LETTER LV1I. 



Athlone, Oct. S, 1813. 



J.N the county of Longford a husbandman's 

 wages are, for the summer months, twelve 

 pence ; in winter, ten pence, per day. Fuel, 

 one of the prime necessaries among the lower 

 orders, is easily procured. The general ap- 

 pearance of the country induces me to believe, 

 whenever a correct return of the population 

 may be obtained, that the numbers will exceed 

 every estimate hitherto produced : should this 

 opinion prove correct, a very serious question 

 may arise, whether the population may not be 

 doubled in the next five-and-twenty years. 



It is some consolation that the culture of the 

 potatoe may be improved its produce per- 

 haps doubled : the haulm, instead of being 

 suffered to remain and wither on the ground, if 

 the potatoes be planted in proper time, may be 

 cut off, and will afford food for milch cows. 

 The reclaiming of bog, and the cultivation of 

 mountain districts, comprehending nearly a third 

 of the country, are resources capable also of 



