38 THE IRISH AGRARIAN PROBLEM. 



lation in the first half of the igth century drove 

 them to tillage, which was facilitated % high 

 corn prices, but their agricultural methods 

 were so primitive that they were in many ways 

 detrimental to the fruitfulness of the soil. On 

 small holdings the burning method mostly pre- 

 vailed, and was carried on in an exaggerated and 

 improper manner, impoverishing the ground for 

 years to come. Even at the present day we 

 see in the poorer meadows traces of former 

 tillage in the remnants of ridges about a yard 

 broad and known by the name of " lazy beds ;" 

 the poor growth of grass which here springs up 

 shows how fertility has been destroyed.^ 



Ireland is not only a land of cattle-breeding, 

 it is a land of 'extensive' farming. Out of 12 

 million acres standing under grass, onty from 2 

 million will the hay be cut. The planting of 

 fodder crops, clover, roots, &c., is very scanty. 

 The cattle are generally both summer and winter 

 in the open, although they often lose weight 

 during the winter from the cold. Young cattle 

 which in autumn are worth about £^ or £y a head 

 are sometimes only worth from 20 to 30 shillings 

 more in the following spring.^ The cows alone are 

 stabled. In the west they are often to be found 

 in the cottages of their owners. " The cow 

 keeps the house warm" is an old Irish saying. 

 Irish grass farming mainly consists in this, that 



^ " Ireland, Agric. and Ind.," pp. 29 et seq, 

 ^ Journal of the Department of Agriculture, September, 1 903 , 

 p. 16. 



