114 A LIFE'S WORK IN IRELAND. 



can be put into good condition and supplied with 

 the buildings necessary for its full productiveness, 

 whether it be in Ireland or anywhere else. The land 

 of Ireland needs all the available capital of all its 

 landlords and tenants together, for two or three 

 generations, to put it in a proper state. And yet 

 wiseacres tell us that if only the landlords (who own 

 much more capital, and have much larger credit than 

 the tenants) are thrown overboard, the tenants will 

 be able to do it all by themselves, both their own 

 proper part and the landowners' part too. Any one 

 who likes to believe this, I advise to make himself 

 acquainted personally with what the average Irish 

 tenants really are, and with the improvements which 

 they make, where circumstances of tenure are favour- 

 able. 



It will be found that much the larger part of such 

 improvements as have been made has been done by 

 Vtndlords. I have often asserted that I have drained 

 more land than all the tenants together for twenty 

 miles round on every side. If I said I have drained 

 twice as much, I believe I should be still far within 

 the truth. I have said that my tenants are much 

 before most of those on neighbouring properties in 

 wealth and good farming. In a previous chapter 

 I have shown how small an outlay the tenants had 

 made on improvements. It can be judged therefore 

 how far the claim for improvement by tenants really 

 goes. Add to this that tenants now employ very 





