CONTINUOUS CROPPING: DOES IT PAY? 23 



to sell off sufficient potatoes to cover the labour bill, 

 but, as a quid pro quo, in making up the valuation 

 at the end of the year, no allowance could be made 

 for the unexhausted value resulting from the pur- 

 chased food consumed on the farm, or the application 

 of lime, slag, or other fertilisers. This latter con- 

 dition has been strictly adhered to. 



Another feature which it is very important to 

 mention is that the writer had not the entire control 

 of the farm, most of the stock being purchased and 

 sold by another person. In theory, it was assumed 

 that the writer should be consulted as to the pur- 

 chasing and selling of the stock, but, in practice, for 

 one reason or another, his advice was seldom fol- 

 lowed. The practical farmer will at once realise 

 what a tremendous handicap this latter condition 

 was. Dual ownership of land may or may not be a 

 poor arrangement, but dual management of land is 

 wretched. 



There were also other hampering conditions. The 

 farm was part and parcel of a gentleman's demesne, 

 and an attempt was made to dovetail the work of 

 the farm with that of the demesne. As, in practice, 

 the carrying out of important estate work clashed 

 with important agricultural operations, this arrange- 

 ment proved to be very bad. Further, the whole 

 work was carried out by men who had had no pre- 

 vious experience of tillage operations, and to whom 

 the whole work was nothing short of a revolution. 



It is particularly desirable to emphasise this latter 

 fact since, leaving figures entirely out of the question, 

 the experiment has proved to the satisfaction of even 

 the most captious critics (and what a number we 

 have in Ireland!) that Irish labour, given a proper 

 ehance and a proper wage, can be just as efficient in 

 Ireland as anywhere else in the world. 



