124 



IRELAND (AGRICULTURE.) 



view of raising money, the king instituted the order 

 of Irish baronets, or knights of Ulster ; from each of 

 whom, as was done in Scotland with respect to the 

 knights of Nova Scotia, he exacted a certain sum, as 

 the price of the dignity confenvil. 



Of the husbandry of Londonderry a curious account 

 was published about a century ago, by the arch- 

 bishop of Dublin. He states that there was little 

 wheat grown, and that of very inferior quality ; the 

 soil being considered as unsuitable to its production. 

 Potatoes remained three or four years in the ground, 

 reproducing a crop, which at the best was a very 

 deficient one. Lime was procured by burning sea 

 shells. The application of them in an unburnt state 

 arose from accident. A poor curate, destitute of the 

 means for burning the sea shells which he had col- 

 lected, more with a view to remove an evidence of his 

 poverty, than in any hope of benefit, spread them on 

 his ground. The success which attended the experi- 

 ment occasioned surprise, and insured a rapid and 

 general adoption of the p-actice. The improvements 

 made since the period of which the archbishop treats, 

 Curwen remarks, are undoubtedly very considerable : 

 and, whilst we smile at the very subordinate state of 

 agriculture at that time, may we not on reasonable 

 ground expect that equal progress will at least be 

 made in this century as in the last? 



A considerable impulse was given to the agricul- 

 ture of Ireland after the rebellion of 1641 , which was 

 quelled by Cromwell, as commander of the parlia- 

 mentary army in 1652. Most of the officers of this 

 army were yeomen, or the sons of English country 

 gentlemen ; and they took pleasure in instructing 

 the natives in the agricultural practices to which 

 they were accustomed at home. Afterwards, when 

 Cromwell assumed the protectorship, lie made numer- 

 ous grants to his soldiers, many of whom settled in 

 Ireland ; and their descendants have become men of 

 consideration in the country. Happily these grants 

 were confirmed at the restoration. Some account of 

 the state of culture in that country at this time, and 

 of the improvements which it was deemed desirable 

 to introduce, will be found in Hartlib's Legacy. 



The establishment of the Dublin Society in 1749, 

 gave the next stimulus to agriculture and general 

 industry in Ireland. The origin of the Dublin society 

 may be dated from 1731, when a number of gentle- 

 men, at the head of whom was Prior of Rathdowney, 

 Queen's co^iity, associated themselves together for 

 the purpose of improving the agriculture and hus- 

 bandry of their country. In 1749, Prior, through 

 the interest of the then lord lieutenant, procured a 

 grant of 10,000 per annum, for the better promo- 

 tion of its views. 



Arthur Young's Tour in Ireland was published in 

 1780, and probably did more good than even the 

 Dublin Society. In this work he pointed out the 

 folly of the bounty on the inland carriage of 

 corn. His recommendation on this subject was 

 adopted ; and, according to Wakefield, " from that 

 hour may be dated the commencement of extended 

 tillage in Ireland." 



The soil of Ireland is, generally speaking, a fertile 

 loam, with a rocky substratum ; although there are 

 many exceptions to this description, and many varie- 

 ties. Generally speaking, it is rather shallow; to 

 which cause the frequent appearance of rocks near 

 the surface, or at no considerable depth, is to be 

 attributed. It possesses a much greater proportion 

 of fertile land, in proportion to its extent, than either 

 England or Scotland. Not only is the island blessed 

 with this extent of cultivable ground, but it is almost 

 all of such a quality as to yield luxuriant crops, with 

 little or no cultivation. Sand does not exist except 

 on the sea shore. Tenacious clay is unknown, at 



least near the surface. Great part of the land of 

 Ireland throws up a luxuriant herbage, without any 

 depth of soil, or any skill on the part of the hus- 

 bandman. The county of Meath, in particular, is 

 distinguished by the richness and fertility of its soil ; 

 and, in Limerick and Tipperary, there is a dark, 

 friable, sandy loam, which, if preserved in a clean 

 state, will yield crops of com several years in suc- 

 cession. It is equally well adapted for grazing as for 

 arable crops, and seldom experiences either a winter 

 too wet, or a summer too dry. The vales in many 

 of the bleakest parts of the kingdom, as Donegal and 

 Tyrone, are remarkable for their richness of soil and 

 luxuriance of vegetation, which may be often ac- 

 counted for by the deposition of the calcarious soil, 

 washed down by the rains of winter, which spreads 

 the richest manure over the soil below, without sub- 

 jecting the farmer to any labour. 



The bogs, or peat mosses, of Ireland, form a 

 remarkable feature of the country, and have been 

 proved by the parliamentary commissioners to be of 



freat extent. They estimate the whole bogs of the 

 ingdom at 2,330,000 acres, English. These bogs, 

 for the most part, lie together. In form, they 

 resemble a great broad belt, drawn across the centre 

 of Ireland, with its narrowest end nearest to the 

 capital, and gradually extending in breadth as it 

 approaches the western ocean. The bog of Allan 

 is not one contiguous morass, but this name is indis- 

 criminately applied to a great number of bogs, 

 detached from each other, and often divided by 

 ridges of dry country. These bogs are not, in 

 general, level, but most commonly of an uneven 

 surface, swelling into hills, and divided by valleys, 

 which afford the greatest facility to their being 

 drained and improved. In many places, particularly 

 in the district of Allan, the rivulets which these 

 inequalities of surface produce have worn their 

 channels through the substance of the bog, clown 

 to the clay or limestone gravel beneath; dividing 

 the bog into distinct masses, and presenting, in 

 themselves, the most proper situations for the main 

 drains, for which purpose, with the assistance of art, 

 they may be rendered effectual. 



Farming in Ireland is, generally speaking, in a 

 backward state. With a few exceptions, such as 

 the county of Meath, and some other well cultivated 

 districts, the farmers are destitute of capital, and 

 labour small crofts, which they hold of middlemen 

 interposed between them and the landlord. The 

 fact that in Ireland the landlord never lays out any 

 thing upon repairs or buildings, coupled with the 

 general inability of the farmer to do either in a 

 substantial manner, is very significant as to the state 

 of agriculture. But the worst features of the rural 

 economy of this island are the entire want of capital 

 in the farmers, and the complete indifference of the 

 landlord to the character, wealth, or industry of his 

 tenant. " Capital," says Wakefield, " is considered 

 of so little importance in Ireland, that advertisements 

 constantly appear in the newspapers, in which it is 

 stated, that the preference will certainly be given to 

 the highest bidder. Bargains are constantly made 

 with a beggar, as a new tenant, who, offering more 

 rent, invariably turns out the old one, however 

 industrious." The rent of land in Ireland, from 

 these causes, coupled with the excessive competition 

 of the peasantry for small forms, as their only means 

 of subsistence, has risen to a great height. 



The agricultural implements and operations u s ed 

 in Ireland are of a rude construction. The plough, 

 the spade, the flail, the car, all equally partake of 

 imperfections and defects. The fallows are not well 

 attended to; three ploughing*) are usually deemed 

 sufficient, and, from the imperfection of the plough, 



