In a third case the attempt of a labouring man to live upon a small plot of land was successful—­at least for some time.  But it happened in this way.  The land he occupied, about six acres, was situated on the outskirts of a populous town.  It was moderately rented and of fairly good quality.  His method of procedure was to cultivate a small portion—­as much as he could conveniently manage without having to pay too much for assistance—­as a market garden.  Being close to his customers, and with a steady demand at good prices all the season, this paid very well indeed.  The remainder was ploughed and cropped precisely the same as the fields of larger farms.  For these crops he could always get a decent price.  The wealthy owners of the villas scattered about, some keeping as many horses as a gentleman with a country seat, were glad to obtain fresh fodder for their stables, and often bought the crops standing, which to him was especially profitable, because he could not well afford the cost of the labour he must employ to harvest them.

In addition, he kept several pigs, which were also profitable, because the larger part of their food cost him nothing but the trouble of fetching it.  The occupants of the houses in the town were glad to get rid of the refuse vegetables, &c.; of these he had a constant supply.  The pigs, too, helped him with manure.  Next he emptied ash-pits in the town, and sifted the cinders; the better part went on his own fire, the other on his land.  As he understood gardening, he undertook the care of several small gardens, which brought in a little money.  All the rubbish, leaves, trimmings, &c., which he swept from the gardens he burnt, and spread the ashes abroad to fertilise his miniature farm.

In spring he beat carpets, and so made more shillings; he had also a small shed, or workshop, and did rough carpentering.  His horse did his own work, and occasionally that of others; so that in half a dozen different ways he made money independent of the produce of his land.  That produce, too, paid well, because of the adjacent town, and he was able to engage assistance now and then.  Yet, even with all these things, it was hard work, and required economical management to eke it out.  Still it was done, and under the same conditions doubtless might be done by others.  But then everything lies in those conditions.  The town at hand, the knowledge of gardening, carpentering, and so on, made just all the difference.

If the land were subdivided in the manner the labourer is instructed would be so advantageous, comparatively few of the plots would be near towns.  Some of the new ‘farmers’ would find themselves in the centre of Salisbury Plain, with the stern trilithons of Stonehenge looking down upon their efforts.  The occupier of a plot of four acres in such a position—­many miles from the nearest town—­would experience a hard lot indeed if he attempted to live by it.  If he grew vegetables for sale, the cost of carriage