164 SCIENCE IN SHORT CHAPTERS. 



practical sacrifice. Under such conditions it may be better 

 to burn the bog than leave it in hopeless and worthless 

 desolation. 



I cannot conclude without again adverting to the impor- 

 tance of this subject, and affirming with the utmost empha- 

 sis, that the true Irish patriot is not the political orator, 

 but he who by practical efforts, either as capitalist, laborer, 

 or teacher, promotes the reclamation of the soil of Ireland, 

 or otherwise develops the sadly neglected natural resources 

 of the country. 



With Mr. Mitchell Henry's permission I append to the 

 above his own description of the results of his experiment, 

 originally communicated in a letter to the Times ; at the 

 same time thanking him for his kind reception of a stranger 

 at Kylemore Castle, and the facilities he afforded me for 

 studying the subject on the spot. 



" The interesting account you lately published of the ex- 

 tensive reclamations of His Grace the Duke of Sutherland, 

 under the title of ' An Agricultural Experiment,' has been 

 copied into very many newspapers, and must have afforded 

 a welcome relief to thousands of readers glad to turn for a 

 time from the terrible narratives that come to us from the 

 east. If you will allow me, I should like to supplement 

 your narrative by a rapid sketch of what has been done here 

 during the last few years, on a much humbler scale, in the 

 case of land similar, and some of it almost identical, with 

 that in Sutherlandshire. 



"The twelve corps d'armee under the Duke's command, 

 in the shape of the twelve steam-engines and their ploughs, 

 engaged in subduing the stubborn resistance of the unre- 

 claimed wilds of Sutherlandshire, suggest to the mind the 

 triumphs of great warriors, and fill us with admiration 

 not always excited by the details, of great battle; but, as 

 great battles can be fought seldom, and only by gigantic 

 armies and at prodigious expense, so reclamation on such a 

 scale is far beyond the opportunities or the means of most 

 of us; while many may, perhaps, be encouraged to attempt 

 work similar to that which has been successfully carried 

 out here. 



