realised until the outbreak of the War. An enormous advance has already
been made, and if the right steps are taken for securing more permanence
of tenure, and for obtaining land on fair terms near to the homes of the
workers, a far greater and more lasting advance will be made. The number
of allotments in England and Wales before the War was about 570,000. It
is estimated that now there are upwards of 1,400,000. The urban
allotments have increased enormously, an interest has been added to the
lives of many workers; their supply of wholesome food of their own
growing has been increased and the health of these urban workers
promoted. At present the total area taken up by allotments is about
200,000 acres. If half of these are devoted, say, to growing potatoes
and produce an average of seven tons per acre, the allotment holders in
England and Wales would this year grow "700,000 tons of the most
essential war-time crop practically on the spot where the crop is to be
consumed." It appears that, taking the whole of England and Wales, there
was an allotment holding for one household in twelve before the War. On
May 1st, 1918, one household in five held an allotment. In the county
boroughs before the War one household in thirty-two possessed an
allotment, now the proportion is one household in nine, and the process
is going on. It is the most encouraging development, whether looked at
from the economic point of view or from the point of view of national
health and happiness, that has taken place within living memory. The
urban allotments are regularly worked by persons who are engaged in
various forms of industry during the greater part of their time, and it
is found that the allotments must be small, usually about fifteen to an
acre. They ought to be as near as possible to the homes of the people
who work them. One of the reasons pointed out for the slow development
of the system, even where it has been so successful as in Nottingham
long before the War, was the distance of the allotments from the homes
of the workers. In town planning there should be an attempt wherever