42 
Irhh Agriculture. 
not easy, however, to induce people to leave the beaten track to 
which they have been accustomed : and thus vear after vear 
a large quantity of a most valuable article for cattle feeding 
is lost to the country, leaving us to use as a substitute cake, 
which is too often of inferior quality, if not w orse. 
I have been induced to enter at some length into the condition 
of the small farmers in Ireland, because the svstem of small farms 
is really a prominent feature in Irish agriculture, and is long 
likely to continue so. There is one point which should be under- 
stood and borne in mind in all speculations on the relative pro- 
duction of large and small farming in Ireland, namely, that 
wherever you find a number of small farmers located, it may 
be taken for granted that the land is of an inferior character. 
Tillage farming in Ireland is, in fact, for the most part found 
to prevail on the inferior soils of the countrv, and especially in 
the case of small holdings. There are no doubt parts of the 
countrv where such holdings consist of good land, but this 
is not the rule. The best soils are occupied as large grazing 
farms, and in such cases cultivation may be regarded as un- 
known. The small farmers have had much to contend with, 
arising from their ignorance of what are justly regarded as 
proper systems of cultivation and general management ; but 
not the least obstacle they have had to encounter, in very 
many instances, has been the inferior qualitv of the soils 
upon which thev have been placed. To this circumstance 
mav be attributed certain peculiarities in their mode of cul- 
tivation, amongst which the most prominent to the eye of a 
stranger is the system of growing potatoes, and other crops, 
in narrow beds, having deep allevs between them. This mode 
of cultivation, usually known as the " lazy-bed " system, has 
been frequently condemned by writers from other parts of the 
kingdom, to whom it was new ; but, nevertheless, something 
may be said in its justification. I do not like it myself, because 
it does not allow the land to be kept so clean as may be done 
under a proper system of drill, or " ridge," cultivation. It is 
the only way, however, by which, in many instances, a sufficient 
depth of earth can be obtained to grow a crop. The earth taken 
from the alleys is spread over the beds, and thus the breadth of 
the alleys is regulated by the nature of the soil. If the soil is 
shallow, the alleys are wide, so as to get sufficient earth to cover 
the seed, and to " mould " the plants, as it is termed ; when the 
soil is moderately deep, the alleys are narrow and deep. Again, 
in the case of undrained land, which is too much the rule, the 
alleys serve as open drains ; and, therefore, although the " lazy- 
bed " system is comparatively a rude style of cultivation, yet in 
many instances it is the only system which the people can 
