THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
195 
June 26.] 
parish. They are of immense, almost incalculable, im¬ 
portance in the nation; ancl they might exert a vast in¬ 
fluence for good over the labouring population, because they 
are brought into such close connection with them, and the 
poor depend so greatly upon them for daily work and bread. 
Farmers, like all men who live by their earnings, are striv¬ 
ing to make money; but, unhappily, in these clays, a great 
many of them are striving to live like gentlemen also; and 
this is the misery and ruin of men. They keep their 
carriage, possibly a hunter, too; they have a governess, or 
send their children to boarding-school, to learn Latin and 
Greek, or music and drawing; they keep a good table, and 
two or three bottles of wine upon it; and then they grumble 
bitterly at the tithes, the poor-rates, and the taxes. Gay 
dresses for their wives and daughters must be found; hand¬ 
some furniture must decorate the old-fashioned rooms, 
where the stout yeomen of former days sat upon polished 
oak, and sanded floors; and the children, instead of scouring 
the rooms, and whistling “ o’er the lee,” at the head of the 
team, are dressed up like little mountebanks, walking out 
i jenteely with the nursery-maicl. Now, if the present gene¬ 
ration of Britain’s sinews, for such farmers may be called, 
were living like the past, they would have been comfortably, 
respectably, and lawfully filling their little hives with honey, 
j meeting easily, and, therefore, without a grudge, the de¬ 
mands made upon them by their country, whose freedom 
and peace are so cheaply secured by that which men most 
reluctantly pay; and they would also be prepared to meet 
the pressure of trying times, like close-reefed vessels, in¬ 
stead of having their sails torn to shreds by the fury of the 
gale. 
The example of such men as Farmer Steady would do 
much good in a neighbourhood. He is a “ sinew" of the 
old school; but he has wisely brought up his children in the 
old school too; and it is a plan which ever} - farmer would 
do well to copy. He has very lately settled in our parish, 
but he farmed fifty years under his first landlord—a noble¬ 
man whose name will ever be music in England’s ear ; and 
he is a man respected by the neighbourhood from whence 
he came, and highly regarded. He has brought up a 
large family, some of them settled very respectably in life; 
whilst the others live happily with their aged parent, whose 
labour now consists only in toddling about, and seeing that 
all things about the farmstead are going on as they ought to 
do. The sons are up before the men come to their work ; 
they are in the stable with their horses, milking the cows, 
and performing all the pleasant duties of a farm, which in 
these times are usually left to the ‘ fagger,’ and the labourer. 
Young Steady is always by the side of the ‘ nag,’ in which¬ 
ever team he happens to be. He is, in fact, head-ploughman, 
head-carter, head-husbandman. The peace, order, neatness, 
and respectability of the farm is striking; no noise, or Tm- 
seemly language, or confusion, is ever heard or seen. The 
cows are quiet and contented, the horses willing and useful, 
all the gates closed, and the buildings in good order. Mary 
Steady endeavours to fill the place of her mother, who has 
been dead some years ; she bakes, and with her own hand 
makes up the butter, and does all the house-work, with occa¬ 
sional help. Her brother kills, and beautifully cuts out, the 
porkers and bacon-pigs ; in fact, they turn their hands to 
every thing, and are not above doing whatever is right to be 
done. 
The old farmer, with his clean white coat and stout stick, 
is always looking after something. He is seen through the 
trees in the distance, or among the ricks, or watching his 
son’s labours; and he has always a happy face and kind 
word for all who pass. The tears roll down his cheeks 
when he speaks of his children:—“ They never gave me 
an hour’s trouble, any one of them. They were always good 
children; and if the lads sometimes got into a bit of mis¬ 
chief, such as pulling the cow’s tail, and I was angry, I 
would throw my hat down on the ground, and they were 
sorry and ashamed in a minute. They are good lads to 
work—I always brought them up to it; and they are all 
fond of each other, and happy together too.” The stout, 
respectable farmer’s dress in which the Steadys’ appear in 
church, and their unassuminglook and manner, is far more 
suitable to their station than the smart clothes in which 
some others of the same class are dressed; and their 
regular attendance and quiet behaviour mark the reverence 
with which they have been taught to regard the house of 
God. It is pleasant to see the brothers walking home 
together from church, or strolling out in the evening when 
work is done, or coming steadily home from market in their 
neat light cart. There is no idle company or amusements 
indulged in—no joining the hounds—nothing to interrupt 
the farming concerns, or lead to expense and dissipation ; 
all is daily honest toil, and evening family comfort. 
