214 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



The farming was plain and creditable, the crops good and 

 improving. The strictest economy, as it should be, was studied 

 in every department. The cattle were all soiled that is, fed in 

 the stalls, as the limits of the farm did not admit of grazing. 

 As an exact account was kept of the milk obtained from the 

 cows, I was curious to ascertain the average amount yielded 

 by each cow. Many circumstances, in such cases, which it is 

 difficult to estimate, ought to be taken into the account ; such as 

 the precise number of cows in milk through the year, the length 

 of time any of them may have gone dry, and the number of 

 calves raised. Leaving these matters entirely out of the calcula 

 tion, the yield was equal to five quarts of milk per day to a cow, 

 for the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. This is 

 more than an average yield. What is called the Irish cow, the 

 native cow of the country, is a very valuable dairy animal, and 

 of a good character for grazing, but is, I am sorry to say, fast 

 disappearing under the introduction of what are deemed im 

 proved breeds, but which may not be better adapted to the wants 

 and condition of the country. 



There is no charge in these accounts for what the superin 

 tendent at Glasnevin pleasantly calls a &quot;blow-out&quot; at harvest- 

 home and other festivals; and no 4 7s. 7d. for &quot;wine and 

 beer &quot; at the examination, as at Templemoyle, an omission, in 

 a place of education, which will be looked upon with indulgence 

 by at least one man in Ireland, who bears an infinitely higher title 

 than &quot;very reverend,&quot; I mean the very excellent Father Mat 

 thew. I am certain I should be doing a great injustice if my 

 allusions, in this case, implied any immoral excess either in the 

 teachers or pupils of these institutions. There is no ground, 

 within my knowledge, for any such inferences; but the influ 

 ences of every kind, which bear upon the minds and habits of 

 the young in places of education, are of the highest moment in 

 regard to their welfare. The vinous &quot; blow-outs &quot; which occa 

 sionally occur at the anniversaries of some of our own literary 

 institutions might, I think, be very safely dispensed with. But I 

 leave the subject with wiser heads, and with men whose deep 

 interest in the welfare of the young, and in the cause of good 

 morals in the community, cannot be doubted, whatever may 

 be their opinions of the doctrine of total abstinence. Few 

 can have failed to observe that, if a person, who attempts 



