158 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV, 



Tithes, of which no inconsiderable jiart are lay property, are - The principal manufactures are sail-cloth, duck, 

 generally paid by a composition with the farmers. The usual and drilling ; osnabur;?; tor ne^o clothing ;to^ 



mode is "to have them valued liefore harvest, and to appoint days 

 of meeting with the parishioners, tor the purpose of lettmg 

 them. 



spirits at several large distilleries in Cork ; and gunpowder in 

 the neighborhood ot the same city, the only manufactory of 

 that article in Ireland ; it belongs to Government. 



7090. TIPPERARY. 1,018,240 acres, diversified with heaths, mountains, and fertile vales; of which 

 the Golden Vale is among the richest land in the kingdom. The climate so mild, that cattle graze out all 

 the year. {Wakefield, 8;c. Sup. Encyc. Brit.) 



Minerals. Slate, lead, and conl are worked. 



;<a<e are of various sizes, some of them very large, but a 

 greater number of a medium extent, worth from 4000/. to 6000/. 

 a year. Of the proprietors, the influence of Lord Llandatf is 

 by far the most considerable, though several others have es- 

 tates worth from 10,000/. to 15,0(X)/. a year and upwards. The 

 graziers here, as in Roscommon, have leasehold moperties, fre- 

 quently of much greater value than the freeholds, of which, 

 also, they often become the purchasers. Properties of this de- 

 scription, worth from 2000/. to 4000/. a year, are very corn- 

 Tillage farms, however, are generally of small extent, one of 

 ninety Irish acres being thought large ; yet the management 

 is, in many instances, more respectable than in most other 



parts of Ireland, But the principal business is grazing, every 

 variety of this kind of land being found here. Lises are com- 

 monly for twenty-one years and a life. The cattle, which are 

 long-homed, may be ranked with the best in Ireland, and 

 many of the tine flocks of long-woolled sheep are not inferior, in 

 Wakefield's opinion, to those of Leicestershire. The rich lands 

 produce a kind of flax, very different from that which is raised 

 in the north ; it grows to a great height, and appears to be ex- 

 ceedingly well adapted for sail-cloth. 



The manufacture of broad-cloth is carried on to some ex- 

 tent at Carrick ; and that of linen, worsted, and coarse wool - 

 lens, as branches of domestic industry. But the wealth of this 

 extensive district chiefly consists in its cattle Jind sheep, com, 

 and other land produce. 



7091. LIMERICK. 683,800 acres, of low laying fertile lands, surrounded by higher grounds. ( Wakefield, 

 \c. Sup. Encyc. Brit.) \ 



Landed property is in large masses, generally let to tacksmen, 

 on long leases,' and sub-let almost ad infinitum. The land 

 seems to be of greater yearly value than in most parts of Britain 

 at a distance from large towns ; for, according to Wakefield's 

 information, the green acres would have let, in 1808, for three 

 guineas the Irish acre, or almost forty shillings the English. 

 Considerable farms brought five guineas the Irish acre, and in 

 some instances more. 'The rent of the mountain land had in- 

 creased in a still greater proportion than the grazing and corn 

 farms. One grazier held land of the value of 10,000/. a year, 

 and in one season slaughtered in Cork, 800 head of cattle. 

 Many of the best long -homed cattle of the United Kingdom 

 are fattened here, and also a considerable number of sheep. 



Two year old wethers sold then, without their fleece, at from 

 'Zl. 10s. to 3/. 



Only a small proportion of the land is in tillage ; the produce 

 of this, and some of the adjacent counties, in proportion to the 

 seed, is stated by the same author to be at a medium : of wheat 

 ten, bear seventeen, barley twelve, oats nine, and potatoes ten. 

 Hemp was formerly cultivated extensively on the rich low 

 grounds, called the Carcasses, on the banks of the Shannon, 

 but this tract is now occupied in grazing. Flax of an excellent 

 quality for sail-cloth, is still grown in several parts. The com- 

 mon term of leases is thirty -one years and three lives. Great 

 part of the provision and com trade is possessed by the city of 

 Limerick. 



7092. CLARE. 771,365 acres, nearly half productive land, and the remain<ier moors, mountains, and 

 bogs, with more than 100 lakes interspersed. The climate, though moist, is not unfavorable to health 

 and longevity ; fevers, which sometimes prevail to a great extent here, being occasioned chiefly by the 

 dampness of the houses, and inattention to domestic and personal cleanliness. {Button's Survey of Clare, 

 1808. Sup. Encyc. BrU.) 



Limestone abounds, and coal, ironstone, black marble, lead, 

 &c. have been found, but not worked. 



Landed property is in a few large estates, of which the most 

 noted was that belonging to the Marquess of Thomond's heirs, 

 lately sold and divided. 



