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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



not quite so rich ; but the land is convertible, and might 

 do well with good farming. Compared with England, 

 it looks 80 neglected : no life or energy, no capital ex- 

 pended in draining or other improvements, so far as 

 cin be seen, in any district all along the line of our 

 route ; besides, all looks so miserably dirty and uncom- 

 fortable. The part of the Hue of railway upon which 

 we are now rolling along has not been long opened, and 

 is not, in fact, yet completed to Enniskillen. It is car- 

 ried, undoubtedly, through a rather wild and unknown 

 distiict. On arriving at Lisnaskea Station, coaches and 

 omnibuses await the train. The ride from Lisnaskea to 

 Enniskillen is nearly even or upon the flat ; and through 

 a country possessing much useful land, but, like all the 

 rest, no enlightened views have as yet appeared : the 

 same backward cultivation ; the same like occupations, 

 or rather unusually small ; and cabins the most wretched 

 and miserable — no farm buildings, no hovels, no con- 

 veniences. 



Lough Erne : The country through which we have 

 passed lately might all drain there, I imagine ; what 

 a benefit, if once achieved ! Cambridgeshire fen- 

 men would soon drain it. Fine and abruptly undula- 

 ting country behind, as far as the eye can reach. No 

 corn cut ; no hay carted. As usual, it is put into cocks, 

 nicely raked or smoothed down, and left for a conve- 

 nient time, if it ever comes. Now pass some bogs at 

 various distances. Crops all green yet. Nearly, as far 

 as I see, all oats and potatoes grown here ; some good 

 crops of turnips. Bad cabins ; all more or less conti- 

 guous to one bog or another, and all looks wretched and 

 comfortless. The bogs are numerous near this point, 

 and vary from twenty to fifty feet in thickness. 



We arrive at Enniskillen. All is gaiety . flags flying, 

 bells ringing, &c. ; understand it is the anniversary of the 

 relief of Londonderry, a day always observed in the North 

 of Ireland. Leave for Londonderry: country still ab- 

 rupt ; cropping chiefly oats and potatoes, but better 

 managed — mostly after the lazy-bed fashion. Lowthers- 

 townroad: All around is beautiful ; all good. Passed 

 deep valley ; steep hills, not very high. Have plenty 

 of rain in this district. Pass bogs again — bogs on the 

 hills, bogs in the valleys. Still small holdings. Grass 

 lands ever abounding with the Irish pest — ragwort, rag- 

 wort, ragwort ! Nothing but oat crops to be seen. No 

 wheats to be seen. 



Frillick Station : Miserable villages ; huts or cabins 

 awful ; the people too are Protestants ; all miserable 

 to an English eye and heart, poor miserable looking 

 cows ; the rail here runs on very high ground ; 

 bogs everywhere, the country by no means so good ; 

 oats not good, wheat poor and backward. Dro- 

 more-road Station : The grass here as elsewhere 

 appears to have laid itself down to rest again, and all in 

 size like the little lazy-bed narrow stttcLes ; this is far 

 from profitable. The kind of pigs in Ireland are good, 

 and are divided into two classes, white pigs and black 

 pigs , but here they are black and white admixtures, but 

 very serviceable animals ; several turnip crops near, but 

 all bad ; glens here, glens there, all bad ; what complain- 

 ing ! I am disappointed ; must help them ; country 



flatter, all bad and badly farmed ; pass a good plot of 

 potatoes ; all the same miserable nondescript kind of 

 cows ; land rather better, but badly done ; pass a plot 

 of Italian rye-grass. Fintona Junction: Everything 

 looks most miserable and forbidding ; poor, poor Ire- 

 land ! the same ; the same, but still worse cabins. 

 Arrive at Omagh Station, where, as the darkness was 

 coming on, I was necessitated to shut up my note- 

 book ; however, from what I could observe on passing, 

 and subsequently, I found the country and its farming 

 between this place and Londonderry much in advance of 

 other parts of the route through which I have passed ; 

 the farms larger, and many in the hands of private 

 owners, who, adopting modern practices, have their 

 farms admirably managed : I went over some that would 

 do credit to Lincolnshire or Northamptonshire, or any 

 part of England. On the sea side of Londonderry and 

 along Lough Foyle there is a vast breadth of slob or flat 

 shore, much of which has been enclosed, and is called 

 slob-land. Draining and good cultivation would make 

 it very productive: it has great depth of soil, but is much 

 imbued with saline matter, which only draining and land 

 floods or rains could dissipate. The breadth of land 

 sown to oats in this district is great, but very few crops 

 are heavy and productive ; potatoes are good ; there is 

 also more grazing cattle and sheep around, and the lands 

 are fairly though roughly grazed. 



My return route was by Coleraine, Antrim, to Belfast. 

 The line to Coleraine runs chiefly along the coast, and 

 under the higher country, frequently on the slob-land ; 

 all is better done, and gives an English farmer a more 

 favourable idea of Irish farming. From Coleraine the 

 line passes over a divers'i''cd and interesting country, 

 which I should like to follow in detail ; suffice it how- 

 ever to say that with some exceptions the same small 

 holdings, the same miserable cabins appear everywhere, 

 although they are relieved by more substantial dwellings, 

 and here and there a tolerable farmstead. The general 

 character of its agriculture is also superior ; flax is 

 better and more abundant ; wheat is grown ; potatoes 

 are better ; oats very general ; and not much grass, 

 except as you approach Antrim, and then again towards 

 the sea. At one point near Ballymena is a nice district 

 of grass-land, and at Antrim some very superior land 

 both arable and grass ; my notes along this line would 

 form the foundation for another paper, but I think suffi. 

 cient has been said to show the general features of the 

 agriculture and holdings of the North of Ireland, and 

 I trust to draw from them one or two lessons of im- 

 provement which I with all deference would like to read 

 to my Irish brethren; I can assure them I hare no 

 other aim than to add my little aid to the many power- 

 ful means now in full work to achieve the renovation of 

 Irish agriculture, and the improvement of the holdings 

 and general amelioration of the condition of the Irish 

 peasantry. 



It is, I am ready to confess, a great presumption for a 

 plain, practical farmer like myself to attempt to write 

 upon Ireland and its agriculture, particularly upon such . 

 a short acquaintance with facts, as I have shown in my 

 past two papers to poisess ; but as I am not going to 



