has been so often agitated about the proper size of farms, and whether large or small farms are most advantageous to the public, may be easily answered by considering that every size will meet with a corresponding capital, as in truth it should do; and as to the comparative value of large or small farms, much depends on management; however, there is little use in arguing on what always must subsist-farms of every gradation; and if every farmer takes no more than he has capital to till properly, I presume it is of little consequence to the public what the size may be. It is well established that four farms, of fifty acres each, will bring a higher rent than if all let in one farm. We have been not a little surprised to read in the public papers about the tenantry of Mr. Coke of Holkham, some having an interest worth £2000. per annum, and upwards. We have nothing to do with the motives of Mr. Coke, but I can scarcely be persuaded that a much more useful tenantry, and higher rent, might not be obtained by dividing those great farms into holdings of one to two hundred a year rent. If the tenants had obtained those great interests by reclaiming the land, they would richly deserve any income they might have. I imagine our Irish landlords will not be very ready to imitate Mr. Coke, indeed, in any respect; in fact, very few have the income. It is a very common error with Irish farmers to take more land than they have capital for; the contrary is the more prudent practice, and at the same time the most profitable; for if he has spare capital, he can employ it profitably in various ways, until he feels his way, and he is always ready for a bargain; for ready money' enables a man to purchase many things on low terms.

Farms in Cunnamara, and the mountain baronies west of Galway are generally very large, and set by a bulk rent from perhaps fifty to three hundred pounds

a year, and are chiefly occupied in grazing young cattle. On the sea coast, and in the valleys of this extensive region, the farms are small, and generally held by occupying tenants from various parts of Ireland. Probably a labourer should have only as much land as will give his family abundance of potatoes and milk, but he should be certain of employment from his landlord when not occupied by his own affairs, and his wages should be increased; for I am convinced the rate of wages has not kept pace with the rise in land and the late fall in produce. Some humane landlords, I am happy to say, have raised the wages of their labourers; but it is not as general as it should be. I am aware, it will be said, that labourers are paid sufficient for the small quantity of labour they perform ;-I often regret their habitual idleness; but what are stewards for? Probably on a comparison of Irish labourers with those of other countries, taking into the comparison the difference of wages, it will not be found so very much against them as some of our travelled agriculturists seem to think: one gets 5d. the other 2s. per day!

The practice of taking many farms, and some very distant from the residence of the tenant, is much followed in this county. These cannot be so profitably managed as by an occupying tenant, pursuing a good system of alternate tillage and grazing. Every person possessing distant farms must be well aware that he loses much grass by trespass, either permitted or unheeded. I recollect once being told by an extensive land jobber, that he was convinced he lost upwards of £1000. a year in his different farms by trespass: what a system this must be! It is really astonishing that landed proprietors do not perceive the losses they sustain by letting to any but occupants. Formerly the great reputed wealth those land jobbers possessed blinded the judg

ment of proprietors; but we have seen some of the highest and most imperious heads brought very low lately, by a fall in stock and other produce. It is the practice very much of shopkeepers in county towns to take large farms. I much doubt if they had not the till to draw on, whether those farms could be kept. I know several instances where money has been accumulated by those shopkeepers, but it was at a period when war prices were received for every thing. I imagine if they had not other resourses the October fairs, 1820 and 1822, would try their bottom. I presume to think an extension of the business they are used to would be much more profitable.

SECTION II.

FARM HOUSES AND OFFICES.

As farmers generally build their own houses and offices, they have commonly every defect, both as to site and execution. The offices placed without any previous plan; a stable here, a cow-house there, and every thing so badly arranged and finished, that they do not answer fully any purpose for which they should be erected. The very general practice in Ireland of placing almost every building below the level of the adjacent ground, may be seen in great perfection in this county; even the dwelling house has usually a step down into it, by which means it is always damp; and as pigs and fowl are usually permitted to range through the sitting room, it adds to the general filthy state of the dwelling. Though the pig is not in general per

mitted to take up his lodging in the house at night, the fowl almost universally do, with an idea that the warmth and smoke of the house are beneficial to them. In contradiction to this idea I know several instances where the fowl sleep throughout the year in trees, and are as productive, in every respect, as those kept more tenderly. Farm houses have often a sufficient number of small windows, but the greater part are stopped up, and frequently the only light comes in at the door; as to a window opening to let in air to a room, it is a rarity, and even disliked by the country people: even in houses of the first rank, will it be believed that servants' apartments have seldom this convenience. I regret to state that the sleeping accommodation of servants is most grossly neglected in many houses that have no excuse but great indolence. This has been carried to such a length, even in one of the first houses in the county, that a physician was obliged to order the window of a housemaid's room, ill of fever, to be broken open: the house-keeper declared it had not been opened for twenty years! High rank is no excuse for this cruel neglect, but rather an aggravation. Make servants comfortable, and make them do their duty. In many parts of this county the cabins are built of clay, generally very badly tempered, on a foundation of a foot or two of stone; but as the thatch seldom projects far enough over the wall, the rains and frost melt it away, and in a few years the house falls, or is propped with sticks or a buttress of loose stones. If they were originally built with a projecting roof of at least two feet, this evil in a great measure would be prevented; but until landlords or their agents either build houses or superintend their building, this must be the case. I have been often at a loss to account for the callousness

of some landlords in this county, that could patiently see around them such miserable dwellings for their tenants, whilst their horses and hounds have every attention paid to their comfort. The gentlemen of this county have been accused by their neighbours of possessing a great deal of pride, if so, it certainly does not consist in an attention to the superior accommodation of their tenantry. Any person who has travelled from Athy to Cork, or in many other counties, must be painfully struck with the great difference, not only in their houses, but in their general appearance. I am most happy to say, however, that there are many exceptions to this stigma. I only forbear to mention them from a conviction that a speedy change in others for the better will take place. There can be less excuse for it in this county than perhaps any other in Ireland, as there are very few absentees, and the properties are generally ample; but it does not so much require property as exertion and a proper feeling of its consequences; for it will be found that those tenants who are remarkable for any superior degree of cleanliness in their habitations or family, are the most regular in their payments.

There is one office which should be indispensable in every yard; yet it must be at the house of a man of some rank only where it will be found! Very few stables have racks with mangers so construed as to save the hay seeds, and in many of those very places they are often brought from Dublin at a great expense, and not so good as those saved at home. I imagine it is incumbent on every landlord or his agent to superintend the plan, site, and building of every house on his estate. As they generally contribute nothing else, they may well contribute their advice. I am convinced

• Lord Clancarty makes an addition to his tenants of two-thirds or