44 
Irish Agriculture. 
instead of double that depth. Their spades are heavy, and not 
well calculated for working with ; and it would be much to their 
advantage if they could be persuaded to substitute such imple- 
ments as Parkes's steel digging forks for their present tools. 
Mr. Niven's "Garden Farm," at Drumcondra, near Dublin, which 
consists of 30 acres, is entirely cultivated by lads from 14 to 
20 years of age, who use no other implements than steel forks, 
and with these they not only do the ordinary digging work 
required during the cultivation of the crops, but also trench 
a portion of the ground every year two feet in depth. 
Of late years, machinery has begun to be used to a con- 
siderable extent by the small farmers, as well as by others, 
at least in districts where agriculture has made some advance. 
Reaping, mowing, and threshing machines are let out on hire 
by persons possessed of capital sufficient to purchase such 
machines ; and where these have been introduced, there is always 
plenty of employment for them during the seasons in which they 
are required. In more backward districts the use of machinery 
is confined to large farms. 
Medium and Large Fabms. 
There are so many features common to medium and large 
farms that we may class them together. They represent nearly 
all varieties of farm management, from a low style which would 
be improved were the owners to take examples from many who 
rank much lower in the social scale, to other instances which 
differ in no respect from the best illustrations of farming to be 
found in England or Scotland. Under this head may be found 
both medium and large farms, which are closely cultivated 
under a regular course of rotation cropping, and others which 
are in a condition little, if at all, removed from a state of nature, 
although consisting of good arable land. 
On referring to Table I\ ., given on page 21, it will be seen 
that as the size of farms increases, over 50 acres, the propor- 
tion under crops diminishes, while that of grazing land iscreases. 
Thus, while out of the five and a half million of acres under 
crops nearly four million of acres are held by those whose occu- 
pations do not exceed 50 acres in extent, out of the 10 millions 
of acres in grazing lands upwards of six and a quarter million of 
acres are in possession of those whose holdings exceed 50 acres ; 
and, notably so, between 50 and 500 acres. 
In several instances a number of medium-sized holdings are 
merged into the possession of one person ; and hence we find .one 
family occupying, it is said, 60,000 acres as tenants, and another 
family in the occupation of 20,000 acres, all fine land, and all in 
