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 possible to arrange for allotments close to the new small dwellings which are erected.  It will be essential, however, to insist (i) on more permanent tenure for those who work their allotments properly and keep them in good condition; (ii) that the land required should be obtained on reasonable terms.  Some landowners have themselves voluntarily taken the matter in hand, but in other cases compulsion will be necessary, and, as already stated, it will be right that where the land has been agricultural or vacant land, bringing in a small or even no return, the price or rent paid for it should be based on its agricultural value plus some reasonable addition, and not on the enormously enhanced value of the land as land which has become building land owing to the growth of the urban population in the neighbourhood.  It will be desirable to arrange by co-operative or municipal action for the supply of seeds, plants and fertilisers, and also for the sale of any surplus produce not required by the holder for his own use.

The admirable work which is being done by the Board of Agriculture in encouraging allotments ought to be recognised and supported in every possible way.

CHAPTER XXI

AFFORESTATION

Thou, too, great father of the British floods, With joyful pride survey’st our lofty woods, Where towering oaks their growing honours rear And future navies on thy shores appear.—­ALEXANDER POPE.

We shall use the word afforestation here to denote the steps to be taken for promoting the growth of timber on a large scale.  The original sense in which it is employed in any historical or legal work is quite different.  There it means turning a track of land into a forest, and a forest did not