SPADE HUSBANDRY. 71 



bent upon a bad or noxious subsoil. Xo more 

 must be turned up than what can be neutralised 

 in one season. Landlords may sometimes 

 prudently make a sacrifice of one crop, but 

 fanners seldom can, and therefore should always 

 avoid the experiment. 



The fact of a thin soil being incumbent upon 

 an unsound subsoil, does not render the deepen- 

 ing of that soil an imprudent or injudicious 

 step, but, on the contrary, a more necessary one 

 to be prosecuted with double perseverance. 



Permanent improvements of this kind, in- 

 separably grafted upon the soil, ought always 

 to belong to the landlord, and hence be made 

 at his expense. The expense of draining and 

 trenching, on an average, may be stated at 

 about 10Z. per imperial acre, for which the 

 tenant would have to pay interest. Such an 

 outlay, no doubt, few British landlords are able 

 to incur without recourse to credit ; and such 

 an additional rent as 6 J per cent, on this invest- 

 ment would create, many more than Irish 

 tenants would hesitate to give. Neither, how- 

 ever, have any reason to be apprehensive of con- 

 sequences where the money is properly laid 

 out. We never knew an instance where lands 

 r 4 



