the winter stock of wood for fuel dry; but it performs more important services. I appeal to the thousands of persons residing in the flat low-roofed houses round London, whether, in the years 1826 and 1827 (which had true French summers), they did not find their upper sleeping-rooms, from being so close to the roof, as hot as bakers' ovens, and whether they could by any possible means keep them cool. In winter, owing to the same cause, the rooms are extremely cold, and subject to frequent inundations from the sudden thawing of the snow which lodges upon the roof. These inconveniences are effectually prevented by the high roofs of the French houses, which, by interposing a great body of air between the tiles and the upper ceiling, tend to equalise the temperature, while the form of the roof prevents the snow from lodging in thick masses. [A sufficient argument; and we now see a beauty in high roofs which we did not see before.]

The following case strongly exemplifies the folly of condemning practices because they are at variance with those in our own country: -A very intelligent friend of mine observed in the neighbourhood of Tours a large public work (I believe it was an embankment), which appeared to proceed very slowly, compared with the rapid execution of such works in England. He expressed his surprise to the overlooker, and received the following answer:-"I admit, Sir, that in England you would have completed the work in as many months as it will take us years to finish, but I believe that the expense would have been greater in the same ratio ; it is not, however, to save expense that we conduct the work slowly; we have a higher object in view, the benefit of the labouring classes in the neighbourhood. There are certain times of the year when they have not sufficient employment; at such times any man may come here and work as long as he pleases, for one hour, two hours, or more, and he is paid in exact proportion to the quantity of work he performs. The barrows are all of the same size, and he receives for the number of barrowfuls of earth that he wheels to a certain place, a clerk noting down each time that he passes. Whenever he pleases he demands his money, and returns home. The wages we allow are something less than the common rate of labour, but are sufficient for his support; and in this way we have rendered essential service to the labouring poor for several years." Many a John Bull, who thinks himself a political economist, would have chuckled with exultation at the superior cleverness and quickness of the English, when he first learned the slow progress of such a work, and would never have stopped to dis

regarding France as an agricultural and horticultural country, it is impossible to overlook the political revolution which has divided the landed property into small masses, and which, by abolishing the right of primogeniture, tends continually to subdivide every estate in France. It is easy to conceive, in theory, that this subdivision might be carried so far as to prejudice the interests of agriculture: but I do not believe that it has had or will have this effect, for the proprietors of very small portions of land will almost always sell them if there be no house upon the property. A more equal division of land, by increasing the number of proprietors, gives security to property, as it increases the number of those deeply interested in its defence. The system applauded by some economists, of breaking up small farms, and consolidating them into large ones, has not (as it has often been contended) the necessary effect of increasing produce, but it sends the greater part of the population of whole villages to the workhouse.

In Flanders, where the farms do not on the average exceed from eight to eighteen acres, we find a population which, taken per square mile, is double that of England; and a greater quantity of food is said to be produced there than from any country of the same size in Europe: the people are also living in a state of great comparative comfort. The natural fertility of Flanders is not greater than that of England.

Another advantage resulting from the division of property will be, that the possessors will cease to be very eager to turn soldiers, and hazard their lives for objects in which they have no interest whatever; and if in this way the military ardour of the French people should abate, it will be better both for themselves and their neighbours. When the right of primogeniture underwent a fresh examination by the French legislature four years since, and the law which abolished it was reconfirmed, an English senator, whose views are in general liberal and just, surprised his friends by declaring in parliament that the French legislators were insane; because the abolition of the right of primogeniture would, by the division of property, increase the number of rural consumers of produce, and be the ruin of France. In proof of this, he stated that the rural population of France at present consumed one half of the agricultural produce, whereas in England the rural population consumed less than one third.* I confess that I

* I am not certain that the relative proportion of food consumed by the rural population of France and England is precisely what was stated, not having the papers to refer to: the principle, however, remains the same. I published some remarks on this extraordinary speech in the Times newspaper, a few days after its delivery.

cannot understand why a nation may not be as great and as happy when a large portion of its population consume the produce under a clear atmosphere, instead of being cooped up in large towns, factories, and garrets. Be this as it may, I beg the attention of your readers to the extraordinary fact, that the worthy senator who pronounced the French legislators to be insane, and stated so dogmatically what portion of the food ought to be consumed by the rural population, entirely overlooked the important circumstance, that France is a wine country, and employs some millions of the country people in the cultivation of the grape; and that the total yearly value of the wines in France exceeds twenty-five millions sterling, an amount greater than that of any three manufactures of English national produce, such as wool and iron. Vineyards require twenty times more hands per acre than what are wanted in pasturage and tillage farms; besides this, a great number of workmen are required for cooperage and making glass bottles. Wine-making, though performed by the rural population, is in every respect as much entitled to be regarded as a manufacture as that of wool, of flax, or of iron.

