1156 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



7080. KILDARK 3()2,397 acres, four-fifths arable, meadow, and pasture, and the rest bog. {Rawson's 

 Survey of Kildare,lSU7 . Sup. Encyc. Brit.) 



Part of theBn^ of Allen and other similar tracts occupy a 

 larpe porl ion of the western side of this county. The surface is 

 varied by a number of sm-dl hills and sentle declivities, but for 

 the most part it is flat and nearly level ; and when viewed from 

 a commanding station, presents a rich, and, on the banks of its 

 rivers, a beautiful landscape. The Curragh of Kildare, ex- 

 tending to about 5000 acres, has been long celebrated for the 

 softness of its turf and the fineness of its pastures. But the 

 climate of Kildare is said to be more moist than that of any 

 other part of Ireland, which, if the statement be correct, is a 

 very unfavorable circumstance, as a clay soil prevails very 

 generally, and much of it is exceedingly tenacious of mois- 

 ture. 



There are a few large c^(rfe< in Kildare, particularly the Duke 

 of Leinstei's, which extends over a third of the county; and 

 several proprietors, according to Wakefield, have from 6000/x 

 to 7000/. a year. Yet many are less considerable, and property 



seems to be more divided here than in most of the other dis- 

 tricts in Ireland. 



The common size of farms is from ten Irish acres to 200, 

 and these farms are frequently held in partnership. Large 

 farms, however, are less rare here than in the arable tracts of 

 the other counties. The leases were formerly for thirty-one 

 years, but are now mostly for twenty-one years and one life. 

 All parish and county taxes are paid by the tenant. With few 

 exceptions, the course of cropping is the same as it has been for 

 a century ; viz., fallow, wheat, oafs. Potatoes are universally 

 cultivated. Oxen are employed in ploughing, and horses for 

 carriages ; but in many instances oxen and horses are mixed 

 together in the plough team, which sometimes consists of six, 

 and never less than four animals. A number of mules are also 

 kept on the farms. 



There are several streams and two canals. A woollen ma- 

 nufactory at Cellbridge ; and a Catholic seminary at May- 

 nooth, for above 200 students. 



7081. KING'S COUNTY. 457,000 acres, half of 

 arable, meadow, and pasture, of a medium quality, 

 Brii) 



The Bog qf Allen occupies a considerable tract on the north- 

 east coast, and the mountains are on the side of Queen's 

 County. The soil of the arable land is either moorish or gra- 

 vellv, the fonner productive in dry, and the latter in moist 

 seasons, but neither of them naturally fertile. Limestone and 

 limestone gravel, the means of their improvement, abound 

 6very where. The pastures, though in many parts fine, are 

 not luxuriant ; better adapted for sheep than cattle, an.d very 

 favorable to the growth of fine wool. Much of the mountain 

 district has an argillaceous soil, thickly interspersed with rocks 

 of sandstone, and a deep irreclaimable bog often occurs at its 

 base ; but towards the centre of this range, where limestone 

 prevails, there is much good pasture ; and here the base of the 

 hills, which is composed of a stiff clay, produces abundant 

 crops of com. , . 



Landed property, is in large estates, and many of then: owners 

 do not reside ; but much of the land is held on leases in per- 

 petuity, and the holders of these form a respectable class. The 

 principal proprietors are ImtAs Digby, Ross, and Charleville. 

 Farms wrre formerly verv large, not unfrequently of the ex- 

 tent of'/JOOO acres, but their size has been diminished, and 

 such as are considered large, do not now exceed on an average, 

 400 English acres. Many are as small is twenty acres, though the 

 medium size of the smaller class may be double this. Most of 

 the arable land is tolerably enclosed, chiefly with hedsjes of 

 whitethorn, which grows here to a great size. Partnership 

 leases and sub-tenancy are less common than in some other 

 parts of Ireland, yet the condition of the tenantry and the 

 peasantry does not seem to be materially more improved. The 

 farm-buildings of every description are generally very bad, the 

 cottages 'in particular ; and yet those who have been long ac- 

 custome<l to these miserable cabins, are said to prefer them 

 to more comfortable dwellings, {fig. 823.), which, after having 



it bog, mountain, and waste; and the remainder 

 {Coote's Agricultural Society, 1801. Sup. Encyc. 



been erected by some of the proprietors, were for some time 

 allowed to stand unoccupied. 

 Wheat, oats, barley, 23 



and potatoes, are the 



most common crops. 



The average produce of 

 wheat is no more than 

 sixteen bushels ; of bar- 

 ley and oats, it is about 

 thirty-two bushels ; and 

 of potatoes, onlyfour tons 

 per acre. Both oxen and 

 horses are employed in 

 labor ; the plough is |. 

 sometimes drawn by \ 

 only two of either, in a [ 

 few instances by two | 

 heifers, yet this and ' 

 their other implements ' 

 are not generally of a | 

 good construction. The 

 threshing machine has been in use in this district for about 

 twenty years. 



