LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
MR. TUKE'S SEED-POTATO FUND.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR," j "SIR,—Y011 have taken so warm and practical an interest in my work of distributing seed-potatoes in the West of Ireland, that it seems due to you, and those who have been induced to help me by your kind notices from time to time, to give you some brief notice of my operations, which are now nearly brought to a close. The work which six weeks ago I undertook to carry out, appeared at that time a comparatively simple one. It was then assumed that the islands on the Western Coast of Ireland, including Achill-Boffen, Shark, Clare, and the Arran Isles, alone needed assistance. But it was soon made painfully evident that the greater portion of the West Coast of Connaught equally required seed-potatoes and other help. In place, there- fore, of £1,000 or £1,500, several thousands of pounds have
• been needed, and the details of the work have involved an ..enormous amount of labour and anxious consideration. In this I have been most ably assisted by Captain Ruttledge Fair, who was specially appointed by the Government a local Government Inspector to assist in the operations.
In addition to the sum of about £5,000 which from various sources has been placed in my hands, Mr. Brady, the Fishery Inspector, has distributed the fund raised by the Irish Con- stabulary force, amounting, with other sums, to about £1,500; and another £1,000 at least has been given, chiefly in food, from the fund raised by the Editor of the Irish Times. Thus altogether a sum of £7,000 or £8,000 has been expended, chiefly in the purchase of seed-potatoes. It is difficult to over-estimate the benefit thus conferred upon the islands and other districts of the West of Ireland. Many hundreds of acres, which otherwise would have been barren and unfruitful, have been sown, and to thousands of poor families the hope and certainty of a supply of food for the coming winter have been assured. The amount entrusted to my care has now been expended, and for many reasons the time for closing operations on my part seems to have arrived. I wish I could add that the necessity for further assist- ance had passed away. The time for sowing is now nearly over, and with it in very many cases the hope of a supply of seed, and -consequently of a crop, must also come to an end. Up to the eve of Jay departure, demands from fresh districts have come in, which it seems impossible to satisfy, and which most regretfully I have felt compelled to decline; and it cannot be doubted that the condition of many thousands of families in the West of Ireland is one which will for many months demand the most careful and anxious consideration and attention on the part of 'the Government.
Again most sincerely thanking you and others who have enabled me to some degree to mitigate the deep distress existing in the West of Ireland, I am, Sir, &c.,
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