188 STATISTICAL SURVEY 



Foreign fir at this time (1801) fells at Strabane fo 

 high as 61. per ton. 



The chief reliance the county has, is upon bog-fir, 

 which many of the bogs produce in great plenty, but it 

 is in general attended with great difficulty and expencc 

 in being able to manage it, for want of roads, and pro- 

 per conveniences to raife it. This timber Is fometimes 

 fold at half a crown the cubical foot, for the purpofes 

 of loom-timber and mill-fhafts, but bog-timber in ge- 

 neral is fold by bulk, efpecially bog-oak. Even-grained 

 bog-fir is looked upon to be full as good for roofing 

 and lofting ftables, &c. as foreign fir or pinej it makes 

 excellent laths, and, when beaten out into fmall fila- 

 ments, is found to anfwer for ropes, which are princi- 

 pally ufed for cording of beds, and, in damp places, 

 will laft confiderably longer than hempen ropes. 

 Twenty yards is the ufual length for a bed-cord, 

 which is commonly bought for iod. The roots and 

 fragments of the bog- fir are ufed for this purpofe, and 

 it is a kind of trade with many poor people in the 

 vicinities of bogs. 



It has been ftated, under the article Habitation, ft^l t 

 food t &c., how far the thinning of Lord Mountjoy's 

 improvements ferves the country, fo -far as alludes to 

 cabin-building. Here I (hall only add a few articles, 

 ufed for other purpofes. 



A 



