rendered by their owners, and received back as simple fiefs, where the owner was compelled to acknowledge himself the man or vassal of some lord, on the supposition of an original grant which had never been made, or as fiefs de protection, where the submission was expressly grounded upon a compact of mutual defence. Similar changes took place in Italy and Germany, though not to the same extent. But in most of the southern provinces of France, where the Roman law prevailed, the ancient tenure always subsisted, and lands were generally presumed to be allodial unless the contrary was shown. And in Germany, according to Du Cange (Gloss. "Barones") a class of men called Semper Barones held their lands allodially. With respect to England, it has always been a question whether the feudal system was established there before or after the Norman Conquest. [FEUDAL SYSTEM.] At present allodial possessions are unknown in England, all land being held mediately or immediately of the king. The name for the most absolute dominion over property of this nature is a Fee (Feodum), or an estate in fee, a word which implies a feudal relation. Hence it is, that when a man possessed of an estate in fee dies without heirs, and without having devised his property by will, the estate escheats, or falls back to the lord of whom it was holden: or, where there is no intermediate lord, to the king as lord paramount. The term allodium is also sometimes applied to an estate inherited from an ancestor, as opposed to one which is acquired by any other means. (Spelman, Gloss. "Alodium.") from great difficulties. There is a very elaborate article on allodial land in the Staats-Lexicon of Rotteck and Welcker, under the head "Alodium." ÁLLOTMENT SYSTEM, the practice of dividing land in small portions for cultivation by agricultural labourers and other cottagers at their leisure, and after they have performed their ordinary day's work. There are some instances of this plan having been resorted to about the close of last century, but it is only since 1830 that its adoption has become common. In 1830 the agricultural districts in the south of England were almost in a state of insurrection. The labourers went about in bands, destroying thrashing-machines, and demanding higher wages; and at night the country was lighted up by incendiary fires. Under the impulse of fear the farmers increased the wages of the labourers, but on the suppression of the disturbances they generally returned to the old rates. The season of alarm did not, however, pass away without some attempts being made to improve the condition of the agricultural labourer, and the extension of the allotment system was the most general mode by which an attempt was made to accomplish this object. A society, called the Labourers' Friend Society, was esta blished in London, to promote the allotment system, and to circulate information respecting it. Allotments (garden-allotments, or field-gardens, as they are sometimes termed) are now common in all the agricultural counties in England; but they are nowhere universal. In East Somerset they are to be found in about The Latinized forms of this word are fifty parishes; and the quantity of land various: Alodis, Alodus, Alodium, Alau- devoted to allotments is said to be equal dum, and others. The French forms are to the demand. In several of the northern Aleu, Aleu Franc or Frank Aleu, Franc- and midland counties the allotment sysalond, Franc-aloy, and Franc-aleuf. In tem is promoted, and in some degree many old charters Alodum is explained superintended, by a society called the by Hereditas, or heritable estate. But it "Northern and Midland Counties Artiis very difficult to collect any theory from sans' Labourers' Friend Society." The the numerous passages in which the word number of acres under allotment, accordoccurs which shall satisfactorily explaining to the report of this Society, in June, its etymology. (Du Cange, Gloss. "Alodis" Spelman, Glossarium.) The view here taken of the nature of allodial lands, and of the change of this property into feudal tenures, is not free 1844, was 1082. Allotments are also found in the neighbourhood of several large towns, and the proprietors of fac tories have in many instances granted allotments to their workmen; but in both these cases the land is cultivated rather | most extensive, promoters of the system, estimates the loss from non-payment of rent as one-fourth, and certainly not more than one-half, per cent. as a recreation than with a view of adding to the means of subsistence. At Nottingham land belonging to the corporation is divided into about four hundred gardens, which let at the rate of 1d. ayard, or 251. per acre: the greater number of these gardens have been cultivated for about thirty years. Where the tenant is an agricultural labourer, the main object is to increase his resources, and thus enable him to maintain himself without assistance