Page:Irish Emigration and The Tenure of Land in Ireland.djvu/127

Rh farm was let the landlord never dreamt of its being converted into tillage, and no provisions against subdivision were introduced. But as population multiplied the situation changed, and the enormous rise in the price of grain and provisions on the breaking out of the French war made it the interest of the tenant to subdivide his land as minutely as he could. He accordingly introduced an Irish edition of what is known as 'la petite culture.'

It is true most of the later leases contained clauses against subletting, but an unexpected legal subtlety rendered them practically inoperative, and when attempts were made to stop an innovation, which in no way benefited the landlord, most proprietors found, after going to great