TURLOUGHS. 45 



half of a 5s. poor-rate, and the county cess, which here 

 does not exceed Is. in the pound. The land is not at 

 present under tillage, being occupied merely for grazing. 



Next day I examined several of Mr Bodkin's farms 

 in the neighbourhood of Annagh. He could let five 

 or six farms here, ranging in extent from 400 to 

 700 English acres each, and within seven to ten 

 miles of a railway station, when the line is opened 

 to Galway. They are on limestone, dry turnip-land, 

 and under good management would prove sound and 

 not ungrateful, though not possessing the naturally rich 

 qualities of many of the farms already described. One 

 of them will have attached to it a Turlough of nearly 

 150 English acres, now laid dry by arterial drainage, 

 and capable of feeding a very heavy stock of sheep, 

 cattle, or milk-cows. Lord Oranmore's estate here 

 contain's large breadths of these drained " Turloughs," 

 many hundred acres of which, in this quarter, are 

 expected to be laid permanently dry by the arterial 

 operations at Turloughmore. They generally consist 

 of alluvial soil of the finest quality, the silt and debris 

 for ages of a limestone country, and covered with a 

 thick sward of grass, which, by the closeness with 

 which it has been eaten, indicates the rich feeding 

 qualities it possesses. 



Though I give the particulars of Mr Bodkin's farms 

 only, it is right to say, that almost every landlord in 

 this county is equally anxious to get good tenants. 



The arterial drainage of Turloughmore has changed 

 the ancient course of the water, and thereby for the 

 present laid dry the bridge over the old water-course. 



