrong,— I mean the wives and daughters. On 
Sundays it is scarcely possible to distinguish the wife and 
daughter of the workman, or the petty shopkeeper, from the 
gentry of the neighbourhood, except by their manner and 
by the smartness of their clothes. The sisters of a sawyer, 
in mourning for their mother, are as handsomely dressed in 
bombazine and crape, in fasbionably-cut cloaks, bonnets, 
and parasols as any lady under similar circumstances could 
be; one of them is a servant out of place, and both are 
dependent upon their brother, and their own exertions as 
laundresses, for support. 
I was leaving the village shop, one day, which contains 
everything th at country customers can require, from bonnets 
and cotton dresses to cheese and bacon, &c., when a figure in 
a walking dress met me, and I was just going to accost her 
as a lady of fortune in the neighbourhood,—my hand was just 
advancing to greet her, and her name was only just not 
spoken,—when to my extreme surprise I discovered that the 
features were those of the daughter of the person who keeps 
the shop, and the dress and general appearance were but a 
close imitation of the lady for whom I had mistaken her. 
The unseemliness of such dress in the humble ranks of life 
is very striking and lamentable. It confers no respectability 
upon the individual, and only provokes the envy of those 
below them, and the disapprobation of those above. It is 
in vain to lament the pressure of the times when such 
expense is lavished upon that “ winch profiteth nothing;” 
and it is grievous to see the parents rising early and labour¬ 
ing late, while then - daughters are displaying at church a 
style of dress so improper for their means and station. If 
tins growing evil could be checked or discouraged, great 
good would be effected; and it might be the means of pre 
serving many young people from guilt and disgrace. 
The dress of farmers’ wives and daughters is equally ex¬ 
travagant, and the manner in which their little children are 
now decked out and brought up is truly deplorable. The 
hard-working, simply dressed daughters of farmers of old 
times would be indeed confounded, if they could now rise 
up and visit the scenes of their past labours. They would 
find their clean wainscotted or white-washed parlours 
papered, and curtained, and carpeted; they would find the 
stout oak or walnut-tree tables and chairs exchanged for 
fashionable furniture; and, possibly, the mother of the rising 
generation reclining in a large easy-chair, and summoning 
her children from the hands of the governess, by ringing 
for the servant to bring them in. This is no over-drawn 
picture—no fanciful or exaggerated case: it lias passed 
distinctly before me, and my own eyes have witnessed these 
and many similar instances of folly and improper expense. 
It is scarcely possible to over rate the evil effects of such 
extravagance. The sin lies at the door of the wife, and sister, 
and daughter, and they only are to be blamed for these 
transgressions; for very rarely does the father trouble him¬ 
self about display in the household, except to find fault -with 
the bills when they are sent in. Men’s follies are not those 
of dress and furniture, generally speaking, in any rank of 
life; they are often negligent and regardless of such tilings, 
especially in their own homes; and it is scarcely possible to 
avoid seeing that in the mischief and sin to which I allude, 
the female portion of the middling and lower classes are 
principally concerned. Among “ our villagers," among the 
agriculturists,—yes, and among the cottage gardeners too, I 
see much in this particular to regret; and I shall feel deeply 
rejoiced and thankful if but one of my humbler “sisters” is 
led to practise more sobriety in dress and domestic arrange¬ 
ments by glancing over these lines, and thereby not only 
saving many shillings and even pounds for useful and pro¬ 
fitable purposes, attracting the admiration and respect of ull 
right thinking persons, but obeying the command of the 
Apostle to clothe themselves “in modest apparel, with shame¬ 
facedness and sobriety,” and to be “ adorned ” only “with 
good works.” 
Whatever the Word of God enjoins is always the happiest 
path for us, as well as the best. 
MARKET-GARDENING. 
Advantage should be taken of all fine days for well 
hoeing or hand scarifying the earth between the present 
cabbage crops, the banks of late endive, lettuce, spinach, &c.; 
and sloping dry banks should be formed for pricking-out the 
quantity likely to be required in spring of cabbage, endive, 
Brown Cos, and the hardy cabbage kinds of lettuce. In the 
autumn season cauliflowers and brocolis may be considerably 
prolonged by lifting a quantity of them, as they show their 
heads, and laying them in some kind of sheltered cold 
situations—such as open sheds, temporarily-formed shelters, 
turf pits, or such other places—where, in case of frost, they 
may be a little protected by top covering with some kind of 
haulm or straw, by which management they may be pro¬ 
duced in market at a season of scarcity. Quantities of endive 
should also be stored in the same way, placed thickly 
together. All kinds of fruit-trees may now be planted; 
they should be staked at once, and the earth’s surface about 
them be slightly mulched. All spare ground should at this 
season be well manured and ridge trenched, first attending 
to the drainage where it is required. The outside fences, 
ditches, and water tubs should all be put in order ; and any 
alterations or repairs required to the roads or walks, or 
any new ones that may be required, should at this season 
be attended to, as time, when the change of season arrives, 
is too precious to be afforded for such matters. Temporary 
shallow frames should be placed on sloping banks, and 
filled within a few inches of the top with soil for wintering 
cauliflower plants, for sowing the short-top early radish, and 
transplanting the early Horn carrots, the half-grown endive 
