CHAPTER XII. 

 TENDENCY AND ACCIDENT 



As I have said, my main working asset is the cow, 

 and for reasons peculiar to Ireland, she is likely to 

 remain a large asset in our farming by wage labour, 

 even in preference to forms of production more 

 profitable in themselves. An animal that can 

 convert grass into human food and into better 

 animals of her own kind remains practically 

 indispensable in a situation where theft prohibits 

 more intensive production and robs labour of its 

 increased share in wages. I have fattened the cow 

 profitably at 325. per cwt. live weight, and she 

 is not less reproductive now, with beef running 

 up to 6os. Yet the comparative form of the 

 circulating capital on a farm is a most important 

 matter, full of counter calculations. 



Other things being equal, the man who works 

 in cows only can make more of them per cow than 

 he could by dividing his means and attention 

 between cows and many other products. His 

 arrangements for his cows are likely to be more 

 suitable and more complete, while their place in 

 his mind also is likely to be better accommodated. 

 On the other hand, he has " all his eggs in one 

 basket," and we have seen Irish cows practically 

 unmarketable quite lately, while other forms of 



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