174 GS2 iPLANS OF Ieconomy OF THE U N I VERS ITY or ILLINOIS ' -y^ . hh'f*:^.' • it‘r;^:;-' > r jfi- . * ' ' ; ■ i- Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/plansofeconomyorOOgree PLANS OF ECONOMY. ^rice 2s. 6.,^ J, Nichols, Printer, Part’s Court, Soho* TO EASE INDErE:^BE:^CE • BY THE SIXTH EDITIOX, Confiderably ImproTed. X © 'D 0 p.: Pic c j^I3) 'v.^. RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD CARRINGTON, LATE PRESIDENT ■ - Of the HONOURABLE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, J Prompted, my Lord, ^ as I conceive, by the best of hu- I man duties, that to my native ^ l^country, I have sketched the fol- loMung Plans of Economy, prin- ^ cipahy for those, Mdiom chance or I choice has placed in the middle J paths of life. YoUr Your Lordship’s presidency oTer the Honourable Board of Agricul- ture, in some measure, precludes the necessity of apohJgizing for this Dedication: but that conside- ration apart, where else could I address myself to more virtue, dis- cernment or accessibility ? In the following prefatory Ob- servations, I have, in course, ad- verted to the ill-got opulence and vicious profusion of some descrip- tions in the mercantile world: and surely there cannot be a more dis- gusting or detestable character, than that of a purse-proud trades-^ man, or of any other man, without principle, temperance, education, or humanity. But where honor, feeling, feeling, judgment, and well culti- vated talents adorn the mercantile profession, a sceptre would only add the ampler means of doing good. This position could proudly be illustrated by a splendid living example : but on that head, I will spare both your Lordship's time and feelings, 1 have the honor to be. Your Lordship’S Most sincerely, devoted Servant, WILLIAM GREEN. 1 pans! OF ECONOMY; OR, THE ROAD TO EASE AND INDEPENDEXCE, The rapid increafe of vanity and < extravagance, in this island, is a sub- ject pregnant with mischief and alarm. Commercial monopoly, and Eastern opulence, (inevitable bane of every country into A\^hich it flows) have al- ready fostered dissipation and immo- I’ality into monsters of colossal magni- tude, that every moment threaten the humbler classes of independence with ruin: indeed much of the frugality which once characterised the latter, is now no more r for the little tradesman B 3 and 6 PLANS OF ECONOAIY. and mechanic of the present day, fa- tally, though impotently, ape the luxu- ries and fashionable vices of their su- periors. The vast extension of commerce and manufacture, has produced an influx of frothy wealth, Avhich leads us into habits, effeminate and expensive : we now feel new \rants, and sigh after in- dulgencies never thought of before. We w'ere first instructed in the vicious means of expending this increasing' •wealth, by continental tours. The vices and follies of foreign nations, were thus transplanted into our native soil, Avhere they have unhappily flour- •ished ; a ridiculous refinement has "usurped the place of that honest and manly simplicity of manners, Avhich had so long dignified the British cha- jacteF. It in the iuauspicious^ reigrt PLANS OF ECONOMY. 7 reign of Charles I. that this false refinement of manners, began to infect the court, under the immediate patron- age of the Queen, who was a foreigner. The civil wars however, impeded the baneful progress ; for, under the usur- pation of Crojiwell, the fanaticism of the crabbed saints of those times, for a period, repressed it ; but after the restoration of the second Charles who, by a long residence in France, had acquired all the profligacy and frippery of the highest orders in that nation, it Avas revived; and luxury and indecency, like a Stygian torrent, de- luged the court and the capital. Re- leased from the yoke of republican au- sterity, and religious enthusiasm, all ranks began to join in the jubilee, not of rational enjoyment, but of the most abandoned licentiousness and debau- chery. B 4 Hitherto 8 PLANS OF ECONOMY. Hitherto, however, the new vices and artificial wants of life, were chiefly known to the residents of the court, and wealthy inhabitants of the metro- polis ; for the grand mass of the nation ■was yet comparatively modest and un- corrupted ; but, “ as a little leaven lea- veneth the whole lump,” so, as soon as the infection of luxury, had tainted the higher clashes, it began gradually to spread among the middling and lower orders, in the vicinity of the metropolis, and soon after, in the most unpolished, and hitherto undebauched parts of the island. The nobleman and his pampered menials, periodically re- tiring into the country, now carried the manners and extravagance of the court with them ; the gentry were am- bitious to imitate the prave example set before them; and the yeomanry, and even the peasantry, were by no means PLANS OF ECONOMY. 9 means backward, in a vicious imita- tion of their betters. But since the commencement of the present century, the progressive dete- rioration, which has taken place in the manners of the inhabitants of provin- cial towns, and their vicinities, is in- calculable. Where is now to be found that simplicity, that blooming indus- try and sincerity, which once enviably distinguished those, who lived remote from the capital ? Avhere is the cheerful toil, the frugality, and innocence, for which they were so justly celebrated? Every town, and even many a village, now boasts its theatre, and company of comedians, whose habits and repre- sentation are in general, strong incen- tives to the most contagious profligacy. The rage for that expensive frip- pery* 10 PLANS OF ECONOMY. pery called taste and elegance of dress,’* is now almost equally predominant in the village and the metropolis, and even surpassed by the purse-proud in- habitants of large manufacturing towns. The very farmer’s daughter has laid aside her stuffs for muslins, her hand- kerchief for the meretritous display of ^ Our present female education is unsuitable to the dignity and irnportance of a wife, they learn the jilting airs of a prude or coquet, but not the necessary qualifications of a women of sense>. they learn an affectation of they know not what,, but not real politeness and good manners ; and though many of them, are really women in sta- ture, they are mere children in management and- economy. So that a wife taken from an humble cottage, perfect in household concerns, and do- mestic expenditure, and a stranger to those fa- shionable modes of vanity, the present fair now- a-days whimsically imbibe, will make a much more eligible wife, than one, who has had what the world unjustly calls, a genteel education ; for in the language of the old adage, preferable is the fortune in a wife, than witli a wife. Tiaked fLANS OF ECONOMY. 