MANAGEMENT OF GARDEN ALLOTMENTS. 
11 
from continual petty depredations : but there 
is one consideration that is far beyond all others; 
they would be saving their fellow-man from 
being totally lost in this world and the next. 
All we want to impress upon the minds of 
those who wish to adopt the system effectually 
is, that they should have an overseer who 
should be a practical gardener, living in a cot- 
tage on the spot : that, among other duties 
such as we have spoken of, he should be 
obliged to teach the holders the handiest and 
best way of doing things, when they were 
manifestly ignorant of it; that he should be 
provided with all the necessaries for the 
holders of allotments, to be sold to those who 
want them, at the cost price, and take the money 
weekly with their rent. This would be effective 
benevolence, and the fruits would be mani- 
fest in a rapidly improving neighbourhood. 
With regard to the nature of the restrictions 
as to crops, something must depend on locality 
and the habits of the people ; generally speak- 
ing, half the ground in potatoes should be the 
maximum, a quarter the minimum ; they 
should never be allowed to plant potatoes two 
years together on the same spot. Half the 
ground should be the maximum for wheat ; 
but there should be no obligation to sow grain. 
The other crops should be carrots, cabbage, 
lettuce, celery, spinach, onions, and other 
vegetables ; but there should be a restriction 
as to the quantity of any one thing, because 
the object is to make them provide well for 
families, and not be extravagant. Fruit 
should be restricted to the useful ; not costly 
fruit for sale. The object is not to create 
market-gardeners, but to make happy men 
and happy homes. We are quite certain that 
if anybody, no matter who, wishes to make 
the allotment system effective, all these pre- 
cautions are necessary. The first step is to 
lay out the ground, and see it drained pro- 
perly, and the necessary roads made, so that 
a cart can get to every garden. This may 
require a little consideration and skill, but the 
first expense is always the best ; employ some- 
body who knows his business, in the onset, 
and all will go well. If the thing be a paro- 
chial affair, all the labour can be had from the 
workhouse and distressed out-of-door paupers; 
the cost therefore will not be much. This 
once done, and the plots marked out, there 
can be no difficulty ; and we suggest that, to 
prevent any squabbling between the holders 
about boundaries, a common path should part 
all the pieces, stakes being driven down the 
centre and level with the surface, each being 
bound to keep eighteen inches clear path from 
such centre, but the path to be in common for 
both to use all of it — three feet being wide 
enough for any purpose. There are many 
regulations that may be required for particular 
localities, but of these we can say nothing ; 
and the laying out of the ground must depend 
altogether upon its situation, drainage, pro- 
bable supply of water, and other circumstances. 
But every parish should, for its own sake, 
have a piece of land to allot, and it should 
be very different to the best we have yet seen. 
In no one have we seen proper roads, proper 
drainings, proper supply of water, or that 
which to our view is indispensable, an in- 
spector or superintendent. In no one place 
do we know of a proper, economical, and 
attainable supply, upon easy terms, of the 
seeds, tools, and necessaries for cultivation ; 
and to these points do we earnestly call attention. 
Our notion of the amount to be charged for 
rent may be questionable in some localities, 
but our notions of the proper management of 
such establishments cannot be. And now we 
come to the last, though not least important, 
part of our arrangements — the periodical show 
of productions. There ought to be premiums 
awarded. Award first for a certain number 
of the best managed allotments ; for the best 
potatoes, carrots, cabbages, onions, savoys, 
lettuces, peas, beans, beetroot, and useful vege- 
tables only ; none for asparagus or sea-kale, or 
forced things of any kind. The judges should 
be authorized to award premiums for any new 
variety of anything raised on the ground, and 
for any ingenious contrivance in implement 
or practice that should be considered deserv- 
ing especial notice ; and the produce of the 
clay should be sold on the day of show, to the 
highest bidder, for the benefit of the owner. 
We can imagine that some will be deterred 
from adopting any such system by the ap- 
parent trouble and difficulty ; that others will 
think, as too many do now with existing allot- 
ments, that as long as the parties have their 
ground marked out, they may as well make 
the paths themselves ; and that as to draining 
and so on, it is expensive. But what is the 
use of setting men to work unprofitably ? 
Why set them to overcome evils, when they 
ought to be enticed by all the advantages that 
can be offered ? Let any considerate person 
weigh well what we have recommended, and 
then go to any existing set of allotments, and 
think which is the more likely to prosper. 
We have read a good deal, and seen a good 
deal, of allotments, and the present system of 
granting them, and their general management, 
but they are all full of objections. A vast 
deal of good lost for want of system ; a large 
portion of labour wasted because wrongly 
applied ; and all this for want of a good begin- 
ning. Every plot should be well defined by 
made paths, the centre of which should be the 
boundary, because there is no excuse for dis- 
turbing it ; the whole well drained, that the 
ground may be made really productive ; the 
