176 AWAKENING OF ENGLAND. 



large English markets and fairs Irish cattle 

 have in the past been treated with scorn. 

 They are now sought after eagerly by English 

 farmers. We import from Ireland twice the 

 number of cattle that we do from all other 

 colonies put together. 



Bred here too are those large white York- 

 shire boars, which are eliminating the strain of 

 undersized mottled pigs met with so frequently 

 in the west country. "The gintleman who 

 pays the rint " is now better coated and more 

 imposing in appearance than he used to be. 



A boar will be sent to a farmer and kept 

 by him for a sum varying from £3 to £5 a year, 

 and the sows in the district are served for the 

 fee of Is. 



Perhaps the most striking difference in Irish 

 live-stock is in the ass, which is the poor man's 

 horse, especially in the West. By importing 

 donkeys from Spain, the Irish ass now met 

 with in many parts of the country is a much 

 more serviceable animal than the small native- 

 bred one. 



Trap-nesting too is in vogue in Glasnevin, 

 and by means of this ingenious contrivance 

 strains of good laying hens are bred and sent 

 into the country to propagate their breed. 



