TWENTY-FIVE YEARS' WORK. 15 



As soon as it was found practically that tenants 

 could make money under such a strict system (as it 

 was thought), a considerable moral effect was pro- 

 duced. One must live in Ireland fully to appreciate 

 the difference between "a warm" or even "snug" 

 Irish farmer, and the same man out at elbows. It 

 is hard to believe they are of the same race. 

 Nothing has been done for many years to urge or 

 encourage particular crops, even turnips. The one 

 only exhortation has been "Manure your land 

 better." It w^as very early seen that more manure 

 is all that is wanted to make the land pay, and 

 that nothing else wall do it. Whatever the causes, 

 however, it is certain the tenants have thriven 

 wonderfully, and are thriving more and more every 

 year. They have every appearance of prosperity 

 about them. The arrears on the estate at the 

 present time amount to £3. The rent day, instead 

 of a day of long faces and complaints on one side, 

 and sharp words on the other, is got over by three 

 or four hours' work with pleasant greetings and 

 cheerful words. I do not think it is possible there 

 should be a better feeling between landlord and 

 tenant than exists. No driver (or under-agent as 

 such men now call themselves, the vilest class in 

 the country) has been kept at all for many years. 

 I believe there are very few on the estate who do 

 not feel that though the management is strict, yet 

 it is considerate, and that they are regarded with 