from the poor's rate. There seems to be good authority for stating that the allotment system has been successful in this object; and that it has not only diminished the incentives to crime, but has encouraged habits of sobriety and industry, and led to a general elevation of character. Of 3000 heads of families holding allotments of land in West Kent, not one was committed for any offence during the years 1841 and 1842. In the parish of Hadlow, Kent, there were 35 commitments in 1835, and on the allotment system being introduced in 1836 the commitments were reduced in 1837 to one, and from 1837 to 1843 there had been only one. About 15 of those who were committed in 1835 became holders of allotments, and up to June, 1843, no cause of complaint had arisen against any of them. (Evidence of Mr. Martin: Report on Allotments of Land.) Of 443 tenants of allotments under Mrs. Davies Gilbert, in Sussex, there was only one person convicted in the course of thirteen years. (Communication from Mrs. Davies Gilbert, April, 1844.) Similar testimony might be collected from various parts of the country where the allotment system prevails. The punctuality with which the rents are paid by the tenants proves how highly the labourers value their patches of land: they scarcely ever fail to bring the money at the appointed time. Among Mrs. Davies Gilbert's numerous tenantry only three have failed to pay their rent in the course of fourteen years; but in each case the size of the allotment (five acres) must be considered as taking it out of what may fairly be considered the allotment system. Captain Scobell, who was one of the earliest, and is now one of the The principal obstacle to the progress of the allotment system is the difficulty of obtaining land; but the landowners are much more favourable to it than the farmers, whose objections are that the time which the allotment requires interferes with the labourers' ordinary employment; that it makes them too independent, and less anxious to obtain work; and, thirdly, they object that it affords a cloak for theft. These objections have frequently been entirely given up after the farmers had become practically acquainted with the operation of the system. The principal rules which experience has shown to be best calculated to render the allotment system successful are briefly as follows:-As it is not intended that the tenant should look upon his plot of ground as a substitute for wages, but merely as a small addition to this main resource, its size should not be greater than can be cultivated during the leisure or spare time of the labourer or his family. The size of the allotment is determined by the number of the tenant's family, or the quality of the land, and in some cases by the quantity of manure which can be collected. The maximum size of allotments, according to Captain Scobell, should not exceed 50 or 60 rods, and 20 rods are sufficient for a person just settled and without a family. The size of Mrs. Davies Gilbert's allotments are as follows:-255 less than a quarter of an acre; 108 quarter-acres; 2 contain sixty rods each; 13 are half-acres ; 2 are threequarter acres; 22 are one-acres; and 16 others contain two, four, and five acres ; and one is of nine acres. Some persons state that a man in full employ can manage an allotment of a quarter of an acre, or 40 rods; but others are of opinion that 20 rods are quite enough. În one district the labourer may not be fully employed by the farmer; and in another, under a better system of management, he may be employed at piece-work to the full extent of his powers; and hence the difference of opinion on this point. The I allotment should be situated as near as possible to the tenant's cottage. Captain Scobell says that the distance should never exceed a mile, as the labourer will be fatigued by a longer walk, and it will be inconvenient to send so far for vegetables for daily use. In Kent there are allotments which are two or three miles from the labourer's dwelling, but this is a proof that employment is precarious, and that on the whole his condition is not good. A much higher rent can be obtained for small allotments under garden tillage, than for land in undivided tenancy; and it is but reasonable that the owner of a hundred acres divided into half-acre allotments, and having twohundred tenants instead of one, should receive additional rent in respect of his additional trouble in collecting the rent, looking after his property, and other expenses that are incident to the division of the land. Those who are conversant with the system say that if the rent is one-third higher, the difference is not unreasonable; but as allotments are at present granted as a matter of favour, they are not set at a rack-rent. It is usual for the landlord to include tithes, parochial and other rates, in the rent, in order to save trouble, and to prevent the tenant being unexpectedly and frequently called upon for money payments. The rent of 137 acres belonging to Mrs. Davies Gilbert, divided into 419 allotments, is 4281. 