e of promoting the
permanent improvement of the backward districts of the West. The
districts which come under its control are those which answer the
following test, that more than twenty per cent. of the population of a
county live in electoral divisions, of which the total rateable value
gives a sum of less than 30s. per head of population. Such electoral
divisions occur in the nine counties of Kerry, Cork, Galway, Mayo,
Clare, Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, Donegal. In these counties there are
1,264 electoral divisions, of which 429 are congested. The setting up of
particular districts as "congested" is, of course, quite arbitrary.
There may be places outside the congested areas the condition of which
is much worse than that of some of the congested districts, but if the
population of these districts does not form one-fifth of that of the
whole county they are ruled out of the scope of the Board's activities.

The conditions which subsist in them have been ably described by M.
Bechaux from personal observation, and he declares that the standard of
living is lower than in any other country of Western Europe. Their
inhabitants number more than half a million--that is to say, 10 per
cent. of the total population of the island. Most of them have farms of
two to four acres, and they pay from a few shillings to several pounds
for rent. In many instances the rent which they pay is rather for a roof
than for the soil. They eke out a precarious livelihood by migration to
England, for there is but little demand for agricultural labour owing to
the prevalence of pasture in the West. Fishing has served as a secondary
source of income, and kelp burning was a profitable addition to their
means until the discovery of iodine in Peru sent down the price to a
marked extent.

The right of turbary, which nearly every tenancy possesses, is the one
thing which has kept this population from starvation, and in the case of
seaside tenancies a further gain accrues from the use made of seaweed as
manure, which, owing to the absence of stall-feeding, is only to be
obtained in this way. Home industries, such as weaving, form another
source of profit, and last, but not least, must be reckoned the money
sent home by relatives who have emigrated to America. Calves, pigs, and
poultry are maintained in these circumstances, and, owing to the sale of
the best of the stock, the breed has steadily deteriorated. In the
winter months potatoes, milk, and tea a