11 naked charms, her diffidence for co- <]uetry, and the bloom of virtuous in- dustry, for the harlotry of paint. These changes are owing to the continual in- , tercourse of a commercial nature, be- tween profligate overgrown London, and the principal provincial towns; to the country residence of the nobility in tlie summer, to the general resort of company to those fashionable circles of of debauchery and dissipation called* “ watering places,” but more particu- larly so, to that moral miasma, gene- rated in our crouded, ov^ergrown ma-r jjufactories. Tlie gentleman of landed property, was formerly a character fit for the no- tice of approving heaven ; resident on his own estate, improving his neigh- bours, and enriching his tenants: his philanthropy was traced in the counte- nance 12 PLANS OF ECONOMY. nance of the poor ; his house exhi- bited the antient English hospitality ; and within the Avide sphere of his in- fluence, he scattered plenty, and dif- fused happiness over the land. But that truly illustrious personage, is now transformed into the sorry sycophant of some electioneering nobleman, or the dependant victim of a brothel, or gaming table ; if he even struggles for the independence and virtuous influ- ence of his fore-fathers, it is in vain — an upstart cheesemonger, carcase butcher or mealman, perhaps with his famine-sprung splendor, throws back into the shade of neglect and obscu- rity, the indignant virtuous descend- ant of a long line of ancestors, who had been the boast and benefactors of the parish. The most rigid economy therefore is now requisite for him, that labours under the spreading gangrene of PLANS OF ECONOM-y. 13 of monopoly ; but if the man of an- cient independence, be thus pinched, what is to become of those who have smaller incomes ? an honest pride for- bids their complaints ; they live on, without any possible provision for their children, in a state of frugality, bor- dering on indigence ; and all • this, while the swollen mushrooms of 'vi- cious * trade (any other trade I honor) profusely waste in their halls, their stables, and their kennels, the needful sustenance of human life. In town, others of the same dissipated com- plexion, expend at their company’s halls in one month’s gluttony, enough * It is a well known fact, that our cornfactors and mealmen annually expend large sums in bribing the editors or proprietors of some of our daily prints, to announce to their duped readers, the most alarming falsehoods respecting the crops, the little stock in hand, and many other bugbears of a like mischievous tendency. to u P'LANS OF ECOXOMY. to support for a whole year, the poor !& ■any one of the largest counties sui-- rounding the scene of their brutal ex- travagance. Let the country gentleman then, whether of small or large fortune, feel and exert his superiority over those purse-proud tradelings ; let him spend his income among his tenants and neighbours, and improve them by his solid accomplishments, his advice and example. Such indeed were even our yeomanry of old, before they either swelled into monopolists of farms, or sunk into starving peasantry ; but the luxuries and effeminacies of the age, have almost banished from society, the 'hardy independence and dignity of former times; and the country, like thC’ ' Capital, is, with not many exceptions, one PLAJJS OF XCONOMT. 13 one fcene of dissipation among tlie great, and misery among the poor. 0 Even the rational plan adopted by 'Our late able miniftei’, of taxing * in- come, instead of being efficacious in curbing the vices and profusion of the age, only made purse pride more nroud, and misery more miserable. Surely then, if economy was ever to be attended to, it is particularly so, when we have scarcely breathed after •an expensive and destructive war, be- fore we are unhappily involved in ano- * The celebrated financier, Monsieur Necker, adopted the plan of a tax upon income, as the only fair and rational plan of taxation; it waa suggested by the good Abbe St. Pierre, Author of the Studies of Nature. But the substitute to which Mr. Addington has necessarily resorted^ has only taken the burden of the shoulders of tlie rich, and laid it on those of the middling ^classes, and of the poor. penditure, 16 PLANS OF ECONOMY. ther, and that at a time when several ne- cessaries of life are still extravagantly, and unnecessarily dear. Those therefore of small income, wlio now launch out into needless expences, are deserving of the most severe censure. Indeed to be peculiarly sparing of ex- penditure in the present times, is a moral duty incumbent upon all ranks of men, but especially on those, whose income is but small ; a warning voice loudly calls upon such to be upon their guard, to be cautious not to increase expences, they can never defray, lest debts should accumulate, and inevit- able ruin follow. He who forms a just estimate of the enjoyments of life, will limit them to health, ease, competency and inde- pendence, blessings as much within the reach of gentlemen, from two to five hundred PLANS OF ECONOMY. 17 hundred per annum, as of those of one to ten thousand a year ; and as the articles essential to living, have in- creased in price, in the same ratio, should it operate as an incentive to in- dustry and economy. Though very many of those of of small income, have it not in their power to increase it, yet they may de- crease their expences: frugality and. economy may make them in some re- spects equal, and even superior to those, whose estates are of much greater value. Nothing giv'^es superiority to life, but independence : those who pos- sess a hapj)y mediocrity ; who are se- cure from the clamours of injured or impertinent creditors, and exempt from the vices and luxuries of the age, may justly be pronounced the happiest, most virtuous of mankind. C The 18 PLANS OF ECONOMY. The situation of a man involved in debt, is one of the most painful and humiliating that can possibly be ima- gined: he commits his honor and his liberty to his creditors; he breathes the pure air, or enjoys his own fire side, only by courtesy or sufferance; he is entirely at the mercy of men, whom perhaps he licartily despises. These observations however cannot apply to those, whom sheer necessity involves in debt; who possess a rectitude of principle, who wish to pay, but are, by some unforeseen event, rendered un- able: such persons are the just obje6ts of indulgence and commiseration ; and he must be a merciless creditor indeed, who would withold lenity from a debtor of th is peculiar description : Our laws on this subject, call loudly for a revision: it is a fact seriously to be la- miented, that numbers of honest, in- dustrious fLAlTS OF ECONOMY. 19 (lustrious characters, men of unim- peachable probity, are for small debts, which for some time they may be un- able to pay, immured in prison, lost to their families and society, owing per- haps to the original debt increased ten- fold or more, by the chicanery of an unprincipled attorney. But the contracting of debts to any the least extent beyond our circum- stances, though in some instances it may be paliated, can never be com- pletely vindicated. “ I would sooner go, ” says a worthy and upright man, “ in a thread-bare coat, my own pro- “ perty, the whole year round, than in “ half a dozen new ones, the property “ of others.” Every man ought mi- nutely to examine the state of his own finances, and scrupulously regulate his expences accordingly. It is an idle, a C 2! mistaken, ‘20 PLANS OF ECONOMY. mistaken, and unmanly fear, that a reduction in the way of living, is dis- graceful. If it is requijite, it becomes honourable; and ought to be made in time, to preclude the approach of evil, for procrastination Avill only make things Avorse: and Avdiich is the most disgraceful, a voluntary, timely abridge- ment of our expences, or a compulsory one, by being insolvent? — Retrench- ing when we have lived too fast, is a proof of good sense, as well as of an honourable principle. It proclaims an abhorrence of our follies, and a deter- mination to act more Avisely and Aurtu- ously for the future. Wherever pro- perty is guarded by moderation and prudent management, a little Avill suf- fice; and even of that little, a pittance may be spared, that Avill, in time, en- crease to riches. Most of the great states and kingdoms in the Avorld, as Avdl PLANS OF ECONOMY. 