Page:The farm labourer in 1872.djvu/22

 of this question will not be by a mere direct rise in wages but by means more fundamental, more drastic, and more human.

Secondly. That although much good may ensue from meeting and conference in imparting information and correcting fallacy, yet this matter will not be settled by speeches or congresses, or even by committees appointed thereat. It will be settled by landlords, farmers, labourers and others down in their several districts, on every estate and farm by personal devotion and practical experiment rather than by canvass and talk, or what a great writer has described as "swarmery." But whether these propositions be conceded or not, it is of the last importance that at a meeting like this practical Truth and practical suggestion should be heard as to the best means of improving the standard of the worst by the example of the better. If it be conceded, as it must, that the position of the farm-labourer in some parts is one of comparative comfort, that is to say compared with the unskilled labourer in towns and elsewhere, it must be also asserted that his position in other parts, especially in the south of England, is capable of and does require great amelioration.

And first by way of garden allotments—In some parts of England it is the custom to attach to every cottage, a considerable and sufficient garden of say one-quarter or one-third of an acre. This is chiefly