96 
Tlie Allotment System. 
It will be observed that there is a diminution in the number of Exhibitors 
in 1S57, while the number of articles is on the increase. This I conceive to 
be caused by the reluctance of those who have never been successful, to con- 
tinue what may appear to them to be a hopeless contest ; while the increase 
in the number of articles, in spite of the falling oil' of the exhibitors, is, I 
believe, owiug to the converse eagerness of those who have been already suc- 
cessful to compete in a greater variety of articles. 
If my inference be correct, a question of some difficulty arises, whether the 
same persons should be permitted, year by year, to take the same prizes, and, 
by their established reputation, discourage others from competition ; while, on 
the other hand, their skill and success undoubtedly merit a reward. The 
apparent tendency of the Exhibition at present is to narrow the competition to 
a limited number, whose example, nevertheless, cannot but prove salutary to 
their fellow allotment holders. 
With regard to the general stimulus given to allotment cultivation by these 
Exhibitions, I find that, although there is no great improvement in allotment 
fields which were originally well cultivated, there is a tendency in all to 
arrive at a certain level of good cultivation : while the Tortworth, Whitfield, 
Wickwar, and Cromhall districts appear to obtain about the same proportion 
of prizes as at first, the Charfield district, which, in 1854, was pronounced to 
be inferior in cultivation to the other districts, and which only gained one 
prize to everj' thirteen articles exhibited, gained last year one in five and a half, 
having gradually progressed up to this point, which is but slightly below the 
average of the other districts.* 
I am led to observe that some vegetables require a peculiar skill in their 
cultivation, and that this skill is confined to a comparatively small number of 
persons. In onions especially — in which the number of competitors varies 
between fifty and ninety — eminent success appears to be confined to the most 
limited number, for the same ^jerson has taken the first prize in four out of 
the five Exhibitions. I may here remark that he has for fort}- years produced 
and used his own seed. 
Carrots appear to show a similar result in a lesser degree ; in parsnips and 
turnips it is shown slightly. 
In potatoes a greater uncertainty prevails. In only one instance has the 
same exhibitor taken a first prize on two occasions. At the same time there 
is a group of names which appear often in some part of the prize list for this 
vegetable. 
The exhibitors w-ho obtain prizes for fruit are frequently the same in- 
dividuals — the possession of a good tree tending to ensure success, without 
much exertion on the part of its proprietor. 
This branch of the Exhibition, though not directly advantageous to culti- 
vation, I consider to be most useful, as it enables us to compare the fruits 
of the various districts, and encourages us to propagate those varieties which, 
by their long-continued success, seem best adapted to the soil and climate. 
I am unable to extract anything further of more than mere local interest 
from the tables ; but, passing from facts to sentiment, I venture to record my 
conviction that such Exhibitions — as afi'ording an op]X)rtunity for an useful 
and rational holiday, as bringing a landlord into friendly and graceful contact 
with his tenants, and as stimulating those tenants to exertions beneficial to 
both — are institutions which cannot be too highly estimated or too generally 
adopted." 
Every successful superintendent of allotments makes annual 
* This statement might appear irreconcileable with the figures already given, 
viz., SI prizes to lOir) articles. A great many deductions liowever, on account of 
extra and non-conipcting produce, and other items wliich it would be impossible 
to explain briefly, will bring the average to about the amount stated. 