88. 54d., or nearly three guineas per acre, which includes rates, tithes, and taxes, but is exclusive of houses and buildings, which are paid for separately. The rents vary from 68. up to 81. an acre. A form of agreement, which is usually signed by allotment tenants, embodies rules for the management of the land, and fixes other conditions for their observance. Spade-culture is insisted upon, and the use of the plough is prohibited; also underletting and working on Sunday. There are instances in which attendance at the parish church is enforced; and in other cases it is merely stipulated that there shall be attendance at some place of worship. The allotment is usually forfeited for non-payment of rent, gross misconduct, commitment for any crime, or wilful neglect of the land. A particular rotation of crops is sometime required in the agreement. The growt of wheat is not allowed in some cas Where it is permitted, it may probab be safely assumed that in that particul district the labourer is worse off the usual. Some recommend that on a ha acre one half should be in wheat, and other half in potatoes; and it is assum that other vegetables are grown in garden attached to the labourer's cottag Captain Scobell thinks it unadvisable exclude any one from holding an alk ment on account of previous bad racter, as there is a chance of his bein reclaimed. Becoming permanently pauper is a fit ground for exclusion: when the tenant receives casual relief account of sickness or accident, he is excluded. So long as the tenant observe the conditions of his agreement, it found useful to stipulate that he shall no other account be ejected from hi land. There seems to be no doubt that th absolute produce of the soil when eart vated in small allotments is greater tha the same land would produce under th ordinary course of tillage by farmers. ! much larger quantity of manure is used in some cases, four times as much a farmers are enabled to put upon their lar and a single rod is frequently made produce vegetables sufficient for the c sumption of a labourer's family for months; but if every labourer had a allotment, the quantity of manure e lected could not be so great as it is present. The disposable produce p acre of land in large farms is obviens much greater than when the same qua tity of land is divided into small holdin Captain Scobell estimates the avers. value of an allotment at 28. per week. about 51. per year, and that during t year twenty days' labour is require. The profit is equal to ten weeks' lab-c at wages of 10s. per week. According another estimate, the gross profit of t... an acre is calculated at 197. The pr duce consists of twelve bushels of what 78., and six hundredweight of bee at 6d. per Ib.; and something is set de w as the value of the straw. The rent seed, and other expenses, it is said, amount to 31. 108., leaving a pron: (wit out deducting the vaine of the lanom 152. 10s., which is equal to ts, a week for a whole year. Such an allotment as the one here alluded to will require about thirty days' labour in the course c. a came th year; but it is necessary that the chief, it as a tari, tvers Despois part of this labour should be given be-, kerew. Në tween Lady-day and Michaeimas. bup-[c the TETISH E. Heeta posing that there are a milnon famines 7. Cullum,, shows y vimila in England and Wales who are in the things with remw same circumstances as the tenants of ex- | land In the rim o Plman! isting allotments, and that four families | 1807) two-thirds of the long by th had an acre amongst them, the whole which contains 1980 some, teɔa: 1. quantity of land in allotments would be seven persons, and the nomonicing, th 250,000 acres, or nearly 400 square miles, | or 660 seres, was held by twenty which is one-third more than the area of sons, which would give patha fome the n Middlesex, and about the 128th part of twenty-tive neres to ench holly The the area of England. This would be number of tenant, who did cult and st about one forty-third of the arable land vice in the manorial cerut at a in England. At three guineas an acre later period was thinny two; the rent would amount to 787,500l., and tenant was an econpict of the value of the produce, according acres. In the reign of T to Captain Scobell, would be about were fifty movenace in th 5,000,000Z. 1784 there wrote fifty 4mg were 62, inhabited by The one ex 1545.7* From the Anglo-Saxon period to the reign of Henry VII, nearly the entire population of England derived their subsistence immediately from the land. The great landowner consumed the produce of his demesne, which was cultivated partly by prædial slaves and by the labour of the tenants and cottiers attached to the manor. These tenants were the occupiers of small farms, and paid their rent in kind or in services, or in both. The