21 well as private fortunes, have been raised to power and opulence by indus- try and frugality: but on the other hand, luxury and extravagance will un- nerve, impoverish, and annihilate both the one and the other. Economy, and her sister, tempe- rance, says one of the ancients, are home-spun philosophy, the most cheap and compendious way of obtaining all moral rvisdom and happiness: for they make life easy, prevent loss, and ba- nish fear; they raise the spirits of man, by bestowing on him a kind of self-suf- ficient and virtuous independence. An, inspection into household expences, a prevention of all waste, a retrench- ment of superfluities, and a saving, where it can be made with propriety, are duties incumbent on those of large, as well as on small fortunes. C 3 To ' 22 PLANS OF ECONOMY. To live beyond our income, is, I must own in the present day, esteemed fashionable; to figure in Rotten Row, or in any other rottenness of habit or principle ; to dash along the streets in a photon or curricle, and to sport a train of useless vitiated attendants, is the wild and weak ambition of our voung men of fashion, careless and nn~ concerned, Avhether they have just and truly honourable means of support- ing such a stile of luxury; and the thoughtless and avaricious world, by trusting too far to appearances, help rather to countenance than discourage so mad and vicious a conduct ; and thus do many men inconsciously be- come parties to the unhappy conse- quences of such a career. Indeed such is the absurdity of the world, that men are rated according to the appearance they make, and hence pro- ceed PLANS OF ECONOMY. 23 . «eed the ephemeral splendor, and base- less respectability of sharpers, and less vicious fools. Keep up appearances ; there lies the test ! The world will give thee credit for the rest. This dangerous, disreputable prac- tice, has been the ruin of thousands. Though it is not all gold that glitters, yet the appearance of wealth, is too often mistaken for the idolized sub- stance. But false appearances have ever proved, in the end, ruinous to the semblers ; and he who lives solely by them, will one day or other, lament the blindness of his conduct. Wheii divested of his fictitious wealth and fame, what is he to do ? Too lazy to work, too proud to beg, he will still, in vain, hanker after scenes of wonted * dissipation ; and the impossibility of supporting it, will imbitter his exist- C 4 encje. 34 PLANS OF ECONOMY. ence. Tantalus like, he will see so many more, whose glass of weak and guilty pleasure, is not yet run out, and cannot join them; no, he starves in a prison or workhouse, not an unworthy termination for the career of vice, and wanton, stupid extravagance. The silly affectation of men's ap- pearing to be richer than they really are, has occasioned the ruin of myriads. Men of this description, Avhose mea,ns have been very circumscribed, by as- sociating with vicious or extravagant nobility, or commoners of less virtue and honour, than fortune, have opened sources of expence, which have very soon impoverished them. The asses doff their lion’s skin, and are laughed at in their genuine imbecility. There is a wide difference between decency TLANS OF ECONOMY. 25 decency and profusion, between hospi- tality and ostentation, though they are too frequently confounded : he who srives an entertainment, which the state of his finances will not allow, cannot lay claim to benevolence or true hospi- tality; for while his guests revel in elegance and excess, he is injuring those Avho really have furnished the table, and’ in general laughed at, even by those parasitical guests themselves. Trencher-friendship lasts but as long as the cates that regale it. Where are its sons to be found, when the table ceases to smoke, or the costly wines to flow ? In the hour of calamity, they are the first to forsake the quondam house of mirth, and forget the hand that so liberally fed them ; they Avill not scruple even to laugh at his mis- fortunes, like flies that leave their stains 26 PLANS OF P;CONOMT. stains in place of the sweets they con- sumed. He that lives within his income, may be called a rich man, let his ap- pearances to the world, be ever so plain or humble ; while he, who exceeds it, though he inhabit a palace surrounded with grandeur, profusion, and flattery, is poor, in the truest sense of the word. Where thei'e is nothing but in prqfpect, and perhaps not even that, yet consi- derable sums expended, Avhat can be expected, but disgrace and poverty ? But the good economist contracts his desires to his present condition, and whatever may be his expectations, he lives within the compass of Avhat he actually possesses ; he never Avastes his fortune on fools, knaves, or flatterers, but cautiously, though liberall}^ watches over his property, preferring rather PLANS OF ECONOMY. 27 rather to depend upon that, than on the precarious friendship of others, or the no less precarious smiles of for- tune. Besides, mankind were created for mutual dependance and assistance ; without this, society would be disor- ganized; and every man of feeling*, will wish to have it in his power to assist those who are in need : and that sober, benign economy, feebly incul- cated in these pages, Aviil pave the way for attaining this heartfelt gratification. It Aviil enable us to supply the wants of others, and become good stewards of the bounties of Providence ; and cer- tainly notliing can exceed the pleasure arising from the exercise of benevo- lence. By carefully atteneling to the retrenchment of useless and frivolous cxpeuces, a fund is laid up, which will ultimately PLANS OF ECONOMY. ultimately raise a man, not only to ample independence, but even to libe- rality; for the small sum of a few pence, spared from the expenditure of each day, will, in a few years, amount to a considerable sum, the charitable debt of misery. Yet none hut those of truly servile minds, would unnecessarily become the recipients of the bounty of other men ; unforeseen or unmerited disasters, how- ever, will occur in life, and the revo- lutions of this world, are so singular and sudden, that many an independent and virtuous mind has been reduced to the painful necessity of asking relief from those, who, through economy, enjoy the god-like luxury of softening the hard lot of a brother. It is, how- ever, grating to an undegenerate mind to be reduced to such a situation ; yet those PLANS OF ECONOMY. 29 'those, who spurn at the maxims of eco- nomy, and disdain to be invariably guided by its rules, Avill in the end, have only to trust to the fastidious charity of their acquaintance. He, theref ore, t hat has the fewe^ wants, and has it in his power to sa- tisfy them, I S not merely the happiest, but the richest man. Though he is not a peer of the realm, he is a lord of the creation ; he can fill his station with conscious, self-created dignity, and look down Avith pity or contempt ■on the ducal coronet, or flittering star of the tinsefled sycophant; for solid happiness,’ Avhich apish pride cannot imitate, nor gaudy pomp attain, has its seat only in mental ornai\ients, and ge- nerous principles. There is, however, a degree of chagrin excited, when we view the gay and fashionable manner ia 30 PLANS OF ECONOMY. in which some persons live, Avhose merits and talents we may, without va'- nity, presume to be inferior to our own; but this asperity will soon be moderated, when we consider “ that “ the race is not always to the SAvift, ** noF theTmttle to the strong, that “ time and chance happeneth to all; the sudden ebullitions of envy in a wise man, on such an occasion, will soon be over, and with calmness, he will ex- claim, “ I envy not the prosperity of my neighbour, especially if it is ‘‘ merely outside shew : give me my cottage, \with a mind tree trom anx- “ lety and the approach of imperni- ^ nent credi tors, and I preter it to all “ the glitter of real, or pretended me- The prodigality of fools, is, and ever has been, a just object of ridicule or VLA'SS OF F.COKOMY. 