COUNTY OF MAYO. 41 



situated at a very moderate elevation above sea-level. 

 It consists generally of a deep dry soil, very suitable for 

 green crops and grass. Along Lough Mask and Lough 

 Corrib, the land is very stony, and can be profitably 

 cultivated only in small farms, or laid out to pasture. 

 The middle and eastern portions of the county present 

 fine open plains for extensive farms, in every way 

 suited to a high system of cultivation. All this part of 

 the country contains within itself abundance of lime- 

 stone, and "turf" with which to burn it ; and almost 

 every large farm might have a portion of bog attached 

 to it, to be annually reclaimed, and which would add 

 much to the resources of the dry land. The bogs 

 generally contain, either beneath their surface or on 

 their margin, abundance of limestone gravel, and some- 

 times shell-marl, with which they may be mixed and 

 enriched. The lands, when laid to grass, are soon 

 covered with white clover, and throughout the district 

 there is plenty of fine old feeding land. In the north- 

 western division, returning from Castlebar to Newport 

 and Westport, the country is hilly, and not so well 

 adapted to tillage. Limestone cannot be got so cheaply, 

 but, near the sea, coral-sand and sea- weed may be readily 

 obtained. The western and northern mountainous dis- 

 tricts afford pasture for hill flocks, which might be pro- 

 fitably managed in union with the turnip farms of the 

 south and middle divisions. One advantage of these 

 high districts, as compared to hill-farms in the north of 

 Scotland, is, that their winters are never severe, and, 

 consequently, the expense of smearing the sheep with 

 butter and tar, as required in Scotland, is saved. 



