May 19. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
115 
merit until it soemecl more convenient to them, did them no 
good. He thought that the labouring men liked the ar¬ 
rangement and obeyed more willingly the regulations of a 
committeo than they would have done those of a single 
individual. It has been stated by some who have let allot¬ 
ments, that it is better to choose tenants among the poor 
who are the best off, but the collector has constantly stated 
to the committee, that he has found the least difficulty in 
obtaining the rent from the poorest, and that those who gave 
him most trouble could afford to pay most easily. This is 
an important fact in favour of those who are most in need 
of this help. 
“ The committee charged the allottees at the rate of 
C4 9s. 2 d. an acre for this Lammas land, but, at the same 
time, 10 aeres of similar land were let by others at lOd. a 
rod, or £(> 13s. Id. an acre; and the allotments were eagerly 
sought after, and the rent almost wholly paid. 
“ In 1852, the Rev. J. C. Wigram, Archdeacon of Winchester, 
was appointed Rector of St. Mary’s parish, which contains 
21,220 inhabitants, a large proportion of whom are of the 
labouring classes. From the experience of the committee, 
Archdeacon Wigram, with the full sanction and desire of 
the Bishop of Winchester, decided to let on the same plan 
20 acres of tllebc land conveniently contiguous to the 
houses of the poor. The same committee, with the Arch¬ 
deacon as Chairman, undertook the management, renting 
the land at the full price at which it had been let to market- 
gardeners and graziers. It was partly arable and partly 
grass land, separated by ditches, with the remains of an 
abandoned canal running through it, so that the committee 
were at a considerable expense in levelling, fencing, and 
draining it. It was next surveyed and divided into 1(52 
allotments of 20 rods each (a few having more or less, 
according to the shape of the land), and with paths broad 
enough to admit small carts. The committee besides paying 
all rates, and other expenses, agreed to give £6 an acre for 
six acres, and £5 an acre for fourteen acres, the full market 
price of the land; and as they did not wish to make it in 
any respect a charity, they found that they could not cover 
their expenses and risks at a less charge than lid. a rod, or 
18s. 4d. an allotment, except for a few allotments where the 
land was inferior, and which were charged 9d. a rod. Eleven¬ 
pence a rod is at the rate of £7 Os. 8 d. an acre. In this 
instance the allottees were also taken indiscriminately as 
they applied, and were not restricted to parishioners. 
“ At the end of the first year the following is the very 
satisfactory result:—£140 (is. 8 d. has been received, and 
£5 17s. 9d. is still unpaid, of this 19s. is in the course of 
payment, £3 10s. Od. are good debts, all of whicli will be 
paid, and £1 7s. 3d. bad, of which 8 s. was owed by an 
allottee who died, 11s. 3d. by another who was incapacitated 
by illness, for which he was admitted into the Royal South 
Hants Infirmary, and 8 s. by a tenant who went to sea. 
“ Instead of requiring all the tenants to sign the agree¬ 
ment on the same sheet of paper, it was thought more con¬ 
venient to have two sets of cards, each tenant signing two, 
and retaining one himself whilst the collector held the other. 
“ The following are copies of the card and cheque book. 
GLEBE ALLOTMENTS. 
Committee. 
The Venerable Archdeacon ’Wigram, Chairman. 
Joseph Bullar, M.D. 
William Bullar, M.D. 
Edward Thompson, Esq. 
Rule 1.—Term of Tenancy from 29th of September, 1851, 
to 29th September, 1852. The re-letting shall 
be at the option of the committee, who will con¬ 
sider the good conduct of the tenant, and his 
manner of cultivating the land. 
„ 2.—Nine Shillings to be paid April 1st, and Nine 
Shillings and Four-pence August 1st, 1852. 
„ 3.—No work to be done, or gathering of produce 
allowed, on any allotment, on any Sunday. 
„ 4.—No ploughing permitted, nor other mode of cul¬ 
tivation allowed except spade husbandry. 
