Booleying alleviated pressure on the growing crops and provided fresh pasture for livestock while the migratory worker to the potato fields of Ayrshire or Lothian earned sufficient income to allow him and his family to live at home for most of the year. The average holding on the small farms of County Mayo was only five acres, insufficient to maintain a family for more than part of the year.
Booleying relieved pressure on growing crops and provided fresh pasture for livestock while migrant workers in Ayrshire or Lothian's potato fields earned enough money to live at home with their families for most of the year. The average farm size on small farms in County Mayo was only five acres, too small to support a family for more than part of the year.