31 or of pity ; how painful to a humane mind, to see men trifling like children, and like them, supine and thoughtless for the future ! to see a rich heir ar- rived at the possession of his estates, racking his barren brain to find out ways and means to squander his mo- ney ; or one, who possesses no estate, aping the manners of those who do! such beings are objects calculated to excite the sorrow or risibility of those, ■who behold them. Habits of economy, are certainly best acquired in the country; the sphere of extravagance or temptation is not so extensive there, as in town ; the country has also various advantages peculiar to itself, and more employ- ment for mind and body, more chear- fulness and independence is to be found there, than in the most profuse palace of 52 FLANS OF ECONOMY. of the metropolis. Here we witness- more of buffoonery and artificial chear- fulness ; here the children of folly, are ever on the broad grin, and laughing* even at their own shadows ; but the joy that Ireams in the villager’s coun- tenance, is that of genial nature, of conscious integrity and social benefi- cence. By thus asserting the superiority of rural life, with respect to morality and economy, it is not intended to insinu- ate, that both may not be successfully practised in the capital, and other great towns: the man who has just ideas of happiness, and who would wish to place boundaries to the wild and impetuous sallies of ambition, lust, avarice and vanity, may be alike virtuous, and economic in town and country: But it must nevertheless be acknowledged, that PLANS OF ECONOMY, S3 that the allurements to vice, extortion, dissipation and vain glory, are more powerful in the former, than in the latter situation. It is necessary to add to this cata- logue, an evil of great and extensive magnitude, which was almost exclu- sively reserved for the pride and luxury of modern times; I mean the Union of toxcn and country. This practice for noblemen and gentlemen of over- grown fortunes, is highly commend- able, and deeply founded in nature, and in many cases, necessary even for the tradesmen ; but surely every rule of decency is put at defiance, when those of very inconsiderable fortunes, when the petty shopkeeper and artisan, un- necessarily retire to court the cool breeze of the evening, and riot in the sweets and extravagance of a country D wlla ! 34 PI.ANS OF ECONOMY'. xilla! Tlie luxury -fed catalogue of bankrupts, and the other failures in the commercial world, may in part, have liad their origin, in premature pleasures of this nature. How preposterous for a man of small business, to increase bis expences, by such a pompous exhi- bition of baseless prosperity ! I Own, indeed, that an occasional residence in the country, for the preservation, or l ecovery of health, is highly requisite and proper; but what necessity for the ]>ermanent disbursements of a country- house, and the innumerable expences of a double establishment? — Fashion, capricious Goddess! exercises a des- potic sway over us, poor mortals, and prone enough we are to bow, to her fascinating sceptre. The labouring man, the artificer, the little shopkeeper, the petty tradesman, the wholesale dealer, the merchant, the farmer, the country PLANS OF ECONOMY. 35 country gentleman, and so on, to the first peer in the realm, each tread upon the heels of the other, and a general spirit of dissipation and rival extrava- gance, fatally enervates the nation. Those who desire happiness and in- dependence, those who wish to pre- serve their health and personal dignity, and consequently to attain a truly ve- nerable old age, will find rural eco- nomy in particular, to be a never- fail- ing guide; domestic happiness, men- tal, as Avell as bodilj'^ vigour, and pro- fitable labour, will stamp their fleeting hours Avith joy, the riches of compe- tence, Avill floAV into their coffers, and independence croAvn them Avith its ster- ling blessings ; besides, health, next to innocence, the choicest of heaven’s gifts, Avill strcAV with floAvers, their D 2 gentle 36 PLANS OF ECONOMY. gentle descent to tlie close of an ho- noured, instructive, and happy life. Suc^ Oh man I are the yiever-f ailing meeds of virtuous ECONOMY ! To exemplify the foregoing obser- vations, and to assist those, Avho may wish, but not know how to adopt, such salutary plans, the two annexed estimates, not taken indeed from the linparalleled high price of the late dis- tressing times, but from a fair impar- tial medium, are liumbly submitted to their attentive consideration. What immediately follows is an estimate/, whereby a gentleman, his wife, and three or four children, in the country, may with economy, and an income of <^200 * a 3’ear, keep three servants, * A man of good sense and good habits, may, with no more capital than two or three hundred pounds, PLANS OF F.CONOMY. 37 servants (two maids, and one man) and a lad, three horses, a curricle, or, in pounds, raise himself by degrees, to a comfort- able, as well as respectable independence, by judi- ciously cultivating a very few acres of land: of this possibility, I will give an instance or two. — lie first buys manure, then hires men and horses, to fill, draw, and spread it on, let us suppose, an acre of land : this acre, though lay land, he will have dug two spits and a crumb (to use the lan- guage of the market gardeners) for little more than one shilling the pole, or eight pounds the acre. After the winter, or early spring, has mel-^ lowed and impregnated with fixed air, and oxygea this acre, he in due time sows it with lettuce- seed (if in the vicinity of London) either the white coss or the green Egyptian: he then hoes them out one foot apart every way; this will cost him but a trifle; the number of his lettuces is now 43 , 560 , and, admitting that 560 of these fail, the remainder, at even sixpence per dozen, will pro- duce him .£83 11s. 6d. Let us suppose that after the lettuces are cleared off the ground, he sows Jtke acre with turnips and radish seed, (the latter D 3 as 38 PLANS OF ECONOMY. in time, a chariot, as also in every other respect enjoy the rational gratifi- cations as a protection to the young turnips, and when no longer needful, to be hoed up). But the better way would be, to sow the turnip-seed in drills, formed with a line and hoe, and the radish in the intervals, between the rows. By feeding a few sheep on the turnips in winter and selling them fat in March, he not only adds to his former pro- iits, but manures the soil for a very productive crop of carrots. The seed of this root, he is to sow in drills one foot apart, and when the roots have acquired some strength, to hoe them to the distance of ten inches in the row. The acre Will produce him 52,273 carrots, each weighing about one pound and a half, on the lowest computation ; and if the soil be light and good, w^e may double the given weight. Thus may he have to fatten hogs, or even oxen, 104,546 pounds of the soundest food, that could possibly be obtained for that profitable purpose. This acre would fatten four of the largest oxen, or if kept safely till late in the spring, they may be sold, wholesale or re- tail, on terms very advantageous to the grower ; and PLANS OF ECONOMY. 