OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC WORKS.
37
" costs 21.
13s.
4d.
an acre, when there are few stones, but when they are Land Improvement " abundant the expense per acre is increased.
—
" The principal proprietors who have executed works in my district in a " satisfactory manner during the past year are Mr.
Wm.
Bence Jones, « Rev.
R.
Wright, Rev.
Thos.
Tuckey, Rev.
John Triphook, Mrs.
L.
C.
Kear-" ney, Mr.
John Molony, Mr.
Wm.
T.
Hungerford, Mr.
Henry Baldwin, " Mr.
Cornnelius O'Callaghan, Mr.
S.
Townsend, and Rev.
John Murphy/' Mr.
Robert Bell, Inspector of Drainage for the county of Kerry, reports :— County of Kerry; " The works under the Land Improvement Act in this county in 1851 have Mr-R-BelI>
" been less extensive than in the two previous years, the thorough drainage £j?,p.®ctor
of
" being mostly confined to lands m tillage, and wet pastures intended to be
iainage"
" broken up with a view to immediate returns; less attention has also been " paid to enclosing and reclaiming tracts of moor and bog, but in the aggregate " a considerable area has been added during the past year to the productive " soils of the country.
" The results of the Act are apparent in almost every part of the country, " by the impetus it has given to farming pursuits generally, whether we view " it in the changed appearance of the land operated upon, its better cultivation " and arrangement for cropping, the increased supply of green feeding and " winter keep, the improved breed of stock, or the different manner in which " improvements are conducted, when executed with private funds by the tenants " or occupiers, as compared with former years.
" Many of the proprietors who have taken loans under the Act are farming " the improved land or a portion of it themselves ; some with the aid of " intelligent stewards on the best systems of husbandry, while others are " giving up their time exclusively to farming, and act as their own stewards ; " so that many model farms may be said to have sprang up in Kerry within " the last three years, in which the improved cultivation of the land and " attention to stock is so remarkable that probably these farms are not " surpassed by the best conducted in the most favoured districts in Ireland.
" Striking examples of this kind arc of great advantage to the surrounding " occupiers, who, though naturally averse, as most farmers are, to innovation, " I am happy to say in my district are not slow in following a good example, " when ocular demonstration is given that such will be advantageous to them.
" Amongst those who are thus showing an example of good farming in " various parts of the county may be mentioned Mr.
William Talbot Crosbie, " Mr.
Henry Arthur Herbert, Mr.
St.
John Blacker, Mr-Meade C.
Dennis,
" Mr.
Robert Conway Hickson, M'Gillicuddy of the Becks, Mr.
Thomas " Sandes, Mr.
S.
C.
Sandes, Mr.
S.
E.
Collis, Mr.
Robert Leslie, Mr.
George " Hewson, Mr.
George Sandes, Mr.
James Raymond, Mr.
George Cashel, " Mr.
John Sealy, Mr.
William Harnett, Mr.
Alex.
Elliot, Mr.
Robert M.
C
" Hilliard, Mr.
R.
Norris, Mr.
Thos.
Blennerhassett, Mr.
J.
Butler, Mr.
Chas.
" Sugrue, Mr.
Geo.
D.
Stokes, Mr.
11.
A.
Thompson, Mr.
Rich.
Leahy, " Mr.
Edw.
Rac, Mr.
Wm.
Miles, Mr.
Henry Stokes, and others.
" The whole of the above-mentioned proprietors farm on a moderately large " scale, and more than half of them are located in the baronies of Clanmaurice " and Iraghticonnor, where more has been done under the Land Improvement " Act than in any other divisions of the county of Kerry.
" Nothing shows the progress of our agricultural improvements more than
" the great increase that has taken place in the cultivation of the turnip crop, " which is the basis of all good husbandry, increasing as it does the manure
" heap, giving the best preparation for the cereal crop that follows ; it creates
" plenty in the farmyard, and enables the farmer not only to keep a greater " number of stock on the same area of land, but cattle of an improved breed.
"The crops on the thorough drained land last year were everywhere " heavy; and I find that in this humid climate its effects are greater and
" sooner perceptible than in either England or Scotland.
Every occupier is
" now satisfied of its utility, and there is an increasing desire amongst them to
" have their lands drained, and few there are that would not be satisfied to pay " the full 64 per cent, on the outlay, so fully are its advantages appreciated; " but proprietors who have already borrowed large sums are averse to
" increasing their liabilities, without perhaps sufficiently considering the " improved position of their tenants in consequence of the judicious expen-
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