When times become trying to the agriculturist, it is a 
very great advantage to him to be occupying his proper 
place, spending no unnecessary money, and indulging in no 
unnecessary luxuries. He is much more likely to ride out 
the storm than a man who has been living like a gentleman, 
and laying nothing by. When people have a great many 
indulgences to give up, the trial to themselves and their 
families is very severe; and they have not the comfort of 
feeling that they are giving up lawful comforts, but that 
unjustifiable luxuries are being wrested from them. It is a 
great satisfaction to an upright mind to feel that, under 
pressure, it can make personal sacrifices; nothing is sacri¬ 
ficed that we ought never to have enjoyed. 
A respectable old-fashioned agriculturist like good Farmer 
Steady, with hard-working, well-conducted, quiet sons and 
daughters, a thankful heart, and benevolent spirit, is one of 
the most beautiful sights that our beautiful land presents. 
The British farmer stands foremost in the ranks of his 
monarch, and in the sight of his own people. On his pros¬ 
perity rests that of all classes above him, and below him. 
There is no sight more stirring to the heart of a true En¬ 
glishman, than a body of stout, sturdy, prosperous farmers, 
jogging along the road, on their sleek fat horses, in all their 
rough, unpolished oak-heartedness. They, and the labourers 
on their land, are the bones and muscles of old England ; 
when they are strong, England flourishes; when they de¬ 
cline, her joyous spirit fades. But let us remember when it 
is that a blessing descends upon her own peculiar source of 
wealth—the tillage of the soil. It is when she worships 
the Lord “ in spirit and in truth.” When is that blessing 
withdrawn ? When men “ sacrifice unto their net, and 
turn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion 
is fat, and their meat plenteous.” Unless we “ hearken 
unto the voice of the Lord our God, to observe to do all his 
statutes and his commandments,” His curse will surely rest 
upon our “ basket, and our store.” “ The earth is the 
Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” 
ALLOTMENT FARMING FOR JULY. 
As the routine of affairs at this period is very simple, 
and mainly comprised in clearing processes, we hope to 
be pardoned for prefacing our observations with a few 
remarks of a general character, and bearing more parti¬ 
cularly on the appropriation of land by persons in a position 
to keep a cow or two, or, it may be, a horse. Having 
repeatedly dwelt on allotment affairs as pertaining to the 
mere cottager, the suburban mechanic, or the farm labourer, 
we are the more emboldened to pursue this course, inas¬ 
much as, from certain queries which have come to hand, 
there is reason to suppose that a quarter of an hour’s chat 
over the subject will be graciously received. 
One of our correspondents wishes for a four years’ course 
on a half-acre devoted entirely to cow-keep, and, as this is 
too late a period to commence such a course as we should 
have to propose, and would, moreover, with ordinary allot¬ 
ment remarks, occupy too much of these columns, it must 
stand over until the autumn, when we will undertake the task 
with pleasure. There are, however, points in our corres- j 
pondent's letter which it will be well to advert to, inasmuch 
as an attempt to advise in this case wall elicit remarks which 
may prove useful hints to many others of the numerous 
friends to The Cottage Gardener. It will be well, as 
prefatory matter, to quote a few of the difficulties as stated 
by our querist. 
1st. The difficulty of observing a good rotation, inas¬ 
much as “ the same sorts of food are always wanted.” j 
2nd. “ Roots and green crops always wanted.” 
3rd. “ Having pasture, I want more roots than green ! 
crops.” 
4th. “ Shall be obliged to change one root for another: j 
this always objectionable.” 