cottagers had each a small croft or parcel of land attached to his dwelling, and the right of turning out a cow or pigs, or a few sheep, into the woods, com mons, and wastes of the manor. While working upon the lord's demesne, they generally received their food. [VILLEIN tu j and VILLENAGE.] The occupation of the land on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, called Holt, in the parish of Clapham, Sussex, has been traced a various dates between the years 1200 aut 1400. During the thirteenth aut four teenth centuries, this farm, WineL E. ute occupied by one tenant, was a manier and there is a document i which contains twenty-one dist veyances of land in fex, parcels of this hamlet. allotment should be situated as near as possible to the tenant's cottage. Captain Scobell says that the distance should never exceed a mile, as the labourer will be fatigued by a longer walk, and it will be inconvenient to send so far for vegetables for daily use. In Kent there are allotments which are two or three miles from the labourer's dwelling, but this is a proof that employment is precarious, and that on the whole his condition is not good. A much higher rent can be obtained for small allotments under garden tillage, than for land in undivided tenancy; and it is but reasonable that the owner of a hundred acres divided into half-acre allotments, and having twohundred tenants instead of one, should receive additional rent in respect of his additional trouble in collecting the rent, looking after his property, and other expenses that are incident to the division of the land. Those who are conversant with the system say that if the rent is one-third higher, the difference is not unreasonable; but as allotments are at present granted as a matter of favour, they are not set at a rack-rent. It is usual for the landlord to include tithes, parochial and other rates, in the rent, in order to save trouble, and to prevent the tenant being unexpectedly and frequently called upon for money payments. The rent of 137 acres belonging to Mrs. Davies Gilbert, divided into 419 allotments, is 4281. 88. 54d., or nearly three guineas per acre, which includes rates, tithes, and taxes, but is exclusive of houses and buildings, which are paid for separately. The rents vary from 6s. up to 81. an acre. A form of agreement, which is usually signed by allotment tenants, embodies rules for the management of the land, and fixes other conditions for their observance. Spade-culture is insisted upon, and the use of the plough is prohibited; also underletting and working on Sunday. There are instances in which attendance at the parish church is enforced; and in other cases it is merely stipulated that there shall be attendance at some place of worship. The allotment is usually forfeited for non-payment of rent, gross misconduct, commitment for any crime, or wilful neglect of the land. A particular rotation of crops is sometim required in the agreement. The grow of wheat is not allowed in some case Where it is permitted, it may proba be safely assumed that in that particul district the labourer is worse off th usual. Some recommend that on a hal acre one half should be in wheat, and other half in potatoes; and it is assume that other vegetables are grown in garden attached to the labourer's cottag Captain Scobell thinks it unadvisable exclude any one from holding an alk ment on account of previous bad racter, as there is a chance of his bein reclaimed. Becoming permanently pauper is a fit ground for exclusion: when the tenant receives casual relief account of sickness or accident, he is excluded. So long as the tenant observe the conditions of his agreement, it i found useful to stipulate that he shall no other account be ejected from hi land. There seems to be no doubt that th absolute produce of the soil when e vated in small allotments is greater than the same land would produce under th ordinary course of tillage by farmers. much larger quantity of manure is used in some cases, four times as much farmers are enabled to put upon their la and a single rod is frequently made produce vegetables sufficient for the e sumption of a labourer's family for s months; but if every labourer had allotment, the quantity of manure e lected could not be so great as it is = present. The disposable produce p acre of land in large farms is obviets much greater than when the same qua tity of land is divided into small holdi Captain Scobell estimates the avers. value of an allotment at 28. per week. about 51. per year, and that during year twenty days' labour is requir The profit is equal to ten weeks' labe at wages of 108. per week. According another estimate, the gross profit of h an acre is calculated at 191. The pr duce consists of twelve bushels of what 78., and six hundredweight of be at 6d. per lb.; and something is set dow as the value of the straw. The re seed, and other expenses, it is said, wil |