“As I before mentioned, some difficulties may occur in establishing the custom of labourers keeping cows in those parts of the country where no such custom has existed; wherever it has or does exist it ought by all means to be encouraged, and not suffered to fall into disuse, as has been the case to a great degree in the midland counties, one of the causes of which I apprehend to be, the dislike the generality of farmers have to seeing the labourers rent any land. Perhaps one of their reasons for disliking this is, that the land, if not occupied by the labourers, would fall to their share; and another, I am afraid, is, that they rather wish to have the labourers more dependent upon them, for which reasons they are always desirous of hiring the house and land occupied by a labourer, under pretence, that by that means the landlord will be secure of his rent, and that they will keep the house in repair. This the agents of estates are too apt to give in to, as they find it much less trouble to meet six than sixty tenants at a rent day, and by this means avoid the being sometimes obliged to hear the wants and complaints of the poor.” ... The landlord naturally yields to this pressure ... “and it is in this manner that the labourers have been dispossessed of their cow-pastures in various parts of the midland counties. The moment the farmer obtains his wish, he takes every particle of the land to himself, and relets the house to the labourer, who by this means is rendered miserable, the poors rate increased, the value of the estate to the landlord diminished, and the house suffered to go to decay.... Whoever travels through the midland counties, and will take the trouble of enquiring, will generally receive the answer, that formerly there were a great many cottagers who kept cows, but that the land is now thrown to the farmers; and if he enquires still further, he will find that in those parishes the poors rates have increased in an amazing degree, more than according to the average rise throughout England.”

Sir John Sinclair,[76] President of the Board of Agriculture, did not agree that a plot of a few acres of arable land was, by itself, of little value to the agricultural labourer. He estimates that two cows can be kept on 3¼ acres of arable land, and that the net produce, valuing milk at 1d. per quart, would amount to £21 per annum, about as much as the man’s wages. He advocated spade labour, and recommended that the cottager should rather hire men to dig for him, than get the land ploughed. In confirmation of this opinion Sir Henry Vavasour cited an example of a cottager holding 3 acres who kept two cows and two pigs. The butter alone paid the rent, and the gross produce was estimated at £54 per annum, exclusive of milk and vegetables consumed at home.

It is of course practically impossible to calculate how much effect this landowners’ agitation for the policy of “Three acres and a cow” had on the number of such cottage holdings. Lord Brownlow[77] writes: “In all open field lordships there have always been pastures in which the cottagers have had their share of benefit; but the practice of enabling cottagers to keep cows in inclosed parishes, is in my neighbourhood rare, and of recent date.” Accounts are sent of cottage holdings provided by the Earl of Carrington, and of large allotments provided by Mr. Thomas Estcourt; but I cannot say how extensively their example was followed.

Mr. W. E. Bear’s report to the recent Labour Commission, on the agricultural labourers of the Southwell Union, contains the following passage, in which we probably see some fruits of the Earl of Winchilsea’s movement:—“Small holdings, of three to ten acres commonly, are let with cottages in a few parishes, and called ‘cottagers.’ This custom appears to be a very old one, dating back far beyond the time when the term ‘three acres and a cow’ was invented. In Ossington, Mr. Richardson told me, it was 50 years old or more; but he said it was falling into disuse. I found some ‘cottagers’ in Averham, Ossington and Hockerton, and heard of them in another parish or two. They usually consist of grass land, and are best so, as the labourer can leave his wife to manage the cow or two kept on them, and work for wages regularly. In Averham some of these small holdings have been given up, apparently because they were partly arable, and occupiers found that they could not keep regular places and also attend to their land. But where the land is all pasture, they are excellent institutions, providing families with milk, and adding to the incomes by means of milk or butter, poultry, eggs and pork sold. These little holdings are let from £2 10s. to £3 an acre, including the cottage” (par. 51 A).

The same Commissioner found in Leicestershire a system of common cow-runs for cottagers which also probably dates from the eighteenth century, being in some way a survival from the common field system. He describes it as follows:—

“There are cow plots let with cottages in several parishes. Some have already been referred to as existing on the Earl of Dysart’s estate. One example is to be found at Saxby, where cow runs of 6 a. 3 r. 12 p., each in common, are let with a cottage and garden at £10 per annum. At Grimston I visited some which are let by Mr. Wright or Mr. Reckitts, who appear to be somehow connected on the same estate.... Some of these cow-plots are 3½ acres in extent, and their holders are allowed to keep only one cow, as three or more of them occupy a pasture in common, having a portion of their 3½ acres each year to mow and another portion to feed. The rent, including cottage and garden, is £10. There are some other cow plots of 8 acres on which two or three cows are kept, the rent being £15. In these cases, too, the pasture is common to several holders, each one having a piece to mow, while they run their cows together on the portion devoted to grazing. As an example of the advantage which a cow plot may sometimes be to a labourer and his family, I may mention the case of a widow who has 3½ acres and a very good cottage for £10 per annum. Last year she had an exceptionally good cow, and she sold milk at the rate of 6d. a gallon, amounting to £15 10s., fattening a calf which sold at £4 10s.; altogether the return was £20, besides what milk was consumed in the cottage.”