SELECT COMMITTEE ON FICTITIOUS VOTES, IRELAND. 111 c 11 May 1838. 9074. Mr. O' Connell] Must not his comfort depend upon the quantity of Mr Patrick Flood whisky he drinks, and if he drinks much whisky he is not likely to be very - comfortable ?— No ; I never saw that man drink. 9075. Mr. Lefroy.'] Do you mean to say, after this examination, that the man has, one year with another, a beneficial interest of above 30/. arising out of that farm ?— I think about 30/. upon the average; I think he would'have as much this year as any other year, for he had a good deal of potatoes this year. 9076. Are you acquainted with land in any other part of the county of Longford?— I am acquainted with the land in Westmeath adjoining; I know land in the barony of Granard, and 1 know land going along the road. 9077. What should you say is the amount of the beneficial interest in the holdings along the road, as you go to Longford ?— I do not know the rent. 9078. Supposing them to pay the same rent, what beneficial interest would a man have in 10 acres of land in the other parts of the county you are acquainted with ?— If I knew the land I would be able to say, but 1 believe about Longford they pay 4/. an acre; Mr. Hare told me that he paid 4/. That is just adjoining Mr. Lefroy's estate; I believe it is the property of Lord Longford. 9079. Do you know what the adjoining estate to which you allude is set for? -— Yes ; Mr. Murphy has the adjoining estate. 9080. Mr. O'Connell] What Mr. Murphy ?— Of the county of Meath. 9081. Mr. Lefroy.] The question alludes to the land near Longford, near Mr. Hare's. Do you know what land lets for there ?— I do not; but Sutcliffe told me that he was obliged to pay two guineas for cut- away bog. 9082. Mr. Curry.] You say that in your calculation you have not made any deduction for the value of seed, either of the potatoe ground or the seed of the oat ground. What would be the expense of seed of two acres of potatoes ? — About 21. 5 s. an acre. 9083. That would be 4 /. 10 s.?— Yes. 9084. What would be the expense of the seed of two acres of oats ?— It would come to 30- 9., about 15 s. an acre. 9085. What is the joint amount of the expense of the seed for the two acres of potatoe ground and the two acres of oat ground?— About 61. 9086. Deduct that from the former sum of 351 15 s. 6 d., and what is the balance?—£. 29. 15^. 6d. 9087. Then calculating the value of the two acres of potatoes kept in his own hands, you put it down at conacre rent of eight guineas an acre. Suppose he had himself planted the potatoes, and the potatoes were dugout, what would the value of those two acres of potatoes be when dug out ?— When I debit the farm with labour, I think it would be worth 14 /. an acre. 9088. You have charged the labour with 11 /. ?— I have ; I have charged the labour high. 9089. So that the sum of 161. l6s. would be increased to the extent of 28/. for the two acres, if it were not for the addition you made of 6 /. for the pro- duce of the two pigs ?— Yes. 9090. Mr. Serjeant Jackson.] It would appear that the amount of a man's beneficial interest in the county of Longford, according to your mode of esti- mating it, must depend in some degree upon the age and strength of the man? — A good deal will depend upon that, certainly. 9091. And it must more or less depend upon the number he has in family ? — He might have a large helpless family that were not able to assist him. 9092. Rut supposing he had a lot of good stout boys, would that improve his beneficial interest?—" Yes ; if they were able to labour his land for him, it would. 9093. You seem to have taken a great deal of pains about these calculations ? — I went over the lands at the time. 9094. You have all the materials of the calculations in your book ?— Yes. 9095. How long did it take you to make all these investigations, and to make all these entries of calculations that you have here ?— It took me a very long time. 9096. How long?— It took me some months. 9097. How many were those " some months" ?— I think I could not have been less than three or four months upon the lands at different periods. 9098. Did you take your notes in that book in the first instance or in rough books ?— These are the books I had. 643. Q 9° 99< These