39 cations of life, keep up appearance, as respectable, as that of a gentleman living in London on four times that sum; this will appear by comparing the estimates for town and country expenditure. It is however premised that the country gentleman possesses knowledge, capital and inclination, to cultivate in the most profitable man- ner, from 40 to 50 acres, or more, if he likes it ; but to succeed in his econo- mical exertions, he must be at least thirty miles from London, and if sixty, from that centre of pride, vice and dissipation, the better; yet a yearly visit of ten days or a fortnight to it, and, by cultivating his acre the third year with potatoes, according to directions, he will find in a subsequent part of this little volume, he may, with due care and economy, clear in the three years, from one acre £200, the just, and of course ho- nourable meed of virtuous industry, D 4 and, 40 PLANS OF ECONOMY. may be convenient and safe, if not necessary for a gentleman, his wife, and perhaps one of the children alter- nately, but still, under the guardian guidance of prudence and economy. COUNTRY PLANS OF ECO N 031 Y. 41 COUNTRY EXPENDITURE. E. s. d, A house, and about forty- three acres of good light- ish land 100 0 0 Taxes and tythes - 35 0 0 Bread, flour, butter, milk, cream, and in some coun- tries cheese, fruit, of su- perior excellence, fresh- ness and flavour, the pro- duce of the farm 00 0 0 Table beer, and ale* inpro- Carried on 135 0 0 ^ I allow a quarter of malt to forty-six gal- lons of ale, and fifty-six gallons of table beer ; and the more and oftener you brew in winter and spring, the more valuable the grains will be. portion, 42 PLANS OF ECONOMY. s. d. Brought on 135 0 0 portion, from nine quar- ters of malt had in ex- change for about the same quantity of barley, but paying the excise - 2 0 0 Yeast for bread and brew- ing ---------- 012 0 Pork, bacon, poultry, eggs, and sometimes game, the produce of the farm 00 0 0 Tea, coffee, &c, .&c. 5s. per week - -- — - -- 13 0 0 Carried on 150 12 0 * All the groceries should be had from Lon- -ondoii - -- -- -- - J 50 0 0 Carried on 4/6 8 0 extravagance of the docto/s bill; and as to Law, the real economist will as soon set his own house a fire, as enter on the fatal, thorney path of litiga- tion. Let caution prevent if possible, that dire necessity; for the law's boasted equality to ally consists chiefly, if not solely, in its uniformly ruin^ ous issue. * The economic mother will teach her chil- dren to read, and if there is not a respectable day school in the neighbourhood, the father may teach them to write, and perhaps initiate the boys, if any, in history, geography, and latin grammar. The girls should not continue at boarding-school, (that 45 PLANS OF ECONOMY. £. s. (1. Brought on 476 8 0 Coals * per annum - - - - 25 0 0 Duty on the carriage - - - 9 10 Wear and tear - -- -- - 5 0 0 Blacksmith -------- 10 0 0 <£.525 9 0 (that prolific seminary of corruption) beyond the age of eleven or twelve at farthest ; it may perhaps also be contrived, that one only should be there at a time. * In many parts of England coals may be had at half the price, I have estimated them at, and in some countries, as low as eight shillings per chal- dron. Besides, where they are very high, wood perhaps may, occasionally be had ; and the happy increase of canals adds greatly to the facility of water carriage. ne PLANS OF ECONOMY. 47 The 43 Acres of Land, I xoould thus divide and manage : ACRES. Mouse, offices, garden and small orchard, - 2 Wheat, and occasionally after that, a few acres of Avinter tares, and turnips - -- -- -- -- -- - 18 Barley, with turnips and Avinter tares after it---------- 3 Lucerne g Carrots - 3 Potatoes — — — 3 Clover 1 iMeadoAV - - - Pasture - - - Cow cabbages 1 43 WHEAT. cc ^8 PLANS OF ECONOM-r, JVIIEAT.- This crop sliould unquestionably be dibbled. In a rich soil, not over light, but extremely well tilled with plough and cultivator, it will produce oftentimes twelve hundred fold. If it be dibbled in rows, at the distance of nine inches from grain to grain in the row, and eighteen inches apart from row* to row ; and with good seed and good hoeing, it w'ill be very produc- tive. The number of grains that will seed an acre wall amount to 38,719 grains, wdiich do not quite constitute the 17th part of one bushel. But by adding one thousand to this series, we shall find the amount to exceed fil bushels per acre. But allow*ing no more than 47 bushels per acre, we shall have from the 18 acres, 846 bushels ; of this the family will con- sume PLANS OF ECONOMY. 49 sume nearly 80 bushels, the seed for the ensuing year about one bushel and one gallon, Avhich Avill leave for the inarlcet 765 bushels ; and these, sup- pose at eight shillings per bushel, will sell for cf’.SOO : 6s. : 8d * For the purpose of occasionally trench- ploughing, that is for wheat, and sometimes for bar- ley, for carrots and even for potatoes ; you should have one or two ploughs formed for the purpose of burying the upper spit, and raising in its place a fresh stratum^ by means of a second plough im- mediately following the preceding. The motive for adopting this method is, first, to dispense with the rotations of crops, which would be impossible in the series of cultivation here recommended, and secondly to give rest to the effete surface, and present a fresh soil to the ameliorating in* fiuence of the atmosphere. E BARLEK 50 PLANS OP ECONOMr. BARLEY. The three acres of barley will pro- duce 14 or 15 quarters. Nine quar- ters go to supply the family with strong and small beer, and from five to eight quarters remaining, will procure by purchase or exchange, about eight quarters of oats. For this crop, first stir in November, or as soon as the frost in January or February will per- mit, or when the turnips or Avintei’ tares, that may have preceded, are fed ofi*. Next %vith a cultivator,* (Mr. Lester of Northampton, has incom- paribly the best) work it as deep as thq. ^ The soil should be extremely well pulve- rized for barley, carrots, and potatoes, with the cultivator. — ^This instrument will algo be found invaluable in the drill cultivation of wheat, pota-*^ toes, barley^ and cow cabbages. staple PLANS OF ECONOMY. 