„ 5.—The allotment to be used for no other purpose 
than garden ground. 
„ 0.—No occupier shall underlet his allotment. 
„ 7.—No live stock shall be turned out on any allotment. 
Rule 8.—Any infringement of the above Rules shall give 
the committee power to take possession of the 
said land, and all crops and other things that 
may be found there. 
N.B—All doubts or disputes shall be settled by the com¬ 
mittee, whose decision shall be binding. 
1 agree to lake of the 
Committee twenty rods of land, being allotment No. at the 
yearly rent of under the Rules above printed. 
Signed, 
Southampton, 1851. 
Rent to be paid to Mr. Goodman, 10, Orchard-lane. 
No. 
I 
! 
GLEBE ALLOTMENTS. No. 
SOUTHAMPTON. 
Received of 
the sum of Nine Shillings and Fourpence, being 
the l’ent of 20 rods of land, due August 1, 1852. 
‘‘The committee have paid the Collector at the rate of one 
shilling a-year for each allotment. For this he takes the 
names of the applicants, procures their signatures to the 
cards, collects the rents, and attends the meetings of the 
committee when required. 
“ The collector believes, from the number of applicants, 
that he could let 40 acres in the same way, and the 
rector of St. Mary’s has it now under consideration to let 
as allotments another field of 18 acres. This is the more 
necessary, as the Corporation, having under a recent Act of 
Parliament purchased the private interests in East Mar- 
lands Lammas field, intend to lay it out as a public park 
and garden, so that it can no longer be used as allotments, 
which the allotees consider a very severe loss to them. 
“ The sanitary advantages of allotments to the poor of 
large towns must be very considerable. They have, as a 
rule, no available gardens, and cannot afford to buy in the 
market or of green-grocers that due supply of fresh vege¬ 
tables which they require. These allotments furnish with 
fresh vegetables and with good potatoes, 308 families, that 
is, above 1(500 persons. To those engaged in sedentary 
occupations in close courts, alleys, and lanes, with no in¬ 
ducement for taking exercise, the cultivation of allotments 
at some little distance from their homes is most desirable, 
as it gives them the most efficient kind of exercise in the 
open air, with a good object. One tenant, whose business 
was sedentary, was wise enough to take an allotment for 
the sake of the exercise in cultivating it, and the following 
literal dialogue with a too-corpulent allottee, gives concisely 
and clearly the gist of the matter :— 
“ Does it do your health good ? ” 
“Does it, sir? I believe ye it does. 1 should go out 
o’ my mind if it war n’t for this bit o’ ground. 1 lives 
in one of the closest parts of the town, and instead 
o’ lopping into the beer-sliop for half-a-pint and loung¬ 
ing about, I says, ‘ 1 shall go up to my farm for a bit,’ 
and it does me all the good in (lie world.” 
“ Well, I’m glad you’ve had such a good crop.” 
“Aye, sir, it’s my pride is it, and I only grieve that others 
don’t work their bits as they ought, so many as still be 
as wants the ground.” 
“And you get your vegetables very fresh?” 
“Aye, that’s what we do. I sold a peck o’ peas to a body— 
she says ‘ we can’t get such peas as these at market.’” 
“ There is another sanitary advantage in the allotments 
affording an immediate and useful outlet for manure from 
the pigsties and stables, and for the refuse of the houses of 
the poor. It is remarked that the allottees “farm high,” 
and, consequently, make the most of that which is so much 
wasted in this country. Indeed, an allotment is often the 
poor man’s bank, in which he invests much of his savings. 
The value of allotments is also great, inasmuch as they 
satisfy one of the strongest and most wholesome desires of 
the labouring poor, the wish to possess land, and to cultivate 
it for themselves. 
“In this town there are numbers of working men, such 
as those employed in the docks, in unloading ships, brick¬ 
layers, masons, painters, and common labourers, who are 
never fully employed; many will tell you that they are 
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