1200 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



dairymen, which !■ rmnmon In Minister, U but llttli know n fan 

 Kllkenm, tin- cows belonging to the dairymen then 

 who. in ans, breed them on their own fanns, and 



in others prefer buying them at a proper age* Too 9 ■ c r I < - atten 

 tion i-. paid to nlMimn— i* > iheli dairl i" the 



northern district ; ami foi this reason, .ic< online to Wakefield, 

 though luii butter, when fin ih, is preferable to anj En Europe, 

 yet it " is m the lowest estimation In the I ondon marketj as it 

 u almost always h avilji salted, and ran frequent 

 snmkv, nehy, and tallowy." The cattle of this county are a 

 mixed race from the native ore* <l and the Bnsrttsn long-horned, 

 ami their sheep hare bean, In some psatBi Improved by the 

 Leloesters* The Merinos have bean mtroauceo within these 

 | r^ by Msesre. Now Ian, the proprietors of a woollen 



fiirtorv, win* have now r.OO of the pure rare ; nnd they (inil that 

 both the <| lality ami th ■ weight of the fleet e have unproved 

 mi . the iheep vera Imported. The usual corn crafM are 

 r and other green crops not In a suitable 

 proportion. It is the custom to work oxen Intermixed with 

 horses, In teams of six, or three pair deep, the oxen placed fore- 

 most k"ei the tallows are better managed here than in any 

 other part of Inland. Irrigation baa been practised t'.>r many 

 i , but not extensively* [Sup, Sncjyc. Bru, Kilkenny.) 

 Salmon are caught In the rivers, and tent Bo Dublin packed 



in boxes of ire. Woollen is the chief manufacture. ftfeSSrS. 

 tfowlan and Shaw produce excellent superfine cloths, from an 

 establishment as celebrated in Ireland a* that of Owen at 

 Lanark is in Scotland. 



7868. KILO \ RE 392,397 acres, four fifths arable, mcadow,and pasture, and the rest bog. (Rawson's 

 Survey of Ki/dare, 1807. Sup. Encyc. Brit.) 



Tan of Otr Bore/ AUen and other stroll ir tracts occupy a 

 ortionof the v stern side of this county. The surface is 

 varied by o number of sm ill hills and gentle declivities; but for 

 the most p urt ll is flat and nearly level ; and when viewed from 

 a coram inding station, presents a rich, and, on the banks of 

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

 tetuhu^ to ibout . r )(XHJ acres, has been long celebrated for the 

 loftnesa of us turf and the fineness of its pastures, Uutthecli- 

 mate of Kildare is said to he more moist than that of any other 

 pari of Ireland, which, if the statement be correct, is a very 

 Unfavourable circumstance, as a clay soil prevails very gene- 

 ral 1% , and much of it is exceedingly tenacious of moisture. 



There are a few large estates in Kildare, particularly the 

 Duke of I.cmstei's, which extends over a third of the county; 

 and several proprietors, according to Wakefield, have from 

 6000/. to 7000/. a year; yet many are less considerable, and 

 property seems to be more divided here than in most of the 

 other districts in Ireland. 



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

 these farms are frequently held in partnership. Large forma 

 however, are less rare here than In the arable tracts of the other 

 counties. The leases were formerly for thirty-one \ears, 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 lias been for a century, 

 viz., fallow, wheat, oats. 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 manu- 

 factory at Celbridge; and a catholic seminary at Majnooth for 

 above 200 students. 



78fi9. KING'S COUNTY. 457,000 acres, half of it bog, mountain, and waste; and the remainder 

 arable, meadow, and pasture, of a medium quality. (Coote's Agricultural Survey, 1801. Sup. Encyc. Brit.) 



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

 allowed to stand unoccupied. 



1138 



The Bog »f 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- 

 velly ; the former 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 

 every where. The pastures, though in many parts fine, are 

 not luxuriant ; better adapted for sheep than cattle, and very 

 favourable to the growth of tine wool. Much of the mountain 

 district has an argillaceous soil, thickly interspersed with rocks 

 of sandstone, and a dee]) irreclaimable bog often occurs at its 

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

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

 lulls, which is composed of a stiff clay, produces abundant crops 

 of corn. 



LawU'd property is in large estates, and many of their owners 

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

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

 principal proprietors are Lords Digby, Hosse, and Charleville. 