51 staple of the land will admit, or the prongs of the machine will go, until the soil is perfectly pulverized. Next sowing commences, and any grain that tillers out, which barley does, should be sown thin; I should prefer sowing it in drills, eighteen inches apart, it will then require scarce one bushel per acre; or if you dibble it according to the method recommended for wheat, it will hardly take more seed . * * For the sake of always sowing a crop of tttrnips or tares after the barley crop, I would re- commend the Bath ripe seed. E 2 LUCERNE. OF ILLINOIS library 52 VLANS or ECGXOMr. LUCERNE. This seed, that (from Artois, Flan- ders, Piccardy, or Normandy, is the most proper for our climate) is to be soMm in April, and the plants trans- planted in autumn. — Take out the most healthy plants with a trowel, to- wards evening, and after you have cut the tops of the roots, then immerge them in water in tubs all night j early next morning take-them out, and plant them in a deep, moistish, and well pre- pared soil, to any quantity that will suit the first time; they aae to stand two feet apart every way, and in quin- cunx order. These plants should be very cautiously touched, or stirred with any other iron instrument except the scythe that mows the tops off; after the second season, it will, if well at- tended PLANS OF ECONOMY. S5 tended to, yield ev^ery year four weighty crops, and that for about fifteen years. Let us admit that for the seed, digging tlie soil, delving out, trimming, plant- ing, and subsequent care, it costs twelve pounds per acre ; but if you plow, and then, work it with the cultivator, the expence will be much less. This in- valuable grass will afford the most nu- tritious food to three horses, and seven large cows : two score of weathers, and three oxen can be fattened on the after grass, turnips and carrots. * ^ It may be a necessary caution to the reader, that lucerne is much too succulent a plant to be given at first, without somewhat more than one half straw to the horses ; and the cow will al- ways do very well, with half straws, and half lu- cerne, if the former be chaft-cut. ‘ CARROTS, 54 ' PLANS OF EC0N03IT. CARROTS. The three acres of carrots, proper- ly cultivated, will produce 196,014 pounds of excellent food for the horse,* ox, cow, sheep, and hog. This crop Avill enable the grower to fat three oxen, and supply the three horses, and three milch cows during the winter, together with considerable support for the remaining pigs. — Carrots require a light, sandy, rich soil ; but it must not he manured immediately, except with Some horses may at first object to them, hut by being cut small, and mixed with corn and a little salt, they will soon eat, nay, even grow fond of them, and I am conhdent, (for here I 6 peak from attentive experience,) they will be found no bad substitute for corn, and a valuable and wholesome food for horses, cows, and hogs. greaves, tLANS OP KCO'NOKIY. 55 •greaves, or any other animal manure, else they Avill be scabb3^ Let the seed be thinly sown on a calm evening, in drills, one foot apart; as soon as tliey have grown up, they should for the first time be hoed out in the rows to three or four inches distance, next to the distance of six inches, and on the third and last time, let them be hoed out, or rather this time pulled out to the distance of nine inches, as they will then be large enough for the fa- mily : after this, they want only to ,be hoed to keep the weeds down, and the earth moist, which frequent hoeing will do. Plowing, and if you pulverise it afterwards with the cultivator, seed, hoeing, and digging out Avith three pronged forks, or turning out Avith the .plow, about five pounds per acre. POILi- 56 PLANS OF ECONOMY, POTATOES The three acres of potatoes, if* ma- naged agreeable to the following direc- tions, Avill produce about 1 800 bushels- of this the family may consume be- tvYeen fifty or sixty, thereby leaving for the piggery, &c. 1740 bushels. To cultivate this root to the greatest ad- vantage, if you have not a cultivator, you should dig the land, which for this root, and indeed for all roots, should be very light, but at the same time very fertile: it should be dug at least two spits and a crumb; this will cost for light land, that has been broken up, nine-pence per pole square; of these poles there are in an acre l60. The digging will therefore cost six pound; but plowing it, and pulverizing with the BLANS OF ECONOMY. 57 the cultivator will do as well, if not better. Seeding an acre, which should be done Avith the whole root, wall cost from 37' to 40 bushels per acre; sup- pose three shillings a bushel, six pound .per acre. CLOVER. '58 PLANS OF ECONOMY. CLOVER. On the acre of clover, with the aid of the kitchen garden, dairy, and the necessary portion of beans or pease to harden the flesh, yon will keep about forty-six pigs, great and small, daring the summer and autumn, especially as .they gradually decrease by sale and consumption. I would recommend, to prevent waste, the pigs to be penned, ■similar to sheep in turnips, and a small quantity of clover allowed them at a rtime. 2IEADOn\ PLANS OF ECONOMT. MEADOJV. The four acres of meadow, will give if duly manured, moss harrowed and rolled, eight loads of hay, which with the forementioned fodder and straw for the dry cows, will suffice through the winter. For about six months, the pasture and lucerne will amply supply the horses, cows, and perhaps a little flock of weathers in autumn. * * The occasional culture of winter tare^ would enable the economist to hold out from year To year, a reserve of old hay; such a reserve would in a wet summer, greatly facilitate his hay- making, by mixing the old hay with the new, a process that improves both ; as for the idea of making your hay undergo some degree of fomen- tation, it can serve no other purpose than to ren- der it more palatable (but I think less wholeseme) than better made hay, and that, with a moderate quantity of salt thrown over the hay in making the rick, will supply. MEAT. 60 PLANS OF ECONOMT. MEAT EXPENDITURE. Twelve porkers, about eight stone, . eight pound to the stone, to be killed annually, for the use of the family, one every month : Also four hogs yearly for bacon. About one dozen of roasting pigs, some for presents, or sale, and some for home consumption. This quantity of pork will allow about thirty pounds per week, equal to three days consumption. Turkeys, geese, ducks, fowls, and pidgeons, will be a good substitute for the fourth day’s provision. The l^LANS OF ECONOMT. 6'! The whole of tlie above expence, it must be observed, is included in the produce of the farm. There only tvants therefore butcher’s meat, for the remaining three days, which I thus provide for. Twelve more porkers, and four bacon hogs to be sent to market, or exchanged with a butcher for beef, mutton, lamb, and veal. This sale or exchange, Avill procure thirty pounds of meat per w'eek, and 1 make no doubt a surplus, for a weekly dish of fish. HORSE FLANS OF ECONOMI’". 6 ^ HORSE ESTIMATE. I never would advise horses to be turned out to grass; it is my intention to have them always kept in the stable : to be fed even in summer, on tares, saintfoin, or grass cut fresh every day, as I am decidedly of opinion, that both horses and cows, when out at grass,, destroy as much provender, as they consume. Their dung and urine, if the stable be Avell floored or paved, are a considerable object, in rural eco- nomy; but, though I am an advocate for their being fed in a stable, yet I would by all means recommend turn- ing them out in the day-time, in some dry field or paddock, as excercise and air will prevent the increase of hu- mors, and much contribute to keep them in good health ; they should par- ticularly- PEANS OP ECONOMY. 65 : ticularly have fresh feed in spring, to- vork or purge them : by this arrange- inent you Avill find your horses thrive equally as wellj have a finer coat, and the consumption of fodder, considerably reduced. For I am clearly of opinion^ this salutary mode of feeding, will maintain four horses, and with not more consumption, than would three, in the’ common method of turning to grass. corr 64 PIANS OF ECONOMr: cow ESTIMATE, We will suppose a cow to be dry two months in the year; there will re- quire only ten months good feedingv as the two months she is dry, she may be fed upon straw, except the week previous to her -calving', for then she cannot be kept too well, as she will calve the more safely. — Through the year one acre and a half Avould main- tain her, the spring grass of the mea- dow ground, and new tares, or clover cut for her, before laid up for hay, will keep her all the month of April and May ; so that w'e shall not have more than three months to feed her on hay, and she will in these three months, allowing for waste, consume about a load, plans' of r.CONOMY. 