If the vine cultivators consume a large portion of the agricultural produce in their neighbourhood, do they not confer as great a benefit on their country in return as the consumers in Manchester and Sheffield do on England, a large amount of French wines being sold for exportation?

The above is a proof of the facility with which Englishmen too often decide on what foreign nations ought to do for their own happiness, without possessing a knowledge of all the circumstances which alone could enable them to judge correctly. As closely connected with the subject it may be proper to state, the fact is fully ascertained, that the average duration of human life in France has been greatly prolonged since the revolution, which is mainly attributed to a large portion of the people being enabled, by the more equal distribution of the land, to live in a state of greater comfort than formerly.

The quantity of agricultural produce consumed in the country may be less in England than it was formerly; yet no one can deny that the state of the agricultural population has greatly and alarmingly deteriorated, and that crimes and pauperism have increased to an enormous extent. The solid strength and prosperity of a nation ought not to be measured by the greatness of its capital in the hands of a few monopolists, or by the quantity of manufactured or agricultural produce which it can export, but by the general comfort enjoyed, and by the physical and moral condition of its inhabitants. I

resident rector of a large agricultural parish in Gloucestershire, that, when he entered upon his rectory, there were fortyfive small farmers in the parish, who brought up their families respectably in habits of industry; and their children, when they left home, made excellent domestic and agricultural servants. At that time there were only a very few paupers in the whole parish: at present, all the small farms have been consolidated into four large farms; and what is the consequence? the parish teems with miserable paupers, and the character of the inhabitants is entirely changed for the worse. This is too general a description of English agricultural parishes. It is true, the landlords may at first increase their income, and lessen the expense of building repairs by this system; but if the poor-rates devour a large portion of their rents, and their property is exposed to the ravages of a starving and demoralised people, they will find that they have not gained much by the extinction of small farms. The present state of the agricultural poor in this country is a subject of the most momentous import; and any information respecting the condition of the same classes on the Continent cannot be without its use, as it may tend to elucidate the causes of present distress, and suggest some hints for amelioration. This is the best apology I can offer for sending you the above very desultory observations: they were elicited by the vivid recollections of the Continent which your admirable description of the environs of Paris brought fresh to my mind. Before I conclude, allow me to propose one question. Great Britain, or rather our ministers and parliaments, have expended not less than a thousand million pounds sterling to restore the monarchical and paternal government of the Bourbons *: now, I very much doubt whether any minister or parliament could be found, who could by any means be induced to vote one fifth part of the sum, or two hundred millions, for any measure to benefit the condition of the English people, however great the good it would confer on them. If this be so (and few or none will deny it), I say, if this be the fact, does it not prove that we love our neighbours five times more than we love ourselves? Yet, notwithstanding this surpassing kindness towards them, whether it arise from a defect in the organ of gratitude, or from some mental idiosyncracy, I never met with a Frenchman, of any class or party, who felt thankful for what we had done, or who did not seem to rejoice at the

The total expense of the last war exceeds the sum here stated; for, besides the addition which it made to the national debt, all the supplies were raised (without law) by the income tax for a considerable number of years.

difficulties into which we were plunged by interfering in their concerns. Now, the question I would ask you, Sir, is this, Have you been more fortunate in discovering the national gratitude of Frenchmen? Nor is the question foreign to our subject; for, if we find that we have burdened ourselves with an intolerable load of taxation (the main cause of our present distress) in order to settle the government of France, and have, notwithstanding, failed in exciting any kind will thereby, would it not be prudent to change our system entirely, and to dismiss all our expensive military establishments, to confine ourselves to a strictly defensive plan for the future, and to leave other nations to choose what form of government they may like best? Among the expensive military establishments that might be dismissed with advantage are those in most of our foreign possessions; as it might be proved that they have cost more to conquer and maintain than the total amount of all the extra-profit we derive from their commerce. France, deprived of nearly all her foreign possessions, has within herself the elements of mighty power; and is, I conceive, much stronger than if her population were taxed to maintain establishments which possess little utility beside that of providing situations for the younger sons of the aristocracy.

Hampstead, March 2. 1830.

I am, Sir, yours, &c.

R. BAKEWELL.

ART. VI.

On the Management of the Timber Tree Plantations at West Dean, in Sussex. By Mr. JOHN BOWERS, Gardener and Planter there.

Sir,

WHEN you visited the West Dean Gardens, you appeared much pleased with the thriving appearance of the young plantations. As I attribute their luxuriancy in a great degree to my method of management, perhaps a detail of the experiment may be acceptable to some of your numerous readers. The experience of three years proves it to be both practicable and advantageous.

When the forest trees are from 4 to 5 ft. high, I commence the winter pruning by taking off all the strong side shoots up to the leader, and cutting them close to the bole of the tree. I leave a few of the small weak shoots, at about 15 or 18 in. apart, on all the forest trees (except the ash), from which they are all removed; I consider these to be of service in conduct