232 



CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



ever good they may be for immediate use, are not so suitable for preserving or for ex- 

 port to hot climates as the butter from the well-drained upland districts and the 

 lighter but good soils which prevail to a very large extent in Minister. Even from 

 the richest lands of Munster, such as the celebrated Golden Vein, a well-defined belt 

 of land which runs through the province and which is considered to be almost un- 

 surpassed in the world for its fine quality, the soii and climate are so favorable that 

 the butter, although perhaps more suitable for high-class mild-cure make, still pos- 

 sesses considerable keeping powers when properly preserved, although not to the 

 same degree as the produce of the lighter pastures. 



Tbe following is the return of acreage under grass meadow and clover in the four 

 provinces of Ireland in 1884 : 



The total quantity of arable land in Munster in 1854 was 4,730,840 acres, of which 

 3.885,14:2, or 82 per cent., was under pasture, besides which a large proportion oftho 

 arable land was devoted to growing roots and fodder for tho winter feeding of stock. 

 Suitability of soil and climate would not, from the butter-producers' point of view, be 

 of much use without a supply of milch cows, and in this respect the province of Mun- 

 ster is well provided. According to the annual Government returns of live-stock for 

 1885, the number of milch cows in each of the four provinces of Ireland is returned as 

 follows : 



Leinster r 238,636 



Munster 549,578 



Ulster 190,871 



Connaught 438,'39G 



Total for Ireland 1,417,481 



From which it appears that Munster has more than one-third of the milch cows of 

 Ireland. 



The returns of live stock in England for the year 1884 show that the number of 

 milch cows in that country was 1,715,27A, and in Scotland 408,745, so that Munster 

 contains very nearly one-third as many milch cows as the whole of England and con- 

 siderably more than all Scotland. 



Taking the return of live stock in Ireland and in other European countries, I find the 

 following to be the result : 



Number of live stock and population in the following countries. 



From this it appears that while Great Britain has only 20 head of live stock to each 

 100 inhabitants; Belgium, 25; France, 30; Germany, 35, and Holland 35, Ireland 

 has 79 head of live stock to each 100 people, and in the province of Munster the pro- 

 portion of live stock to population is even greater, tho live stock being 1,364,470 and 

 the population 1,331,115, or over 100 live stock to each 100 inhabitants. 



In Ireland cattle have to a great extent replaced human beings. The population of 

 Ireland in 1841 was 8,175,124, while in 1881 it was reduced to 5,174,838, a shrinkage of 



