1844.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



101 



to cross into Denmark, sunk before Agdanesia, and never afterwards 

 appeared. And a little while before, a large portion of the same 

 money, on its way into Denmark in a huge ship, was taken for booty 

 by some Batavian pirates; this happened in the year 1541. Amongst 

 tlie other ornamented works of this town, the royal throne in the pre- 

 cinct of the church, of which many steps were of rock sculptured and 

 worked out with surprising art, most elegantly constructed, may be 

 justly reckoned, on which formerly the kings when they were chosen, 

 or when the people paid their homage, were wont to'sit. And, in- 

 deed, whatever we have said of tlie elegant and magnificent structure 

 of the Cathedral of Thrandia, is to be also understood of the work of 

 the wall, and of the marble elaborately sculptured with the finest art. 

 For it is sufficiently clear, that very many temples and edifices in the 

 Christian world, have much eclipsed this one of Thrandia in the gold 

 and silver, and more abundantly adorned with precious things ; but 

 that they are not to be compared to it in the artificial structure of its 

 wall. Rutger, son of Hermann, in liis description of Norway, has 

 the following: — "There was once a most magnificent edifice, surpas- 

 sing all the other temples in the whole of Europe, or indeed in trie 

 whole Christian world ; and there are some who affirm that it had not 

 a like or equal ; for whether you regard the workmanship or extent, 

 by its square blocks of stone, its splendid columns and perfect finish 

 it moved every beholder with admiration." So spoke Rutger. 



AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT OF IRELAND. 



Sir— I am encouraged by your article in the last number of the 

 Journal on "Agriculture and Engineering," to send this paper, hoping 

 from its appearance in a scientific journal, that the subject may obtain 

 more attention than I suppose it would receive if inserted in a political 

 one ; and as the remarks made by you must naturally turn the attention 

 of the profession to a subject peculiarly interesting to the inhabitants 

 of this island, I propose giving some idea of the state of land, and of 

 the subjects intimately connected with it, which a residence of a few 

 years in this country has made me acquainted with, so that a correct 

 opinion may be formed, in England, of the real wants of the people, 

 and of the means of supplying them. As regards the profession, that 

 it may be seen if proper steps be taken here, and in England, a vast 

 field may be opened for the profitable display of those talents which 

 the civil engineer's practice in the sister country has astonished the 

 world with, and which (may I be forgiven for expressing the opinion) 

 has, 1 believe, raised my native land to that proud position over the 

 nations of Europe she now holds, " the pride and envy of them all." 



The great want of the people is, the means of subsislence. This 

 may be subdivided into want of labour, and want of the knowledge 

 how to obtain the necessaries of life, which the holders of land in 

 England usually have ; that is, want of instruction in the business of 

 farming, which they have not as yet, and which 1 fear from the present 

 absence of example, and from the limited means of obtaining the 

 necessary knowledge, they will be slow in acquiring. If remedies can 

 be found for this state of things, my opinion is, the country will be 

 prosperous and happy. The idea may be ridiculed, that the ills of 

 Ireland are contained in these two deficiencies, yet to an unprejudiced 

 mind, devoid of political animosities, or religious bigotry, acquainted 

 with the situation and feelings of the peasantry, having but one object 

 in view, the improvement of their temporal or social condition, and 

 with a knowledge of what may be done bv a change in the system of 

 agriculture, I believe such a mind must acknowledge, that if all their 

 necessities are not supplied by providing these deficiences, yet much 

 will be done, and the remainder will follow. But it is a difficult thing 

 to reason with men under daily privations, their whole prospect 

 of spinning out the thread of life hanging upon holding the land 

 they are in possession of, with nothing to fall back upon if they 

 lose this, and with the knowledge, not anticipation, that their 

 bodily strength will be useless in providing food— they cannot be em- 

 ployed, they are not wanted, there is nothing to be done. Is it not 

 miserable to know that this is true, that in Ireland, a country more 

 than any other requiring the employment of labour, where it can be 

 obtained at the cheapest rate, and where the mass of the people are 

 literally in want from the non-employment of them, that this should 

 continue. It must not be so. You in England must remedy it, and 

 when you have done so, the agitation which has so successfully ran 

 over the country will be destroyed, and the people will not be led by 

 the rhodomontade of designing men. 



