FOOD OF THE IRISH PEASANT. 



137 



TABLE 16. AVERAGE WEEKLY QUANTITY AND VALUE OF FOOD 

 CONSUMED BY AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS* FAMILIES IN 

 IRELAND. 



The following notes, published by the Board of Trade, 

 add considerable interest to the facts of the table. 

 The report says : 



" From the table it will be seen that the average weekly 

 value of the various articles of food enumerated amounts to 

 about i os. 6d., and of this amount 73., or two-thirds, repre- 

 sent roughly the money expenditure. In the provinces of 

 Munster and Connaught a certain amount of barter is said to 

 take place in the villages, some of the potatoes and eggs pro- 

 duced by the labourers being often exchanged for tea and 

 sugar at the village store. Of the total amount disbursed, 

 43. is expended on meat, flour, and meal. The estimated 

 money value of the articles, which are wholly or principally 

 produced, amounts to nearly 33. 6d., the value of the potatoes 

 consumed being is. 2fd., and of milk and butter, iid. each. 

 The value of the meat, bread, flour and meal, and potatoes 

 consumed is 6s. ifd., or 58-6 per cent, of the total value. 

 Tea and sugar account for 19-6 per cent., and milk, eggs, and 

 butter for 21*3 per cent. The quantities of the articles 

 consumed, generally speaking, do not show any marked 

 variation as between the provinces, with the exception of 



