Nay, that even in the most
distressed and apparently overcrowded districts, a wise and prudent
management of their natural resources might find profitable employment
for all, to the great advantage of the proprietors themselves, and the
still greater benefit of the people and the public, which is so deeply
interested in the result."[256]
The readers of these pages cannot forget that Mayo suffered as much as,
if not more than, any other county, during the Famine; yet here was the
state of its surface at the time of that dreadful visitation: entire
area of the County Mayo, 1,300,000 acres; of these only 500,000 acres
were under cultivation, 800,000 acres being unreclaimed; of which
800,000 acres, Griffith says, nearly 500,000 could be reclaimed with
profit;--that is, just half the county was cultivated. The Dean of
Killala gave the following evidence about the same county before the
Devon Commission: _Quest. 73_. "Is there sufficient employment for the
people in the cultivation of the arable land?" _Answ._ "No; it does not
employ them half the year." _Quest. 74_. "But there would be employment
for them in reclaiming the waste?" _Answ._ "Yes; more than ample, if
there was encouragement given.
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