the close of the last century, nearly all
covered with heather, and absolutely waste. Sir Charles Coote
remarked, in 1804, that it had been then undergoing reclamation.
Within the last fifteen years the land had doubled in value, and was
set at the average rate of 16 s. an acre. Mr. Tickell, referring to
this county, remarked that the Scotch and English settlers chiefly
occupied the lowland districts, and that the natives retired to this
poor region, retaining their old language and habits; and he was
occasionally obliged to swear interpreters where witnesses or parties
came from the Fews, which were 'very wild, and very unlike other parts
of the county of Armagh.'

Now let us see what the industry of the people has done in that wild
district. The farms are very small, say from three to ten English
acres. They have been so well drained, cleared, sub-soiled, and
manured, that the occupier is able to support on one acre as many
cattle as on three acres when grazed; while affording profitable
employment to the women and children. Great labour has been bestowed
in taking down crooked and broad fences. Every foot of ground is
cultivated with the greatest care, and in the mountain districts,
patches of land among rocks, inaccessible to horses, are tilled by the
hand. In many cases in the less exposed districts, two crops in the
year are obtained from the same ground, viz., winter tares followed by
turnips or cabbages, and rape followed by tares, potatoes, turnips,
or cabbages. These crops are succeeded by grain or flax the next year,
with which clover is sown for mowing and stall-feeding, yielding two
or three cuttings. The green crops are so timed as to give a full
supply for house-feeding throughout the year. Nothing is neglected by
those skilful and thrifty farmers; the county is famous for orchards,
and when I was in the city of Armagh, last autumn, I saw in the market
square almost as many loads of apples as of potatoes.

The connection of large grazing farms with pauperism, as cause and
effect, has not received sufficient attention from the friends
of social progress. I resolved last year to test this matter by a
comparison. We have at present no check upon the legally enforced
depopulation of this country except the _interest_ of the landlords,
or what they imagine to be their interest. It is well that the
question should be determined whether it is really for the benefit
of the owners of the land that they should cl