use the words of Mr. Scrope, "there are two things more
wanted--namely, that Irish industry should have leave to apply itself to
the improvement of the Irish soil, and be assured of reaping the
undivided fruits of such application."[257]

From causes which can be only guessed at, there seems to have been
always a passive but most influential opposition to the reclamation of
the waste lands of Ireland. Its opponents never met the question in the
field of logical argument, yet, somehow, they had power enough to
prevent its being carried into effect. When Lord John Russell proposed
the million grant to begin the work, Sir Robert Peel said he thought
some more useful employment could be found for that sum, but he did not
even hint at what it was. A writer, who published in 1847 a work on
Ireland "Historical and Statistical," thus deals with the reclamation
question: "The Irish waste lands being of considerable extent have long
attracted the notice of speculators and improvers. They are about to
receive the attention of her Majesty's Government, and a sum of one
million is promised to the Irish landlords as an aid towards their
reclamation. But there is much room to doubt the policy of such a
proceeding at any time, and especially at the present time."[258] Here
is a pretty decided opinion against reclamation, but there is no reason
whatever vouchsafed for it.

On the other hand those who were favourable to the reclamation of our
waste lands were rich in facts and arguments. In the Parliamentary
Session of 1835, a Committee of the House of Commons on public works
reported that "no experiment was necessary to persuade any scientific
man of the possibility of carrying into effect the reclamation of
bogs." Nor is this strongly expressed opinion to be wondered at,
founded, as it was, upon such evidence as the following:--

Mr. Griffith deposed that--

"The mountain bog of the south of Ireland--the moory bog--varies in
depth from nine inches to three feet, below which there is a clayey or
sandy subsoil. On the average, about L4 per statute acre is required to
bring it from a state of nature to one of cultivation, and then it will
fetch a rent of from 5s. to 10s. per English acre."

Again:

"L1 4s. an acre is the highest estimate for the draining of this land in
covered drains; the remainder of the expense consists in the trenching
up the surface, turning up the subsoil, and mixing it with the bog; no
manure is wanted, a p