AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE, 93 



of course dropped altogether. The multiplicity of small 

 dung-heaps, exposed to the heat of a Rhenish sun, un- 

 questionably taints the air and affects the health of the 

 villagers ; but it would be as hard to suppress the pleasure 

 with which every member of the family regards the heap 

 that is to supply their yearly food, as it is to drive the 

 Irishman's pig out of the cabin of which Ac pays the rent. 



As long as the peasant's food in the one country de- 

 pends upon the dung lie can accumulate, and the rent in 

 the other is only to be raised by his sharing his house- 

 room with his valuable four-footed companion, we fear 

 that dung-heaps wtll stand under the M'indows of Ger- 

 man cottages, and pigs run in and out of Irish cabins, 

 whatever philanthropic taste may preach to the contrary. 



We know several books, well penned and full of good 

 advice, that are circulated at a cheap rate for the benefit 

 of Irish cottiers. In one we remember a tirade against 

 horses, the inclination to indulge in which is deeply im- 

 planted in Paddy's nature. The author has calculated, 

 perhaps too moderately, the expense of the keep of a 

 horse, and shows that a horse to five acres of land, as he 

 finds is kept in part of the county of Wexford, is a pal- 

 pable absurdity. But besides making no allowance for 

 the fact that five acres of land leave a man time enough 

 to earn money in other ways, and the trade of a carrier is 

 everywhere a profitable one, the account is summarily 

 balanced against the peasant without allowing anything 

 for the manure of his stable. How friend Martin 

 Doyle could overlook this point, as well as the fact that 

 horse-dung in the wet soil of Ireland is likely to be more 

 suitable manure than the dung of the cow, which he would 

 substitute for the horse, we cannot explain. In Gqv- 