In considering the propositions I am about to make, it is necessary 

 to bear in mind ; 1st, That there is no demand for the labour of the 

 people; and, 2d, That the small farmers who occupy from JO to 20 



acres of land are, from the want of instruction, unable to obtain one 

 half of the profit that can be realized by a person understanding the 

 business of agriculture. After describing the usual system of farming 

 by such tenants, I think it will be unnecessary to enter into calculations 

 to prove my second assertion ; and as to the first, the fact is so well 

 known, it will be supererogation to make a remark for substantiating 

 it._ The usual system practised, is to raise a crop of potatoes, after 

 this wheat, then oats, 1, 2, and some times 3 or more successive crops, 

 if the land is able to produce anything resembling one. The ground 

 is covered with weeds, never fallowed, or fallow crops raised. Potatoes, 

 from the mode of sowing, are useless for cleaning the ground. The 

 land is then let out to rest ; and it may be taken as the general system 

 with occupiers of land in this class, that out of 10 acres, with land in 

 grass to starve a cow upon, for it is not food for one, and with land at 

 rest, one half of the farm never pays anything. The cause of resting 

 land is the want of manure, and as the stock is roaming over the im- 

 poverished pasture for at least two-thirds of the year, the straw of 

 the farm is only saturated with wet, and in place of being nutritious 

 manure made under cattle, it is nothing but rotten straw, useless, as 

 compared with what it might have been if the stock had been fed in 

 stalls and the manure made by them. The reason they do this is, 

 that no better mode is known to them ; they have no examples, but 

 bad ones, to copy ; no one to instruct them, no place to obtain the 

 necessary information. 



To provide employment, I propose, 1st, the regulation, compressing, 

 deepening, straightening, and widening of all the rivers that may be 

 navigable or otherwise; all rivulets and streams, in every district, 

 where they conduct the main supply of water from the valleys to a 

 river or other large reservoir: and as this is the first step necessary 

 for the improvement of property, it is the first thing that should be 

 done. This will be more beneficial than railways at present; because 

 railways congregate large numbers to one district, removing them 

 from their homes, and are useful to the people only that reside near 

 the line, or a few miles from it; the increased expense of living 

 lessens very materially the advantages of labour to the man that is 

 obliged to leave his family to obtain it, and besides the applicability 

 of railways generally is a matter of some doubt; in a few cases they 

 will pay a fair interest for the outlay, but if carried generally through 

 Ireland they would not. The deficiency of manufacturing" produce, 

 the small number that travel by coaches, are fully explained in Mr. 

 M'Neil's Report on the Dublin and Cashel line ; the large districts 

 which it is found necessary to include for the support of this under- 

 taking, proves that this view of the case is something more than 

 theoretic. Another reason why railways would not now be so useful 

 as this plan is, that employment is required in every part of the 

 country, which railways could not give, but the regulation of rivers 

 and streams is required in all places, or nearly so. The interest on 

 the outlay could be obtained everywhere, as the benefits from it would 

 be immediate — results not so certain in railway speculation. The 

 immense tracts of low land wastes might then be brought into profitable 

 and permanent cultivation. An example will prove the correctness 

 of my anticipations. A retired officer bought an estate in Tipperary : 

 200 acres of it was flooded by the Shannon for a great portion of the 

 year; it was nearly valueless, it could not be drained, and was useless 

 without it. The improvements at Killaloe lowered the waters of 

 Lough Derg, they have not been since flooded, and his lands are im- 

 proving rapidly. The Calla's are irrigated, and the appearance of 

 the whole district in the short space of twelve months is quite altered. 

 It is perfectly dry, crops are growing luxuriantly, where the Shannon 

 rested for four months in the year; and I am sure the benefit to these 

 200 acres, by this alone, is not less than 80/. per annum. 



Now, I know places on insignificant rivers where as much mischief 

 is done to property as the mighty Shannon did on this; it is not 

 in single places, but extends generally through Galway, Mayo, 

 King's county, and Tipperary. In fact, I believe, and the opinion is 

 founded on actual inspection, and considerable consideration, that one- 

 twentieth of the lands of these counties is absolutely useless, and per- 

 fectly unprofitable, from this cause alone. A proprietor engaged rae 

 to inspect an estate which was much injured by a river, or rather 

 rivulet, to report to him as to the means of remedying the injury, and 

 to estimate the expense attending the execution of what I might 

 propose to be done. I did so. About 150 acres of his land, 40 or 50 

 acres of his neighbour's, and 15 acres of a third party, were entirely 

 unimprovable from an obstruction of the stream by a ledge of rocks; 

 I proposed they should be blown out, and the level above reduced 

 three feet ; the estimate of the whole expense was less than 40/. ; it 

 was acknowledged that the 200 acres and upwards would be improved 

 10s. per acre per annum, without any further outlay, but if internal 

 draining were carried out, the whole might be cultivated, and made 

 equal to the higher land on the estate. Cattle can never be on it 



