Hie Prize System as applied to Small Farmers in Ireland. 405 
marks, and obtained 260 marks for the management of his land, 
as against 112^ in 1872. 
McAree is an old man, who has spent his life in the district. 
In 1872 neither roots nor artificial grass were raised on his 
{arm, and there was no trace of any principle of cropping. 
In 1870 his holding was as well managed as any reasonable 
man could expect. And all this had been accomplished in five 
years. 
Patrick Connolly is dead, but his family have continued to 
manage the farm very well. They have enlarged their dwelling, 
and made other improvements. In 1876 they scored 505 
marks ; but McAree, who ranked only eighth in 1872, excelled 
even them. 
I come next to another typical case, namely Peter McKenna, 
who lives in one of the poorest districts in the county Monaghan. 
He holds 17 acres of what is commonly called " mountain land," 
the greater part of which has been reclaimed from the state of 
heather. His land runs up to the top of a hill ; on the other 
side of which, but at a lower elevation than McKenna's farm, 
the heather can still be seen. 
The natural character of the soil will be appreciated when I 
state that the rent is 51. Is., and that the Poor-law valuation 
is 51. Without any pretension to the rank of a model farmer, 
McKenna has managed his farm in a way which does him 
credit. It will be seen from the tabular return that it bears a 
heavy stock. The house and offices attracted my attention as I ap- 
proached them ; and all I saw satisfied me that he is prosperous 
and happy. The position he has won in this competition will 
stimulate him to make additional improvements, and his ex- 
ample cannot fail to influence others. 
I may say that the land in the district in which he lives is 
wretchedly farmed. For want of correct knowledge of tillage 
and manures, too large a proportion of the soil is burned. The 
cattle are of a very unimproved description, and many of the 
small farmers are sadly in want of decent house-accommodation. 
Indeed, some of the houses are in a truly shocking state. 
No person appears to take any interest in improving either 
the agricultural practices of the district or the conditions of the 
people. I passed tract after tract of land, which is not yielding 
a fourth of the produce which might be extracted from it. The 
rents are low. 
In some cases neither landlord nor agent has been on the land 
for years. Yet a land-agent on an extensive property, to whom 
application was made, wrote to the applicant, saying he thought 
the money could be better expended ! One of the tenants in 
whom this gentleman is interested, who got his name entered 
