Irish Agriculture. 
35 
before the public in 1^34, in the I'orm ol" a Prize Essay on the 
' Mana<jeinent of Landed Property in Ireland,' its value was at 
once recognised, and many proprietors at the time, and in subse- 
quent years, proceeded to adopt it. In 1847, the Royal Agri- 
cultural Society of Ireland, at the suggestion of Lord Clarendon, 
who was at that time Lord-Lieutenant, selected certain dis- 
tricts in the south and west of Ireland, where the effects of the 
potato rot had been severely felt : and to these districts practical 
agriculturists were sent to stimulate and encourage the working 
farmers, and teach them how to cultivate their lands. The 
efforts of those men were seconded by liberal grants of seeds, 
supplied by the Society of Friends and other sources ; and 
evidences of the good effected by the instructors are to be seen 
at the present day in the districts to which they were sent. The 
same system of practical instruction has been carried on for 
the last seven or eight years by a Committee appointed to 
administer a small annual grant which has been given by the 
Government for the purpose of instructing small farmers in 
the south and west of Ireland as to the proper cultivation of flax. 
It also exists on different estates, but the instances in which it is 
in operation are now comparatively few in number. It is a 
system which requires the hearty co-operation of the agent, as 
well as of the landlord, with the agriculturist, and where that 
co-operation has been wanting, it has gradually died out. This 
is much to be regretted, as there is sufficient proof to show 
that it is a system well calculated to promote the prosperity of 
the country. 
Among those proprietors who have steadfastly adhered to the 
system of estate agriculturists, for the purpose of practical instruc- 
tion, the Earl of Erne is perhaps the most distinguished. His 
lordship has had the system in operation on his estates, for a 
period of nearly thirty-five years, and during all that time his 
estate in County Donegal has been under the charge of the same 
individual. The result is that the entire estate is closely culti- 
vated on a rotation of which turnips, and artificial grasses form 
the leading features. The turnip crops are as clean and well 
cultivated as in anv part of the United Kingdom ; and a regular 
system of progressive improvement has been carried on, at the 
joint expense of landlord and tenant, under the supervision of the 
agriculturist. These improvements include draining, subsoil- 
ing, making new fences, levelling old or useless fences, making 
larm roads, clearing off large stones which are found in the land, 
putting up iron gates, making embankments, levelling and filling 
up old quarries, 6cc. There is also a special allowance for build- 
ings, and the consequence is that the farmhouses and offices are 
generally very good. The average size of farms on the estate is 
d2 
