MY LITTLE FARM.
The writings of "Pat " are so personal, spirited, and practical that they are pleasant to road,. but we doubt whether be would prove a pleasant antagonist, for bitterness is seldom absent from his raillery. In My Little Farm (Maimed, 3s. 6d. net) he does not directly attack the Irish priesthood, though he. often: refers to the " Anglo-Roman conspiracy" of priests and politicians to deny, liberty of thought and to stifle. the development of Irish minds, young and old; He keeps mainly to agriculture, and shows how he has vastly increased the productive capacity of a. small Mayo farm in spite of every opposition. Whatever the justice of his strictures upon those who bear responsibility for moulding the characters or training, the brains, of Irish peasants, "Pat" certainly has intellectual advantages over his neighbours, and the combination, with energy makes it only natural that he should outstrip them. The detailed practical portions of the book give excellent instruction in cattle breeding and rearing, but the raillery is inextricably mixed with it: He, most properly longs to see the economic advance which would spoil the game of the politicians, and he wishes that his own example, which ho candidly says ought to he gratefully copied, could help to that end. Bathe is not hopeful, and is forced to conclude by saying that " the.Irish. are people pretending to go forward with their faces turned backward. . .. Irish cattle have to be taken from some of the richest soil in the world. to finish,, their fattening., on the comparatively barren, hillsides of Scotland.. Meantime, the Scotchmau looks, forward to the London meat market, while. the Irishman looks back, to. Brian Bone!' The sarcasm expended upon the visits of Mr. T. W. Russell and Royal Commissioners to the farm is heavier than one would expect from. an Irishman, but the accounts make good. comedy.
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