SELECT COMMITTEE ON FICTITIOUS VOTES, IRELAND. 111 c person in that part of the country to do work connected with a farm of this description for a whole twelvemonth, his whole wages wTould not exceed 10?. a year ?— It would not. 8114. That is to say, without reference to any other advantages, 10/. a year would be the outside of his wages ?— It would, if he worked each day. 8115. And, therefore, you consider his labour as only worth 71. a year in this case ?— So far as his time is occupied with regard to that farm. 8116. And that is the reason why you say 71. ?— It is. 8117. That being the case, why do you suppose that Mulvey's farm is not of the real value necessary under the Reform Act ?— Because 1 conceive that no solvent tenant would give him 10/. beyond his rent. 8118. You conceive that no solvent tenant would give him 22 /. a year for that farm ?— No. 8119. But supposing it can be tilled for 11 /. 14s. Qd. a year, which, together with the rent, makes 22/. 14s. ( 5 </., and the value of the product is 34/.; why do you conceive a solvent tenant would not give him 10 /. ?— Besides the labour there is to be taken into account, that the person occupying should manure the ground, and be at the expense of improving it continually to produce that. 8120. How much should you put down as the expense of labour for the farm for a whole year?— The labour of it would, at any rate, be about 10/. a year, when I take the harvest season into account. 8121. Do you mean to state, that this farm cannot be cultivated with less labour than would bring, supposing it were carried to another market, 10/. a year ?— If a solvent tenant had the farm, and did not reside upon it, it might not cost him 2 /. a year, because he could lay it down, and keep it continually under stock. 8122. Mr. Lefroy.] Do you mean to say that a farmer, with 10 acres of land worth 1 /. 4 s. an acre only, could keep two cows all the year round, besides tilling three acres of it ?— He could. 8123. Chairman.] What is the rent of Mulvey's farm?—£ 12. 8124. What do you consider the labour of the occupying tenant upon that farm to be worth per annum ?— The labour of the occupying tenant would be worth 10 /. 8125. Why did you say before only 7 /• ?— Because I supposed the crop to be sold and disposed of on the foot, which saved the expense of reaping it. 8126. Then in addition to the 7 /• for labour, somebody else was to reap the corn ?— Yes, and to take out the potatoes ; that work wrould amount to 3 /. 8127. What is the expense of the seed?— That is in the 7/. 8128. That man has no horse ?— No ; but I suppose that he must hire a horse to plough the land. 8129. Do you include the hire of that horse in the 10 /. ?— I do. 8130. Then you include the hire of a horse, and you include every other expense to which he is put, either by his own labour or by hiring any other person's labour, in the 7 /• in one case and the 10/. in the other ?— I do ; there is another expense which he is subject to, which is not with regard to the farm itself; that man is obliged to pay for turf and to drive it to that farm, which would cost him about 2 /. a year. 8131. That is to be added ?— Yes. 8132. Is there any additional expense besides the 10 /. a year for cultivation, to which he is necessarily subjected ?— He is necessarily subject to providing firing, and he has none attached to his land, and he is obliged to cut and draw it. Then there is the cess, which he is obliged to pay. 8133. And the tithe composition, 14s.?— Yes. 8134. Then there is the interest of the capital and the stock employed. Now what do the two cows cost a piece ?— Good ones, of the quality that would be fit for him, would cost about 8 /. each. 8135. What interest do you think he ought to have upon the 16 /. ?— I would allow him 10 per cent, for " money laid out in that way, that would be 1 /. 12 s. 8136. Is there any other stock of any sort which he has upon the farm, and for which you must allow interest ?— Not in the way of stock ; there are forming implements. 8137. Mr. Lefroy.] Must not he have manure ?— He must. 8138. Chairman,] Do the cows provide manure enough for the farm?— Yes, L 2 when Mr. G. Gardiner. 30 March 1838.