24 A LIFE'S WORK IN IRELAND. 



that will succeed, but perfect for roots and grass. 

 The acres are English acres. 



Now, as to tenants. I have about 3000 acres 

 let to tenants. The rent for the past twenty years 

 has been paid on two fixed days in the year, with- 

 out agent or under agent. I begin at 10 A.M., and 

 before 3 the half-year's rent has been paid and 

 lodged in the bank, three miles off. Of the whole 

 number of tenants, there are only five or six who 

 are not thriving according to my wish, though I 

 charge as smart* rents as I think the land can pay 

 well. 



Two years ago the sister of one tenant married 

 with a fortune of 500, and the tenant got nearly 

 as much with his wife in return. Fortunes of 100 

 and over are common, and less than 50 would be 

 thought very low. I mention these, because at no 

 time is the true wealth or poverty of tenants in 

 Ireland so surely shown as in their marriages. 



One part of the estate runs up to a small town, 

 and the land is held by shopkeepers and others who 

 are well off. Having other means of living, they 

 have no motive for giving more rent than will leave 

 them a fair profit, yet nowhere else is there anything 

 like such competition for the land nor such improve- 

 ment on it. The rents are rising accordingly. But 

 the reason is plain. New milk that used to sell for 

 Id. per quart in the town has for some years sold 

 for 1-Jd., butter having risen in the same propor- 



