Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-01-31

EARNING IN IRELAND.

4 0limpeos II tho PEASANT Zfker OF H.
Emerald Isle.
Without seeing it is impossible for
an American to imagine the diminu.
tiveness of the Irish farmers holding
or the tiny fields IN which all Ireland's
fax ID produced. Tenants holdings
are oftener less than; five acres than
more than ten. One of twenty is q
vast farm indeed. and its possessor. in
the peasants mind. must be a very
twenty acres cost an annual nentalsof
800. r So that instead Of finding, fax
fields of sufficient ample area to per.
NIT judicious expenditure of materia;
and fiber. it is unusual to see>one COM
prising q half dozen acres 3. Indeed,
out OF 100 you might come upon one-
fourth that number would not cover q
whole acre of ground. But little or
big. says Edgar L. sWakeman. the
Irish farmer buys Belgian or Russian
seed, which costs about$ s. an acre. on
credit at the village store, thus mort
gaging his Insignificant crop in adj
vance. The land is plowed in the fall.
light or loamy soils being preferred,
and is worked in the spring to a mold
in harrows. usually crosswise and de
agonally; but the soil is only pulver-
lied on top. as icuriously, the fax
which, grows AS far from the surface
into the ground as it does out of it,
with a moderate soil resistance to
downward growth. seems to possess
tendency of increase in length of stalk.
The seed is, sown in April broadcast
from a pouch, made by tying together
two corners of linen, sheet. This is
slung over the right shoulder, the left
arm holding the seed-pouch open
precisely as our, own good fathers used
to. SOW, wheat. oats and barley from
the striped brown two-bushel bag.
The entire skill required in fax SOW
ing is in securing a uniform distribu-
ton of the seed and sufficiently lib
eral amount; for those two essentials
give even length of stalk and least
branching at the top. largely increas-
Ing the value to both the spinner and
the farmer. =
- 70 this point the tenant has required
no more, help than perhaps his own
family could give; but now that tweed
ing time" has arrived, additional labor
must be hired. 1t comes trooping
down from the mountain districts in
the form of buxom. shapely Irish
lasses. Amazonss in frame anc
strength they are beings of brave and
sunny mood, who can exist on less
food, work harder in, the field for
twelve hours of every day. and dance
longer and with more vigorous evolu-
tions at night than any other women
or men that live Nor are these pict.
uresque' folk all. Women and girls
from near villages also hire to the
Irish farmer in summer The mount
aineers engage for from two to three
months; the village girls by the day or
week. Both do mems labor, or more,
and receive about one shilling per day.
Their food is of the meagerest and
plainest character Oaten bread,
made from coarse oatmeal. with only
salt and water added. occasionally q
portion of the commonest' vegetables,
with a little of the vilest purchasable
tea, and, for great luxury, drop of
milk are all. They scarcely know the
taste of butter, meat, or fowl. And
yet these girls have eyes liquid with
light. teeth white and cleaning as
new frost, compilations that rival tints
of the rose, and forms of lovely SYM
metry. &. Brave, grand toilers these
Irish girls; splendid in goodness and
truth; royal in endless patience; noble
in deathless virtue! OF such as these
true poets should sing.-Denver Re-
publican. II .no314I - ~ .E h.'s