48 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK I. 



In the barony of Kilconnel the reply was, that this sort of 

 tenure was the principal resource of the labourer ; that if 

 the crop is not so productive as he expects, he gives it 

 up for the amount of his rent, and becomes a pauper, 

 unless he obtains from his neighbours credit for the pro- 

 visions he receives; in which case he pays the pro- 

 prietor for the potatoes upon which he lives, more than 

 double the price which the latter obtains in the market 

 for ready money ; for that which the proprietor sells in the 

 market for 4d., he sells on credit to the labourer for Sd. 



The whole harvest is not ordinarily worth the rent 

 which the labourer pays, to say nothing of his labour; 

 nevertheless, he is very eager to pay, in order to have a plot 

 of land the following year ; and he endeavours to make his 

 bargain in such a way as to pay his landlord in labour, 

 the poor man fearing to lose his sole means of livelihood. 



The labourers would certainly be able to buy potatoes 

 in the market at a lower price than that which they 

 pay under such a system. But as, unhappily, they have 

 no other employment, it is their only means to obtain food 

 throughout the year for themselves and their families, 

 since no one is rich enough to give them day-labour. 



In the barony of Dromahair it was stated, that in hi- 

 ring a plot of land the labourer never thinks of making 

 any profit, but that the poor fellow has only this means 

 of turning his labour to account: if he found employ- 

 ment at the lowest price known, the potatoes which he 

 could buy would come cheaper to him than paying such 

 rents; this system is become necessary in a country 

 in which the majority of the inhabitants has no other 

 employment. 



In the barony of Philipstown it was stated, in reply to 



