VI 



IRISH GARDENING. 



The Croydon Vacant Lands 

 Cultivation Society, 



liy M1S8 K. J.. HiDsc.x, 111. a. Soi. of tho Soiii-ty. 



(Pi'oni the Joitrind of the Board of A(jri<i(lli(re, 



.laiiuary, 1910.) 



"lie giivc It for his oiniiiun, that wlioever could iiinki- two cars of 

 corn, or two blailes of uniss, to prow upon a spot of ground wliere only 

 one grew before, would deserve better Of mankind, mid do more essential 

 service to liis coimtry, than the whole race of politiciiuis put 

 together."— i>H'l/^ 



Orig'nt. — In 190S tlio C'roytlon tuiihl of II. -Ip 

 foniuihited a sohcnio for tlie cultivation of 

 vacant lands. Imt owinfj to insufTliicnt support 

 tlii.s .schenii' fell through. Tlie subject was 

 revived at the outbreak of war by an oft'iM- made 

 by a well-known Croydon landowner to li'ud his 

 vacant plots for cultivation, free of rent, to any 

 applicants. This pientlenian also promised to 

 <-onipensate cultivators for loss of crops should he 

 desire to take over his land again at short notice. 

 Although the soil was only fair, and the larul in 

 some parts extremely rough, about twenty 

 applications were received. The iirime mover 

 of the original Committee then called together 

 persons likely to be interested in the scheme, 

 and a meeting was held on 2:hd Sejjtember, 191 4, 

 at which the Committee of the new Society was 

 elected. It included, among, others, two well- 

 known landowners, a solicitor and four repre- 

 sentatives of the chief local horticultural society. 

 Another landowner offered his vacant land, and 

 others were approached by members of the 

 Committee, with the resalt that the Society had 

 in December, 1915, control of aboat 20 acres, 

 lent by 22 different owners, and lent in small plots 

 of 12 rods or less to over 260 cultivators. 



Croydon. — Croydon is a town of 181,000 

 inhabitants, ten miles from the centre of London, 

 residential and suburban in character, but there 

 is also a very large wage -earning iJopulation. 

 Its area is fo\irteen sqtiare miles. The building 

 trade has been declining for some years, and there 

 are many unoccupied houses. 



Rules and Regulations. — The Committee 

 formerly constituted itself, appointed the usual 

 ofjflcers and framed rules, similar to those of other 

 Vacant Land Cultivation Societies in London, 

 Dublin and Birmingham, but differing in one 

 important particular, namely, that the Croydon 

 plot-holders became full members, paying a 

 minimum subscripLion of 4s. a year, ear-marked 

 for the compensation fund. The importance of 



this fund is a])parent, for tho committeo fully 

 realise that, although the plota are only lent t<) 

 the (dot-h'ldcrs. it is not certain that they escape 

 the provisi ms of the various Acts governing 

 small holdings and allotments, under which the 

 Society could not contract out (jf liability for 

 comiicnsation. 



Regulations for ]tlot-luilders are ]irinted on the 

 back of tlie application forms, so that the men 

 understand tin- condition.s of tenure from the 

 flr.st. This ]»aperis returned to the pi d-holder 

 with a copy of his agreement. Besides the usual 

 rules for allotment ixolders, ])roviding that the 

 plots shall be croi)i)ed to the satisfaction of the 

 Committee, the c\iltivator has to sign an under- 

 taking that he will -,ive ii]) his plot on demand. 

 The agreement is signed over a fid. etani]). 

 provided by the id )t-holder, so that in case of any 

 dispute it may have legal value. 



Appeals for Land. — By the courtesy of several 

 estate agents in providing the names and 

 addresses of owners of vacant fdots, and by 

 dihgent local inquiries, the Society was able to 

 send out a large nvimber of appeals for vacant 

 land, to many of which of course no answer was 

 received. Favourable replies W'ere, however, 

 received from fifteen i>rivate owners and three 

 land companies, as well as from the Trustees of 

 the Whitgift Foundation and the Croydon 

 Corporation. The latter, with their usual public 

 .spirit, have remitted rates. alYordcd privileges in 

 the use of water, and heli)ed tlie Society in various 

 other ways. 



An agreement is signed by the landowners and 

 the Committee (acting through one membei 

 appointed as their ageni), s3 thao in the event of 

 any trouble with tenants the Committee person- 

 ally are responsible. In most of the agreements 

 the Committee undertake to vacate the land 

 after four days' written notice. 



Garden Committee. — To cairy out the work of 

 the Society effectively it was found necessary to 

 form a Garden Sub-Committee to undertake such 

 external work as inspecting the land offered, 

 marking it out, letting it to a])plicants, superin- 

 tending the plots, advising on the cultivation of 

 crops, and other details. The members of the 

 Sub-Committee are exceptionally fortunate in 

 their chairman, a ]n'actical gardener, who has 

 thrown himself wholeheartedly into the work, and 

 given much sympathetic and valuable advice to 

 the plot-holdeis. 



The Comuiittee originally made their existence 



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