190 My Little Farm 



state of the dairy turns the milk and cream into 

 " clabber," the " knowledgable woman " is again 

 consulted, and she undertakes to restore the 

 butter, which " comes back " when the weather 

 changes ; and since the weather in Ireland is never 

 long without changing, the witch is generally 

 prompt in justifying her wisdom. A thunder- 

 storm is her best opportunity. It seldom lasts 

 more than a day, and the clear calm of the next 

 is accompanied by the triumph of supernaturalism 

 over agricultural efficiency. We have our dairy 

 experts in every county, paid from the public 

 purse and controlled by the Department ; but 

 neither they nor their controllers dare offend 

 " Irish ideas " by opposing paganism in agri- 

 culture. The Department has not as yet 

 appointed an official witch on its paid staff of 

 experts. 



I give only three from the scores of popular 

 examples with which I am personally acquainted. 

 A nation cannot prosper by consigning its soil to 

 pagan superstition, and when the nation is three 

 fourths agricultural, the case is worse. 



