The Bothatnsted Allotment Club. 
;;s7 
secretary with a suflicient number of copies of the rules, to enable him to 
deliver to any person on demand a copy of such rules, on payment of a sum 
not exceeding one shilling, and of the secretary to deliver such copies accord- 
ingly. — Friendly Societies Act, 1875, s. 13 (5). 
LII. No new rule shall be made, nor any of the rules herein contained or 
hereafter to be made shall be amended, altered, or rescinded, unless with the 
consent of the majority of the members present at a general meeting of the 
club specially called for that purpose. 
Acknowledgment of Registry of Society. 
The " Stiffolk County Medical Cluh" is registered as a Friendly Society 
under the Friendly" Societies' Act, 1875, this 1th day of July, 1877. 
Registry of Friendly Societies' Central Office. 
J. 31. Q. 
Copy kept, J. M. Q. 
XIX— The Rothamstcd Allotment Club. By J. Bennet 
Lawes, F.R.S. 
TWENTY years ago it occurred to me that a Club-house in 
connection with the allotment-gardens established by me in 
the parish in which I reside might add to the comfort and 
enjoyment of the labourers. My idea of a club-house at that 
time was a building having a large room, where the members 
could have their beer and tobacco, and a smaller room to be 
used as a library. I also thought that this room might be em- 
ployed as a store, upon principles similar to those which had 
been established with so much success at Rochdale and other 
places. It was, of course, not of much use to consult any one as 
to the probability of such an undertaking being successful. One 
or two, to whom I mentioned the subject, shook their heads, and 
suggested the exclusion of tobacco, and stringent regulations 
respecting the allowance of beer. The idea of one or two 
hundred men assembling night after night in one place was by 
no means approved of, and it was thought that such an arrange- 
ment would not be conducive either to the peace or the sobriety 
of the community in general. I thought, however, the experi- 
ment was worth trying, and that if it failed, the building could 
be turned into a cottage, with very little trouble or expense. 
I accordingly gave a plan to a builder, and a few months 
afterwards the club-house was ready for occupation. It had one 
lofty room, with a sky-light and two side-windows ; a good 
fire-place and stove, to get abundance of warmth in winter, and 
a thatched roof to be cool in summer. There was also a smaller 
room, not connected internally with the large room, and a 
roofed verandah, going all round the building, provided with 
