320 A LIFE'S WORK IN IRELAND. 



can expect a safe roof or steady walls, who neglects to 

 lay a good foundation. I do not think, as some of you 

 suppose, that all English plans of farming are the best 

 for Irish farmers, but I am quite sure that the English 

 farmer is right in thinking, that in order to have his 

 barn full of corn, and his pocket full of gold, he must 

 have plenty of dung, and that he cannot have plenty 

 of dung unless he has plenty of cattle, and that he can- 

 not have plenty of cattle unless lie has food for them ; 

 and I shall be delighted if any Irish farmer will show 

 me how his brother farmer in England is wrong in this 

 calculation. When, therefore, any of you say to me, 

 " We know the value of manure ; but how are we poor 

 farmers to get it 1" my answer at once is, " By growing 

 food for cattle," that is, clover and turnips. And you 

 will thus have what I told you at the beginning of this 

 letter, it was my object you should have, MORE MANURE. 

 Some people, I know, say, "These clover and 

 turnips are the crops to ruin poor farmers." Now, 

 when next you hear anybody say this, just ask him, if 

 it will ruin a poor farmer to have more manure ; or if 

 it will ruin him to have better crops of corn ; and then 

 ask him to show you some better or cheaper way of 

 getting manure, than by keeping cattle (except, of 

 course, buying it, and, in that case, just ask him to give 

 you the money to do so) ; and then ask him to show you 

 how to keep cattle, without having food for them ; and 

 if he cannot answer these questions, or show you how 

 to do these things, why just set him down for an igno- 

 rant meddling fellow, who talks about things of which 

 he knows nothing ; and do not believe him when he 

 tells you that clover and turnips will be the ruin of 

 poor farmers. 