6o “ioad,* with plenty of cabbages, tur- nips, turnip-tops, and carrots. For the winter feed of these there cows, it will therefore take about three dead of hay, the produce of two, and -.tire grass of four acres and a half, for their summer pasture. A cow,t with good keep, will give milk and cream for the family, and upon an average 100 pounds of butter, and where cheese is made, near the same quantity of that useful article: but 1 ^ As many gentlemen, and even some far- mers, save in the vicinity of London, where all hay is bought by weight, may be unacquainted with the quantity of a truss, and of a load of hay; 1 thought it not impertinent to observe, that every truss of hay consists of fifty-six pounds, and thirty-six trusses constitute a load. t These gentle and useful animals will not profit less by currying, than the horse. F 66 ' PLANS OF ECONOMY. allow, they must be good young cows, and well done by. ■ We should always contrive to have one of them, a winter milk cow. I have not noticed the, produce of three calves annually,. which will serve to meet some contingent expences here omitted. EXTRA EXPENCES. >£. s. d. Decrease in value of the horses and cows * - - - 8 0 0 Expences of fences - - - - 7 0 <0 Ditto for tillage, with the assistance of family ser- vants ---------- 30 0 0 Wear of husbandry gear - -700 32 0 0 * Jlow if the cows are fattened, they will pay well. PLANS OF ECONOMY. /)7> PROFITS of the FARM. r A. S. I. From the wheat crop, ex- clusive of domestic con- sumption - 300 6 8 Profit of three oxen, bought ill lean, sold in good case 30 0 O' Also from the piggery, be- sides the family consump- tion, and the sale or ex- change for the purchase of butcher’s meat - - - - 30 0 0 Profit from two score of weathers --------10 0 O' Also from the dairy - - - 15 0 0 385 6 8 Deduct the extra expences as in the last page - - - 52 0 0 Rent of the farm and taxes — - - 135 0 0 Neat profit 198 6 S 6s PLANS OF ECONOMY. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. In the culture of these forty three acres, the horses will not be employed more than three days in the week, which leaves them much at liberty for the master’s use, and a good deal of spare time for the servants, to be oc- casionally employed in the garden. The crops should be judiciously raried every season. I would by all means recommend the cultivation of carrots, especially if you have any deep, and with all, light sandy soil, as they are an invaluable feed for horses, and no bad substitute for corn. The fluctuating' price of the mar- kets. PLANS OF ECONOJir. 69 kets, will often make, a considerable alteration in the profits of a farm ; but it will more frequently be found for, than against the interest of the farmer. It would be adviseable to sow an additional spot in the garden with early potatoes, which may serve the family from the beginning of June, to the beginning of September, the whole root is by much the best seedling. The apples should not be permitted to grow on the stalks or haulm. As further details would swell this little vo- lume beyond all due limits, I beg leave to recom- mend the following books, to the gentlemen far- mers attentive perusal. Miller’s Gardeners’ Dictionary ; a mass of in- valuable information, both to the farmer and gar- dener. The Rev. Mr. Marshall on Gardening. . -E 3 TOJFN 70 I’LAKS OF F-COFrOMY, TOWN EXPENDITURE a Family of the same rank and num- her, as the Country one. <£. s. d. House rent 80 0 0 Taxes 40 0 0 Twelve quartern loaves * per week, at lOr/, per loaf- - 26 0 0 Carried on 146 0 0 Abercrombie on Gardening. Du Hamel’s Husbandry. Dalrymple on Wheat. JMarshall's Works Parmer’s Callende.r. Peter’s Winter Riches. Peter’s Rational Farmer. Varloe’s New System of Husbandry, 3 vol. ■ * Bread is here taken at the medium, which 1 tliink will be about fifty shillings a sack for flour, I’lrtv-six plaks of economy, 71 £. s. d. Brought on 146 0 0 Fifty-six pounds of meat, per M'cek, at %d. per pound - -- -- -- -- 96 2 6 Twelve pounds of butter, per week, at 1 s. Qd. per pound - -- -- -- -- 36 8 P Poultry at l6.s. per week - 41 12 0 Milk, 4d. per day - -- -- 6I8 0 Carried on 327 0 6 All tlie publications from the Society of Arts, and at the Adelphi. The New Abridgement of the Transactions of the Royal Society. The Transactions of the Bath, Manchester and, Dublin Societies. Cato, Calumella, Varro, and Palladius on Rural Affairs in the original, or such of them as are translated into English. A Mr. Evans has lately translated Varro, and of Calumella, at least there is an old translation, I think by Hammond. E 4 Cream, 73 PLANS OF ECONOMP. £. s. <•/.. Urought on 30,7 0 6 Cream, 9.d. per day 3 0 10 Porter and ale, per annum 10 0 0 Table beer, six quarts, per day, at 6d. per gallon - 13 13 9 Wine and spirits, per ann. 6‘0 0 0 Vegetables, and fruit, at 1 Qs. per week ----- 51 0 G Salt, vinegar, oil, mustard, and all kind of spices, fish sauce, &c. at Ss. per week -- — - ■ 30 0 4fi5 1 1 I Xlie Repertory of Arts. Anderson's works. I The published volumes of the Commercial and Agriculture Magazine. Your plows, rollers, and machines for washing carrots and potatoes, you may have in the most approved forms, from the Rev. Mr. Cooke, .Red Lion Square, London. Salt, PLANS or ECONOMT. 73 £. s. d. Brought on 465 11 1 Tea and CoiFee at 7s. per week - -- -- -- -- 18 4 0 ‘Sugar, at 8^. per week - - 20 16 0 Candles, eight pounds per week, at lOi/. per pound - 71 6 8 Fish at 8^. per week - - - 20 16 0 Coals, sixteen chaldron per anil, at 46.y. per chal- d»on - -- -- -- - — 36 16 0 Carried on 633 9 9 It may not be unnecessary to observe, that fifteen or twenty per cent, may be saved in many articles by purchasing at the first hand, and paying ready money, when it can be done with conveni- ence; besides it will frequently prevent disputes^ and articles being, charged the family they never had ; avoid by all means, any account with but- cher, baker, chandler, green grocer, or milk man* ann. 74 PLANS OF ECONOMY. £. s. cl. Brought on 633 ^ 9 Soap, soda, starch, blue, and occasional help to wash, at 10s. per week 26 0 0 Black lead, brick dust, whiting, scouring paper, &c. at 2s. per week - - 6 4 0 Powder and pomatum, at 2s. 6d. per week - - - - 6 10 0 Repairs of furniture, ear- then Avare, &c. 5s. per Aveek - -- -- -- -- 13 0 0 Expences of master and mistress, including chil- dren’s education, cloaths and pocket money - - - 300 O 0 Apothecary 10 0 0 Carried on 99^ 3 9 PLANS or ECONOMr. 7S £. s. cl. Brought on 994 3 9 Coachman’s wages and li- very - - 34 9 0 Lad’s wages and livery - - iO 0 0 Two women servants - - ^ 9,6 0 0 Duty on Carriage - -- -- 912 0 I lay for three horses, twelve . loads per annum, at Al. per load - -- -- -- -- 48 0 0 Oats for ditto, thirty-five quarters, at \l. 1^. per quarter -------- 36 15 0 Straw, ten loads, at 95s. per load ------- 12 10 0 Wear and tear, double to the country estimate - 12 0 0 Oil and grease - -- -- 2 00 Carried on 1 1 85 0 9 Black- 76 PLANS OF ECONOMY. £. s. c/. Brought on 1185 0 9 Blacksmith 6 0 0 Farrier, and drugs - - - 2 0 0 ToAvn Expenditure - - - 1193 0 9 Country ditto ------ 525 9 0 Deduct profits of the farm 198 6 8 Neat- country expenditure 326 2 o Difference ------- 866 18 7 By comparing the two estimates together, we find eight hundred and sixty six pounds eighteen shillings and seven pence difference in the expen- diture. In the town estimate, I sup- pose a degree of economy, which few people would submit to ; or, instead of PLANS OF ECONOMY. 