The*i3e of farms varies greatly. Those under tillage are 

 from one or two acres to fifty, but of the latter size there are 

 few. Grazing farms extend from 100 to 800 acres, several of 

 which, and sometimes in distant situations, are held by one in- 

 dividual. Frequently several persons join in the occupation of 

 an arable farm, and have about ten acres each. The general 

 terms of leases, from proprietors, is for three lives or thirty-one 

 years ; Sometimes, but not often, for three lives and thirty-one 

 years ; twenty -one years or one life, and twenty-one years and a 

 life. The tenure of under tenants is variable, and often arbi- 



AU the different species of grain are cultivated with consider- 

 able success. Kape and flax, the former chiefly for its seed, 

 and the latter for home manufacture, are sown to a moderate 

 extent. Potatoes occupy a part of every farm, and tb^ir cul- 

 ture is conducted with more care and judgment than that of 

 any other crop, though at a greater expense of time and labor 

 than would be thought necessary in most other places. In re- 

 gard to the kinds of crops cultivated, the greatest defect is in 

 what are called green crops, com being, with potatoes, the 

 chief and almost the only objects of attention to the arable 

 farmer; and turnips and cultivated herbage being either grown 

 on a very small scale, or, as is the case threughout the greater 

 part of the county, altc^ether disregarded or unknown. The 

 com crops thus necessjurily follow each other, until the soil is 

 exhausted ; and where extra manure, such as sea-weed and sea- 

 eand, both of which are used as manure with good effect, can- 

 not be procured, it must he left in an unproductive state for 

 several years afterwards. Potatoes are in jnost cases planted 

 upon land that has been prepared by burning, and the same 

 crop is sometimes taken for two years more without manure; 

 in the fourth year wheat follows, and then rei)eated crops of 

 oats, as long as they will replace the cost of seed and labor. 

 The implemeiUs in common use aire seneally rudely con- 



structed, and imperfect as well as expensive in their operation ; 

 in many parts, even where the soil is light and dry, the plough 

 is drawn by four horses abreast, with traces of rope and collar of 

 straw. But from the roughness of the surface, the poverty of 

 the tenantry, and the minute division of farm lands, the spade 

 is much more extensively employed than the plough, over all 

 the Eirable land of this county. 



The iiastures of the Carcasses or low grounds, on the rivers 

 Shannon and Fergus, sire equal to the fattening of the largest 

 oxen. This rich tract extends from Paradise to Limerick, 

 about twenty miles, and is computed to contain about 20,000 

 acres, of a deep, dark colored soil, over a bluish or black clay, 

 or moory substratum ; producing, owing to the indolence of its 

 occupiers, along with the most valuable herbage, a great quan- 

 tity of rushes and other useless weeds. The rent of this land 

 for grazing, was several years ago as high as bl. per acre, 

 equal to about 3/. 2. per "English acre, and for meadow, in 

 many instances, much more. These meadows are said 1o 

 produce at the rate of more than four tons of bay the English 

 acre. The cattle of this county are almost all long-homed, 

 good milkers, and very hardy. The sheep have been greatly 

 improved m shape, by crosses with Leicester rams, but there is 

 a general complaint that the quality of the native wool has 

 been deteriorated. A vast number of mules are bred here ; 

 asses are very generally employed by the poorer classes : but 

 little attention is paid to the breed of horses, which has dege- 

 nerated. 



Clare was formerly noted for its orchards, and for cider of a 

 very line quality, made from the celebrated cackagee apple, 

 which is still found near the small town called Six Mile 

 Bridge. " An acre of trees," says Young, " yields from four to 

 ten hogsheads per annum, average six ; and, Mhat is very uncom- 

 mon in the cider counties of England, yield a crop every year." 

 It does not appear from the latest accounts, that any considera- 

 ble quantity or this cider is now produced here, though what 

 there is, seems to maintain its former character, and is held in 

 great estimation. 



Manufactures are yet in their infancy. All the linen made 

 in the county is used for home consumption. 



7093. KERRY. 1,128,320 acres, more than three-fifths mountainous and waste ; the sea-coast and 

 islands being the most westerly land in Europe. Some of the mountains 3000 feet high. {Smith's History 

 of Kerry. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Bxft., ^c.) 



The mountams are chiefly oecu])ied with young cattle and 

 goats ; sheep, apparently the most profitable animal in such 

 situations, are neither numerous nor of a valuable kind; 

 and the little cultivation to be found here is so generally per- 

 formed with the spade, that, in some entire parishes, as Young 

 assures us, there was not a single plough. 



The prevailing soil in the low grounds is clay, of different 

 qualities ; some of it seems to be a species of pipe clay, and 

 other sorts might be converted into bricks and earthenware. 



Estates are very large, both in extent and value, some of 

 them, according to Wakefield, worth 50,00(J/. a year. Leases 

 are in general for thirty-one years and three lives, and a consider- 

 ble portion of the whole county is let to partnership tenants. 

 Few of the tenants in the north quarter about Kerry-head oc- 



cupv so much land as to require them to employ laborers ; they 

 pay "their rents by the sale of butter and pigs, andTby turf which 

 they carry to Limerick. It is the practice for farmers to hire 

 large tracts, which they stock with cows, and these cows are 

 then let out to dairymen upon such terms as leave them but a 

 very small return for their labor. The best com land is about 

 Tralee, and towards Dingle, where more flax is raised than in 

 any other part of the county. 



The principal articles which Kerry affords for export are its 

 raw produce, beef, butter, hides, and tallow. It does not raise 

 more com than is necessary for its home consumption, and 

 carries on no manufacture tor sale, but that of coarse linen, 

 which is only on a small scale. 



