194 AWAKENING OF ENGLAND. 



urge, and even order, the men to attend ; and 

 he himself would frequently take the chair. 



" Where are ye going, Michael O'Flanagan?" 

 the priest would roar to a retreating form at 

 the close of the service. " Just ye come back 

 and listen to the speaker." And Michael 

 O'Flanagan would remain to become enrolled 

 as a member of the I.A.O.S. 



The immediate practical outcome of this 

 agitation was the formation of co-operative 

 creameries, amid the rich meadow - lands of 

 County Limerick. 



The formation of these co - operative 

 creameries effected a revolution in the butter 

 trade of Ireland and England, and to-day the 

 creameries realise for the farmers as high a 

 price — that is, a fraction over lid. a pound — 

 as the creameries in Denmark do for her 

 farmers. 



Stock-raising has always been a favourite 

 pursuit of the Irish farmer from time im- 

 memorial, and whilst in England the increase 

 of dairying has led, unfortunately, to the 

 laying down of more arable land to grass, in 

 Ireland, thanks to the efforts of the agri- 

 cultural instructors, land once grazed by 

 bullocks is now growing corn and potatoes. 