77 of eleven hundred and ninety three pounds a year, the town expenditure would be much greater: the country therefore must decidedly have the pre- ference. There are many comforts and adv^antages in the country, that the town cannot lay claim to ; such as a good and pleasant garden, abun- dance of fruit, vegetables and game : poultry, butter and cream in much greater plenty and perfection ; and I may add with propriety, in general, a much greater share of health and spirits. If a gentleman wishes to enter into the spirit of farming and a countiy life, and to join the utile with the 4ulce, he may considerably lessen his expen ces, if he will add forty or fifty more acres of land; as he may, with the same number of servants and horses, 78 PLANS OP ECONOMY. horses, save a little occasional assist- ance in harvest time, reap many ad- ditional advantages. He will then have the means to send a valuable part of his property to market; and a tole- rable good farm will, upon an average, with skilful management, care and capital, clear from twenty to thirty shillings per acre. It is absolutely Impossible to pfor ' duce estimates suitable to the circum- stances of every family ; but from the two I have exemplified, it will be easy for any person to regulate his own ex- penditure. I could not pretend to as- certain the exact expence of every ar- ticle, as some may have partiality to indulge more in one, than in another; and what is saved in one, may be la- vished upon another. Mav PLANS OF ECONOMY. 79 If Parliament would pass an act to prevent monopoly of farms, and limit the largest to 400 acres, it would greatly contribute to agriculture im- provement, and much reduce the pre- sent exorbitant markets. By this ne- cessary regulation, individuals Avould make the most of their ground, no corner would be lost, and every aere profitably cultivated. This growing monopoly, is almost as fatal to the farmer, as to the, public, for supposing he can struggle through, and pay his rent, yet at the year’s end, he finds himself no richer, and the public con- siderably poorer, because his land mis- managed, is not half so fertile, as if tilled to the height of perfection. 400 acres are equal to one man’s ma- nagement, and if judiciously cultivat- ed, will be as productive as 600, in the hands of a sloven. It is not therefore bad 80 PLANS OF ECONOMY. bad policy, to suffer individuals to hold fjorn 1000 to 10,000 acres? Is not this monopoly fatal to the poor, by keeping a great part of the countr}'-, barren and neglected. For the more •waste is enclosed and improved, the more stock and corn it will raise, and consequently a greater prospect of plenty. But the monopolising gentle- man grazier, manages by stock, with- out the expence and trouble of tillage. Suppose he holds under stock 4000 acres, he need only keep four families, as shepherds and herdsmen, about five in a family, in all about twenty persons. But if these 4000 acres were under til- lage, and converted into farms at 100 acres, it would then keep 40 families, of five in a family, in all 200 persons, therefore the difference is as 200 to iSO. Some PLANS OF ECONOMY. 81 Some opulent farmers in Ireland, have rented 12,000 acres, and in the same vicinity, five more graziers, were computed to hold from 25, to 30,000 acres. These monopolizers lay farm to farm, turn the whole into grazing, neglect tillage, and the consequence, a fatal scarcity of corn, and the poor distressed for work, and bread. These engrossers manage, as before qbseryed, with few hands, and the neighbouring poor, destitute of employment, are li- terally starved out of the country. It was in this vicinity, that the White Eoys were so daringly outrageous, and from this fatal monopoly, originate in a great measure the dissentions, that at present convulse our sister kingdom, and which have been increasing for years. F To 82 PLANS OF ECONOMY. To remedy these growing evils, let a general inclofure take place. It would be a public benefit, and by li- miting the farms to 400 acres, infal- libly reduce the price of provisions. Much of the waste land, in its present state, is insufficient to feed a rabbit of five pounds, but if enclosed and culti- vated, will keep an ox of four hun- dred, Besides, a general enclosure would provide bread for thousands, and if a portion of the crown lands, in their present state unproductive, were allotted for the support of our brave, and, I am sorry to say it, neglected sailors, it would prevent the disgrace- ful impress service, an indelible stigma on our excellent constitution. Sup- pose an acre of land, and a small cot, built at a trifling expence, was allotted, as an asylum in time of peace for 20 or PLANS OF ECONOMY. 83 or 30,000 able, steady, and deserving seamen. We are all, from the palace to the cottage, much indebted to the gallant tar. If parliament Avould im- prove upon this hint, and realise a provision, for a life dedicated to their king and country, it would be a god- like act, and the sacred records from the hand of time, would justly im- mortalise the second Imperial Parlia- ment of our united isles. A family is a small kingdom, ought it not to be the first care of the master to provide bread for his family ? Should lie neglect, can he expect his servants faithful, or industrious ? Is not our sovereign and the legislature, the father of the people? Are they not empowered to enact laws, most con- ducive to the public weal ? Ought not every 84 PLA'KS OF ECONOMY. every consideration give place to those, that tend to satisfy the first law of na- ture? Of what avail are the acts to prevent forestalling? Do they pacify the craving appetite for bread, or make the quartern loaf, half a size cheaper ? Do they add one peck of Avlreat to the mill, or encrease one ear of corn ? No: the most prudent step, therefore, wouljd be to lay a foundation for plenty, and then, there is little doubt, but bounti- ful Nature will act her part. As to the great advance in the necessaries of life, it is, I fear, a natural cause, and originates partly from plenty of money, the increase of inhabitants, vicious monopolies, and the advancement of rents. The farmer, who twenty years ago, paid no more than ten, or at most fifteen shillings an acre for his land, now gives from twenty, to thirty. It cannot PtANS OF ECONOMY. 85 cannot therefore be supposed, that he can afford his produce at the old price. But, if a general inclosure was to take place, and also an act to prevent mo- nopoly of farms, we should soon find a wonderful, and agreeable change in the markets. May the above well-meant hints, and observations, have the effect ar- dently wished for by the author ! May they in some degree tend to put folly, extravagance, and contempt for pru- dence, as well as principle, out of countenance and fashion ! May they contribute tt) direct the public atten- tion, to those numerous and gigantic evils, produced by commerce and manu- facture, when forced beyond their na- tural and moral limits ! and may they, in these days of purse-proud extra- E 3 vagance 86 PLANS or ECONOMY. vagance and insolence, point out to the virtuous, and independent mind, due means of realizing its modest wishes. FINIS. J. ^Nichols, F Tinted, Earl’s Court, Soho, •f' ■ Wi f V .;i: