Book I. 



AGRICULTURE OF KILKENNY 



1199 



milder and more equable than that of England ; and with the dry soil, as Wakefield remarks, is admi- 

 rably adapted tor pasturage and occasional aration. 



7s't33. Of the agricultural circumstances of Ireland generally, we have already given a condensed 

 account ;8(J7), and shall here submit some brief notices as to each county. These unavoidably present a 

 decree of sameness incompatible with much interest or instruction. There are agricultural surveys of but 

 a few of the Irish counties ; so that we have drawn our resources principally from the copious and highly 

 interesting work of WakerieM, and some more recent statistical writers and tourists. When the first 

 edition of this Encvelopa?dia appeared, the statistical portion, as far as respects Ireland, was objected to 

 in the Irish Farmer's Journal, as representing the agriculture of Ireland as being in the same state in 

 1823 as that in which it was in 1816, the date of Wakefield's Ireland. We have noticed this in the 

 Hardeners Ma&tzine (vol. iii. p. £29.)> and have, since then, used every exertion in our power to procure 

 later information from books or correspondents, but without much success. In fact, from all that we have 

 been able to learn, we are compelled to conclude, that even now (1830) agriculture in Ireland is not 

 materially different to what it was in the time when our text-book (Wakefield) was first published. 



7S64-. DUBLIN. £28,211 acres; one eighth in mountain and waste, a tenth in buildings, roads, 

 rivers, &c, and the remainder in arable and pasture. {Archer's Statistical Survey, §c. 180L Sup. Encyc. 

 Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.) 



The climate of this countv is drier than that of some others ; 

 east and north-east winds are less frequent than in England, 

 but stcrrns from the south-west and west are more frequent. 

 Average number of dry days in Dublin for ten >ears, 179; or 

 nearly' half the vear wet, and half tin. 



The soil is generally shallow, and the substratum almost 

 universally a cold clay. There is very little turf bog in the 

 northern parts, but some considerable tracts among the moun- 

 tains in the south. Freestone, granite, Irish state, ochres, 

 letters day, marl, beautiful pebbles, porphyry, crystals, lime- 

 stone, and limestone gravel, abound in various parts. 



Landed property in "this countv is a much more marketable 

 commodity than in most other districts of Ireland. There are 

 here no large territorial domains. Leases vary in their terms, 

 but commonlv include a life, for the purpose of creating a vote. 

 Farm* are in general verv small nearthe city, seldom more than 

 twenty or thirty acres; but at a distance, from 50 to 150 acres. 



The farm buildings are, for the most part, very insufficient. 

 Near the citv, the fences are of white thorn ; but in the remote 

 parts, they are nothing more than a bank and ditch. Lime, 

 limestone'gravel, and marl are used as manures. The city of 

 Dublin might afford the means of enriching a tract of several 

 miles around it; but its street dung is so little valued, that it is 



sometimes brought to Scotland by coasting vessels as ballast, 

 and much of it is thrown into the Liffey. 



On the arable kinds, two crops of wheat in succession, and after 

 these two of oats, without fallow or green crop, are frequently 

 taken, according to Archer. Oats and potatoes are the standard 

 crops. Barley is not cultivated extensively. The natural 

 pastures are, with few exceptions, of an inferior quality. There 

 are few or no flocks of sheen in tie possession ot fanners. In 

 the city, and within four miles of it, about 1^00 lows were kept 

 in May, 1801, according to Archer-, where there were formerly 

 near 7000. The old Irish breed of cows is almost extinct, and 

 their place is supplied b\ the short-horns and other breeds from 

 England. Fuel is scarce and dear ; peat and bog of en cannot 

 be procured, and the tenant is obliged to substitute straw, or 

 any other combustible material that he can get. 



There is a considerable salmon fishery on the Liffey, in 

 which also abundance of eel and pike are caught. There are 

 sea lisheries of herrings, white fish of different kinds, and 

 oysters both in natural and artificial beds ; the shells of some of 

 the fed oysters have been found as large as a horse-shoe. 



The manufactures of the county are chiefly of linen of dif- 

 ferent kinds, but tbey are of little importance. The colonial 

 commerce with Dublin is considerable. 



7865. WICKLOW. 500,000 acres, in great part mountains and bogs, and without inhabitants. [Fro- 

 Zer's Survey of Wicklow, 1801. Sup. Encyc. Brit) 



The climate so mild, that the myrtle flourishes in such pro- 

 fusion, as to have been sometimes used for making stable 

 brooms. The common laurel, Portugal laurel, and Arbutus 

 attain a great size, and can scarcely be recognised to be the 

 same shrubs. Dublin is supplied with early potatoes and 

 house-lamb from the sea-coast of IVicklow, the climate of 

 which, according to Mr. Wakefield, is decidedly different from 

 that of the rest of Ireland. This is the only part of that country 

 where he ever saw grapes growing out of doors- 



Metallic ores are supposed to abound ; copper and lead have 

 been worked, and gold has been found. 



There are no navigable rivers or extensive lakes. Some of 

 the streams precipitate themselves from considerable heights, 

 forming beautiful cascades; the most remarkable one is at 

 Powerscourt, where the water falls from a height of 360 feet. 



Landed property in the centre of the county in large estates: 



Earl Fitzwilliam's nearly 100,000 acres. The sea- coast is 

 much divided, and abounds with villas, the temporary residence 

 of the wealthy citizens of Dublin. " It appears to me," says 

 Wakefield, " to contain more gentlemen's seats than the same 

 space in the vicinity of London." The common period of 

 leases is twenty-one years and a life. 1'otatoes, and alt the 

 usual kinds of* corn, are cultivated ; but turnips, clover, and 

 other ameliorating crops, only partially. ^larl and limestone 

 gravel are the principal manures. Irrigation is practised. A 

 breed of fine-woolltd sheep, peculiar to the mountains of this 

 county, exhibit the only traces of a distinct rate of short- wooded 

 sheep in Ireland. 



The herring Jisltery in the bay of Wicklow is the best in Ire- 

 land after Gal way. Flannels are extensively manufactured, 

 but scarcely any linen. 



7S66. WEXFORD. 591,160 acres, mountainous on the north and west, a light soil and tolerable cultiva- 

 l other parts a cold stiffclay, unimproved by culture. {Wakefield. Jfrazer's Survey 



tion on the east, and in 



of IVexford, 1807. Sup. Encyc. Brit) 



The climate is mild and favourable to the growth of timber, 

 which abounds here more than in most counties. There are 

 some large mvrtles in the open gardens. 



The landed estates are large, from 2000/- to 10,000/. a year, 

 and forms of various sizes; but there is little of that minute 

 division which is common in other parts of Ireland ; nor are 

 there anv rich grazing farms. Dairies, at which the principal 

 article is butter, are numerous ; but generally under bad ma- 

 nagement. The cows themselves are of a very inferior descrip- 

 tion ; and the same character belongs to their sheep, which 

 forms a rery inconsiderable part of the live stock. In their 

 modes of cultivation, however, the farmers here are more ad- 

 vanced than in many other parts of the island. The baronies 



of Forth and Bargie have been long noted for their great crops 

 of barley ; beans, tco, are cultivated with success, as well as 

 clover and turnips ; the drill system is common for potatoes, 

 and preferred to any other method ; and lime, though brought 

 from a distance at a great expense, and also marl, are very ex- 

 tensively employed as manure. The tenantry, including the 

 cottars, are accordingly in a much better condition, indus- 

 trious, provident, and many of them comparatively wealthy. 

 Here, as in Cork and Waterford, whole fields are kept under 

 furze, which, in this mild climate, is prett> much used as fuel. 

 The bakers employ it for heating their ovens, of which a con- 

 siderable number are employed, as a good deal of wheaten 

 bread is consumed in these counties. 



7867 KILKENNY. 510,000 acres, mountainous, but with some rich and beautiful vales on the banks 

 of the Barrow Suir, and Noire, and a climate so mild that in winter the thermometer seldom falls below 

 the freezing point while in summer it ranges between seventy and seventy-five degrees. There is less 

 humidity than in Dublin and Wicklow, as well as less of the east and north winds. {Tighe's Survey of 

 Kilkenny, 1802. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.) 



Property in land is in several large estates, and many of a 

 moderate extent, not exceeding a rental of '^000/. a year. The 

 principal proprietors are Lords Bexborough, Clifton, and 

 Ormond. The leases are in general for three lives, and part- 

 nership leases are common, though prohibited on one of the 

 largest properties. On this estate the tenant is allowed to 

 transfer his lease to one individual, but not to divide his 

 farm. 



Of the husbandry the most important department \s UM 

 dairy, which extends over the greater part of it. The mo^t 

 considerable dairies are in the district call^l the Welsh, or 

 Walsh Mountains; a tract of dry grassy land fit for tillage, but 



I still in its natural state, and not enclosed- About *"000 Irish 

 acres of the land were held in ISi'O by one family, who kept 



I 1*20 cows. The cattle are not for the most part housed in 

 w inter, and only those that are about the time of calving get a 

 little hav on the'tields, where the horses also are kept a .1 the year. 

 Tbev fatten pigs to the weight of rive hundred weight. The 

 produce of the best dairies is one hundred weight and a half, or 

 three firkins of butter per cow, and each tow requires from one 

 and a half to three Irish acres. The practice >t letting cows to 



This county has mam romantic situations, ornamented with 

 countrv seats'; and its flat districts, where the tillage farms are 

 more extensive than in most parts of Ireland, present a pros- 

 pect very different from what is often met with in that 



The 'soil is for the most part on limestone of good quality, and 

 come of the valleys of extreme fertility. There are very few 

 boss ; for the land" declining about 500 feet from the northern 

 to the southern boundarv, the water which falls upon the sur- 

 face is carried off with sufficient rapidity to prevent its making 

 the ground marshy. The largest colliery in Ireland is at Castle 

 Comber, near the* northern boundary of the county. It is a 

 stone coal raised in immense pieces, but of a sulphurous quality, 

 which renders it disagreeable, and sometimes noxious ; and it 

 is, therefore, less fit for being used in families. For this reason, 

 and also from the great expense at which it is raised, English 

 coal is used in preference, even within a few miles of the works. 

 There are several quarries of marble, chiefly of a black colour, 

 of which a few tons are exported- Excellent sandstone and 

 manganese, and iron and lead ores, have been observed in 

 different parts. 



