96 A LIFE'S WORK IN IRELAND. 



land and Scotland, who never accept a new tenant till 

 he has shown that he has sufficient capital to farm the 

 land thoronghly well. By the Ulster tenant-right it 

 is secured that a new tenant shall have insufficient 

 capital, or none at all. What happens in Ulster 

 proves that the assertion that tenants mostly save 

 money to buy more land, is quite untrue ; very few 

 do so. 



Such a custom is really more injurious to the 

 tenant than to the landowner. All landowners in 

 other parts, with any knowledge of their business, 

 guard especially against it. I can say that I clearly 

 saw the evil forty years ago, and have taken the 

 utmost care since that no tenant of mine should 

 ever pay a shilling to a predecessor, though I 

 have very few tenants to whom I either have 

 not let his farm or let liim such an addition to 

 it as to make it in substance a new letting. I 

 always took precautions to keep it, to the last 

 moment, so uncertain to whom I should give the 

 land, that all were afraid to pay anything to the 

 outgoing tenant, knowing that a suspicion of their 

 having paid anything, would secure their not getting 

 the farm. 



No tenant in Ireland that I ever knew had 

 capital enough to farm his land well, and I think 

 it suicidal for him, and a sure loss to me, that any 

 part of his capital should be paid to his predecessor 

 instead of beine; available to farm his land well. 



