252 NORTHERN ALLOTMENT SOCIETY 



it increasingly difficult to compete with younger 

 hands. 



Mr. Gutteridge proposes that registered societies 

 of suitable standing should have the same powers 

 as Parish Councils to acquire land compulsorily. 



THE NORTHERN ALLOTMENT SOCIETY.* 



This Society was started at Newcastle-on-Tyne 

 in 1890, with the object of providing small hold- 

 ings, chiefly for artisans, for the cultivation of fruit 

 and flowers. Anyone could become a member on 

 payment of one shilling per annum, and was then 

 entitled to receive all information concerning oppor- 

 tunities for acquiring land. The money was used 

 to defray postage, printing, etc. The affairs of the 

 Society were managed by a committee of twenty, and 

 an unpaid treasurer and secretary. These officers 

 would consider any estate which they learnt would 

 be on the market, and, if they thought it suitable, 

 the matter was brought up for discussion at a 

 general meeting of the members. If a sufficient 

 number of members sent in applications for part of 

 it, negotiations were set on foot to acquire the 

 land, acting under the instructions of the applicants, 

 who now became entirely responsible for that par- 

 ticular undertaking and its subsequent treatment. 



During the fifteen years from 1890 to 1905 the 

 Society has been the means of promoting the pur- 



* The following is taken from an account of the Society 

 by the secretary, Mr. J. W. Wakinshaw, in the Journal of 

 the Board of Agriculture for July, 1905. 



