ALLOTMENT OF LAND, although not a technical, is a well-understood expression in the law of England; and under the general inclosure act (41 Geo. III., c. 109), is used to denote the kind of conveyance or 'distribution directed to be made to the person or persons who at the time of the division and inclosure shall have the actual possession of the lands, tenements, or hereditaments, in lieu of, or in right of which the allotment is made, but without prejudice to any question of title. By the ancient statute of Merton (20 Henry III., c. 4), the lord of the manor, or any other owner of a common, may inclose so much of the waste as he pleases for tillage or wood-ground, provided sufficient Is left for other parties entitled to the use of the same. This right to 'inclose common fields and waste lands has in modern times been very generally extended throughout England by means of local acts of parliament, a number of the regulations of which have been consolidated by the act above referred to, by section 7 of which commissioners are appointed to make the allotment.
Generally speaking, this term, as a legal word, may be considered as the grant or allowance of a portion of land too inconsiderable to be made the subject of a for mal conveyance ; and in this sense it has been used to denote the system or species of agricultural holding which prevailed to some extent in England towards the close of the last century, but which was not in common use throughout the country till 1830, when the agricultural laborers in many counties—owing to the use of threshing-machines and other improvements, which they dreaded would lower their wages—rose in insurrection against their employers. To meet this danger, the A. system was resorted to, and different
societies were established for its promotion ; and by the comparative contentment and confort it produced, it may be considered to have been successful in its object. It has been stated to have diminished crime among the peasantry, and generally to have improved and elevated their character. By the form of agreement usually signed by A. tenants, the use of the spade iu the cultivation of land is insisted upon, and the plough prohibited, and there are other conditions of the occupancy more or less capricious. The A. may be forfeited for non-payment of the rent, the tenant's misconduct or crime, or willful neglect of his land; but it has been thought unadvisable to exclude any one from enjoying an A on account of his previous bad character, as, from the nature of the indus trious occupation which the eV. necessitates, there is the chance of his reclaiming his char acter. See SPADE HUSBANDRY.