Howiver, when it came to the countin’ there was a duck-egg or two here an’ there among the lot that nayther Mrs. Thomas nor the hen could well account for, so the both of thim was disqualified.
An’ whin it came to the bit, an’ Mrs. Archy Doran won the prize, she counted up an’ made out that between corn an’ male, she had paid away double the value of it, so she wasn’t very well plazed; an’ thim that had spent near as much on feedin’-stuff, an’ had got no prize, was worse plazed still.
The only one that came out av it well was Miss Armitage herself; for she kept all the eggs, an’ made above twice the prize-money out av thim. But there was nobody else as well plazed about that as she was.
So all round the hen business was a failure; an’ it looked as if there was nothin’ goin’ to come of the lecture at all.
However, iverybody thought it would be a terrible pity if Ballygullion should be behind the other places; an’ at last there was a move made to start a cramery, an’ a committee was got up to set things goin’.
At first the most av us thought they got the crame in the ould-fashioned way, just be skimmin’; but presently it begin to be talked that it was all done be machinery. Some av us was very dubious about that; for sorrow a bit could we see how it was to be done Thomas McGorrian maintained it would be done wi’ blades like the knives av a turnip-cutter, that it would just shave the top off the milk, an’ sweep it intil a pan; but then he couldn’t well explain how they’d avoid shavin’ the top off the milk-dish, too.
Big Billy Lenahan swore it was done with a worm like a still; but, although we all knowed Billy was well up on potheen, there was few had iver seen him havin’ much to do wi’ milk; so nobody listened to him.
At last the Committee detarmined they’d have a dimonsthration; and they trysted the Department man to bring down his machine an’ show how it was done; for all iv thim was agin spendin’ money on a machine till they were satisfied it would do its work.
The dimonsthration was to be held in Long Tammas McGorrian’s barn, an’ on the night set above forty av us was there. We all sat round in a half-ring, on chairs an’ stools, an’ any other conthrivance we could get, for all the world like the Christy Minstrels that comes to the Market House av a Christmas.