The 'leases were formerly for thirty-one years, or three lives, 

 but the more common period of late is twenty-one years, to 

 which the life of the tenant in possession at the end of it Is 

 frequently added. Some tenants hold for lives renewable for 

 ever, paying a renewal fine equal to half a year's rent, or more, 

 on the fall of every life. Modem leases often contJiin a prohi- 

 bition against alienating. Nothing is so much complained of 

 among the tenantry, as the mode m which tithes are collected. 



There are no considerable manufactures, no fisheries, and 

 no minerals worked. 



7082. QUEEN'S COUNTY. 384,000 acres, generally of a level surface, three-fourths of which is of a 

 productive soil cultivated, and the rest, bog and waste. (Coote's Agricultural Survey, 1801. Sup. Encyc. 

 Brit.) 



Coal of the Kilkenny kind, (7079.) is the only mineral work- 

 ed ; but thefe is iron ore, freestone, marble, &c. in different 

 parts. The Barrow and Nore are navigable rivers. 



Estates are from 5000/. to 15,000/. a year, and upwards. 

 Some of the most valuable, having been let on perpetual leases, 

 afford a large income to the lessees. It is these lessees who 

 form the middle cla.ss of gentry, with clear incomes of from 

 100/. to 800/. per annum, obtained from tenants to whom their 

 lands art> sublet at rack-rent, and commonly in very small 

 farms. Here, and in King's County, Wakefield observed some 



of the best farming in Ireland, with much more attention to a 

 systematic course of cropping, and to keeping the land in good 

 heart. Oxen and horses are used for the plough, the former 

 generally preceding the latter. A good deal of cheese is made 

 here for tne Dublin market. In other resjiects, the rural 

 economy of this district does not differ materially from that of 

 the Irish counties already described. 



The manufactures are linen and coarse woollens, but to no 

 great extent. 



7083. CARLO W. 220,098 acres, of undulating surface, with some hills and mountains ; the lowlands, 

 a fertile loam, and the uplands, a light gravel ; one-tenth in mountains and bogs. {Wakefield's Statistical 

 Account, 8fc. Youngs Tour, S^c. Sup. Encyc. Brit.) 



The minerals are various, but little known. 



There are no large estates in this county ; and very little mi- 

 nute description of property. The hiring tenant is generally 

 the occupier, except of small pieces. There are some excel- 

 lent flocks of long wooUed sheep. Four sheep of the Irish 

 breed, and five of the English are called a " coUop," and three 

 coUops are allotted to two acres of the best land. For its 

 dairies, Carlow is not excelled by any county in Ireland. The 

 farmers spare no trouble or expense to procure good cows. 

 From twenty to fifty are generally kept ; and, during the sea- 

 son, each cow produces on an average about one hundred weight 

 and a half ot butter. The dairy system pursued in Devon- 

 shire, Dor.setshire, and some of "the northern counties of Ire- 

 land, of letting cows to dairymen, is followed here ; but this 

 custom was more prevalent when the Catholics could not legally 

 purchase land, as they then employed their capital in hiring 

 cows. The butter made in Carlow is divided into three sorts, 

 according to its quality. The first in point of quality is sent to 

 Dublin and England, and thence exported to the East and 

 West Indies. It is highly esteemed in the London market. 



where it is often sold as Cambridge butter. That of the se- 

 cond quality is exported to Spain, and the worst to Portugal. 

 It is all packed in large casks, weighing upwcu-ds of three 

 hundred weight. 



There is not much wheat grown, and it is not of a bright 

 color, or very good quality : but the barley of Carlow is excel- 

 lent ; according to \ oung, the best in Ireland. At the time of 

 his tour, it was the only interior county which produced it ; 

 and at present more is grown here than in any other part of 

 the kingdom. It is principally consumed by the illicit distil- 

 leries in the north of^ Ireland, by the breweries and distilleries 

 at Cork, or by the malting houses at Wexford. The potatoes 

 grown in Carlow are excellent. There is little or no flax. The 

 county IS tolerably wooded. In the vicinity of Carlow, a great 

 many onions are grown, which are sold all over Ireland. 



In Carlow, coarse cloth, reaping hooks, scythes, shears, &c. 

 are made. At Leighlin bridge, is one of the largest com mills 

 in Ireland, capable of grinding more than 15,000 barrels a 

 year. 



7084. EAST MEATH. 617,600 acres, of low, flat, rich surface; a clayey or loamy soil on limestone or 

 gravel, with little wood, few mansions, and only one-twelfth of bogs. {Curwen's Observations, 1818. Thom- 

 son's Survey of Meath, 1802. Sup. Encyc. Brit.) 



The landed property of Meath is divided into large estates, a I perpetuity, which have now become more valuable than the 



great many of which yield an income of upwards of 2000/. a freehold property. 



year. "These are for the most part let out on leases of twenty- I Grjain^ is, or was, till very lately, a more important objeo- 



one years and a life; but on some of them there are leases in ' in this county than tillage. Many persons fattened from " 