 Farms were formerly very large, not unfrequently of the extent 

 of 2000 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 as twenty acres, though the 

 medium size of the smaller class may he double tliis. Most of 

 the arable land is tolerably enclosed; chiefly with hedges of 

 whitethorn, which grows here to a great size. Partnership 

 le tses and sub-tenantcy are less common than in some other 

 part-, of Ireland; yet the condition of the tenantry and the 

 peasantry does not seem to be materially more improved. The 

 norm-buildings <•! every description are generally very bad; the 

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

 custom* l to these miserable cabins are said to prater them to 

 more comfortable dwellings (Jig. 1138.), which, after having 



AVrieat, oats, barley, 

 And potatoes are the 

 most common crops. 

 The average produce 

 of whe^t is no more 

 than sixteen bushels ; 

 of barley and oats it is 

 al>out thirty-two bush- 

 els; and of potatoes 

 only four tons per acre. 

 Both oxen and horses 

 are employed in la- 

 bour ; 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 altout twentv veairs. 



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

 hut 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 fre- 

 quently added. Some tenants hold for lives renewable for ever, 

 pa\ ing a renewal fine equal to half a \ ear's i ent, or move, on the 

 fall of every life. Modern leases often contain a prohibition 

 against alienating. Nothing is so much complained of among 

 the tenantry as the mode in which tithes are collected. 



There are no considerable manufactures, no fisheries, and no 

 minerals worked. 



7870. 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. {Coolers Agricultural Survey, 1801. Sup. Encyc. 

 Brit.) 



Cod of the Kilkenny kind (7S67.) is the onh mineral worked; 

 but there is Iron ore. freestone, marble, &c. In different pans. 



J be BaiTOW and Nore are navigable rivers. 



are from 50001. to 15,000/. a year, and upwards. 



:s " , I the most valuable, having been let" on perpetual leases, 



alb. id i l.u i- ibe lessees. It is these lessees who 



form thi -ii.i.i.ii. class of g. ntrv, with clear incomes of from 

 lOOi. to BOO/, per annum, obtained from tenants to whom their 

 jandfl ait- 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 sys- 

 tematic 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 

 herefor'the Dublin market. In other respects the rural eco- 

 nomy 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. 



7871. CARLOW. 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. ( IVakeJielcTs Statistical 

 Account, tyc. Young's Tour, c\c. Sup. Encyc. Brit ) 



The mfa raU ire tarious, but little known. 



There are no large stonai In tins county; and very little 

 minute description of proper ty . The hiring tenant is generally 

 Iheoo upier, except of small pieces. There are tome* 

 ilo, ks of lonft.woolled sheep. Four sheep of the Irish breed 

 and bve of the English are called a " collop." and three collops 



are allotted tn two n. res of the best bind. For its dairii , 1 .. r 



not excelled by any, county in Ireland. The farmers 



Spare no I OUbte or expense to procure good cows. From 

 twenty (o fiftj are generally kept; and during the season each 

 cow produces, on an average, about one hundred weigh! and a 



halt ot butter- 1 h ! dairy system pur and m DevonsbJri . Dot 



setshlre) ind omeof the northern counties of Ireland, of letting 

 cows to dain men, i-* followed here ; but this custom was more 

 prevalent when the ( latholiCS could not Legally puicb 

 as they then employed their capital in hiring cows. The butter 

 made in I u ■ I divided into three sorts, according to its 

 quality. The first in point of quality i-- 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 

 Bold BS Cambridge butter. That of the second quality is ex- 

 ported to Spain, and the worst to Portugal. It is all packed in 

 large casks, weighing upwards of three hundred weight. 



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

 colour or very good quality : but the barley of Carlo w is excel- 

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

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

 .it present more is grown here than in any other part of the 

 kingdom. It is principally consumed by the illicit distilleries 

 in the north of Ireland, by the breweries at Cork, or by the 

 malting bouses at Wexford. The potatoes grown in Carlo w 

 are ex< client. There is little or no tlax. The county is toler- 

 ably wooded. In the vicinity of Carlow a great many onions are 

 grown, which are sold all over Ireland. 



In Carlow, coarse cloth, reaping books, scythes, shears, ccc. 

 are made. At Lefghlinbridge is one of the largest corn mills 

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

 fear. 



