THE ENGLISH LABOURER. 
435 
jrres and a half, eacli man, to the number of 
twenty-two, having, with one exception, a full 
acre allotted to him, leaving one with half an 
acre only. An acre was occupied by a road 
cut through the middle of the field, dividing 
the land into two equal parts, and affording 
the labourers an easy access to their holdings. 
After a few years' trial, it was found that 
an acre was in most cases more than a man 
with his family could manage without detri- 
ment to his employer, so that the number of 
holders was increased to thirty-eight, viz. 
thirty-three occupying half an acre each, and 
five an acre each, the rent being at the rate of 
21. 6s. 2>d. an acre, including all parish rates. 
Up to the present time (April 1846), the 
plan continues to work remarkably well, none 
of the labourers applying for relief to the 
parish, except in cases of severe illness in 
their families. Twenty- two out of the thirty- 
eight are members of benefit societies ; and 
they have appointed a surgeon at a given 
salary to attend upon their sick, which is 
a great advantage to them, and prevents 
any member from defrauding the society, as 
is often done, under the pretence of illness. 
Cranworth, Southburgh, and Reymerston 
Allotments. — The villages where these allot- 
ments are, lie contiguous to each other in the 
very centre of Norfolk. The allotment system 
was introduced here about fifteen years since 
by the rector of the parishes, the Rev. Philip 
Gurdon, who has devoted a great portion of 
his time in devising measures for the benefit 
of the poor, and who in this instance, as well 
as in others, has been completely successful. 
I have been fortunate enough to obtain from 
this gentleman an account of the working of 
the system up to the present time, and from 
his watching its progress so narrowly, I am 
Mire I cannot do better than let Mr. Gurdon 
speak for himself, by transcribing his letter 
us under : — 
" Cranworth Rectory, August 14, 184-5. 
<: Sir, — According to your request, I hereby 
forward to you such an account as my time at 
the present moment will permit, of the course 
pursued by me in establishing the allotment 
system ; the plan adopted to ensure its suc- 
S68S, together with a copy of the agreements, 
&c. Having personally inspected them before 
the crops are severed, you will be enabled to 
form your own opinion of the manner in 
Which they are cultivated ; and, by entering 
into conversation with the respective occu- 
piers, the best opportunity will bo afforded 
you of judging how far they have tended 
to ameliorate the condition of our poor. Se- 
veral years having elapsed since I first esta- 
blished the allotment system in this and the 
adjoining parishes, 1 have been enabled, and 
I trust with some degree of accuracy, to test 
the matter, and to ascertain whether the ap- 
parent advantages were real or ideal. 
"Having been much gratified with what I 
had seen of it at Audley End, it struck me as 
being the most feasible plan, at that particular 
time, of improving the condition of the labour- 
ing classes more immediately under my charge. 
In the year 1831, when I first took the sub- 
ject into my serious consideration, society was 
fearfully disordered by the evident disconter.t 
that was prevailing amongst the lower orders 
throughout this and other counties ; and 1 
felt convinced that it principally arose from 
want of work, accompanied, as is most natural, 
with a prevailing complaint of the introduction 
of machinery. This, no doubt, was considered 
in those times (though perhaps a mistaken 
notion) to militate strongly against the power 
that the labouring man had of procuring a 
livelihood. At this particular period the 
baneful effects of several improvident marriages 
were beginning to discover themselves in the 
parish in which I reside. A state of things 
appeared to be fast approaching which threat- 
ened the peace and happiness of society, whilst 
it was evidently destroying all the comfort of 
our peasantry, or I might here say, poor ; for 
I observed that the church gate was thronged 
every Monday morning with applicants for 
work, or with peremptory demands upon the 
overseer for allowances of money, who, 
generally speaking, was left to discuss by him- 
self (though not to settle the matter), amidst 
grumbling and marked disrespect from all, 
being rarely attended or supported by the 
other rate-payers and occupiers in the parish. 
" Having attended several of these meetings, 
and seeing no prospect of a sufficienc}' of work 
being supplied to those requiring it, and more 
especially the young men, I considered how I 
could procure some land to occupy the time 
of those who could not secure a sufficiency of 
labour from the several occupiers of the soil. 
Having observed that the surveyor's lands, or 
those portions allotted at the time of the 
general enclosure for the repair of the high- 
ways, generally contained c/«y instead of gravel, 
and that they were also in a disgraceful state 
for want of improvement, I first commenced 
operations upon them, extending my system 
very shortly to those denominated poor lands, 
i. elands set apart for providing fuel for the 
poor. After having called meetings, I made 
application for a lease of that species of pro- 
perty. In Cranworth i.i;d Southburgh I 
succeeded, but failed in my application for it 
in the parish of Reymerston. At that time a 
strong prejudice existed against the allotment 
system, as being supposed to lead to various 
evils — such as creating an injury to, and 
causing an interference with, the 'labour- 
market,' facilitating the too common practice 
F t 2 
