Page:Irish Emigration and The Tenure of Land in Ireland.djvu/41

Rh localities it has been found that about 18 men, with a small proportion of women, are sufficient to cultivate in the most efficient manner 500 acres of arable land.

Were we to apply this proportion to the 15,832,892 acres of land, under cattle and crops in Ireland, we shall see that some half million of persons would be able to cultivate the entire area. But by the census returns of 1861 the number of adult males engaged in agricultural pursuits in that country are considerably over a million. Consequently, notwithstanding the emigration which has