156 THE IRISH AGRARIAN PROBLEM. 



out over all Ireland, and if all the large farms 

 and demesnes were to be absorbed, then the 

 Irish holdings as they exist to-day would only 

 be brought up to just 30 acres. ^ 



^ No human being dreams, however, of the abolition of 

 all the large farms. The average size of the farms so far 

 purchased under the Wyndham Act is 47 acres. This Act 

 permits the advance of ;^5)00o, or even of ;i^7,ooo, for the 

 purchase of a single farm. That certainly does not point 

 to the abolition of the large farms. Yet if these are to be 

 retained, there is not much land left over in Ireland for the 

 enlargement of the petty holdings, — all the less, as the evicted 

 tenants have to be provided for. 



