Reclamation of Bog and Moorland in Galway. 
231 
lay docs not stop there. No one can enter into an agricultural 
problem without being forced to pay some attention to the social 
questions connected with it. One cannot look at the work 
without inquiring about the labourers. In approaching one of 
the numerous gangs, the first glance may give one the idea that 
they are a party of somewhat ragged boys. A nearer view will 
show that they are men, but most of them under-sized. The 
whole race of the Connemara district has been affected by the 
famines of the past and the meagre diet of the present time. In 
the matter of clothing, however, things may look worse than 
they really are, for while darning and patching seem almost 
unknown, economy develops itself in another direction. In wet 
weather it is customary to put on the most weather-tight gar- 
ments first, while the most ragged ones only go on as a further 
protection. 
Most of these men occupy a bit of land, which they prepare 
for potatoes early in the spring. As soon as their own work is 
done, early in April, they come to work at the reclamations, and 
it is a great boon to them to get work near home, although the 
wages are much lower than they might earn in England. Boys 
are taken on to work at 5s. and 6s., while ordinary labourers 
earn 9s., and the gaffers or foremen 12s. to 15s. per week. 
Girls earn 9c?. per diem, and are rapidly learning to hoe turnips, 
a lighter work than the carrying of turf and manure which 
usually falls to their lot. Saints'-days and fairs are kept as 
holidays, and sadly interfere with work and wages. In spite of 
these interruptions, the men are gradually acquiring habits of 
steadier labour than they have been used to, and are learning to 
appreciate the value of methodical work. Some of them have 
already begun to drain their own land, and in other ways to 
follow the example of improved tillage. 
The number of men that apply for work is a sufficient proof 
that the wages are not too low for the district. The labour-book 
shows that in May 1877 the average number of day labourers 
at Kylemore was 240, including many carpenters and brick- 
layers, who, with the men and boys attending on them, average 
12s. per week, and gardeners averaging 9s. per week. 
It may be asked, Would it not be better for the men to leave 
the district altogether, and live where their labour can be more 
profitably employed, either in cultivating for themselves a more 
fruitful soil, or in earning higher wages ? No doubt it would 
be best for all those who are unencumbered, but some have old 
folks dependent on them, and with all, the love of home is very 
strong. If it were obviously best, they cannot be forced away 
against their will ; and the only question that remains for them 
is, is it better to work for themselves or to earn wages from 
