When a farmer thinks of hiring a farm he should always, before closing the agreement, consider the following argument: “If my wife, my children, and I, placed ourselves in service our united salaries would amount, for instance, to a sum of 80_l._ Besides, I have money invested which brings me in another 40_l._ If I take a farm, it is evidently not in order that I should lose money by it. It must therefore bring me in a minimum of 120_l._, that is to say, the difference between the sum I can reasonably draw from it, in good and bad years, and the rent I have to pay, must amount to more than 120_l._, since in this difference will lie my profits. I must therefore estimate as exactly as possible what the average of this income will be, and when once I know it I shall be able to judge what I can offer the landlord, who on his side should make an analogous calculation. If his claim is so high that I cannot hope to regain the 120_l._ per annum that represent my work and the interest of my capital, I will leave him his farm and search for another!” Things would go better if every one reasoned in this way. The Irish landlords would not let their farms too dearly, for the excellent reason that no one would give them more than they are worth, and the tenants would not insist upon keeping seven or eight of their children and their families on a farm already too small for themselves. As for those who are unable to obtain a farm, they would not seek a sub-tenancy without any guarantee of tenure and for which they pay two or three pounds per acre, while the farmer only pays one pound to his landlord--when he pays him at all. Only fathers will not be separated from their children; others will not resign themselves to emigration; the population is constantly increasing and the number of farms is rather diminishing, so, whilst the number of those who wish for land augments, it is quite natural that prices rise.