1^02 



STATISTICS OK AGRICULTURE. 



Taut IV 



tula r.ihim, crowded with filth, p ivertj . and In lolen e. The 

 enn an potatoea, Id favourable ill bj wheat 



tndoatti for one or mora tears j 



w heat. 11 i\ i , nl t i v .»r. . i in ma l ' 



rarel] . Tumlpfl .mil clover 



lands. v 



the stable and farm* jard manun ; which] ( however. In rnanj 



cases, allow «i 



duosd in value by oai m nt« Paring and burning 



is practised hi everi part of 



ofjireu ration for the Ant crop In i I ipb ments 



of husbandn an imon Irish plc 



harrows, sei.i ■- Uh Iron I ni 



oxen; srlie si < url iff i have 

 i- i . mo i ■ mi bo. I ■ number ofd 



In the vicinity of the city of Cork, where the produi e, En the 



sh ij f butter andskim-milk, finds i n \ ly market. En general 



, stolen sis chiefly of the h.ilf Holderaes* breed, are 



|aj out lo ■ dairyman* ai ■ cor! tin rate f»r each, by the jre n j 



ol tin dairy ii emseWes. 

 i in 1 dairy may be from tliirt) t-i 



forty* A I ■ kepi on evrry farm, coinmoi 



t worthli pastures. Propi ii I 

 Introduce I breed*! and find i era to answer; but 



I of Important e in 

 I irmi are so small. 

 Titlies, of wh iderable part arc lay property, are 



rfth the farmers. Ti 

 to have them v i ii. ■ i before harvest, and to appoint 

 day i of meeting with the p trishioners, fur the purpose of « uing 

 . ■ 



The principal manufactures are pail*cloth, duck, i . 



and dril 1 ' irga for negro i 



spirits at several large distilleries in Cork; and ^unpowdei 

 the neighbourha ame <i'>. the on > manufactory ot 



it. [ article Ln Ireland ; it belongs to Government. 



TsTs, Tl I'TKRA RY. SS?, 98 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 Tliere are 36,000 acres ol bog in this county, including part of the Great Bog of Allen. From the 



survey made by Mr. At her, under the direction of the commissioners for enquiring into the nature an 1 

 extent of Irish bogs, it appears that this waste land might be easily drained. {Wakefield) $c. Sup. Encyc. 

 Brit. Edin. ooz.) 



Minerals, si ite, lead, and coal are worked. 



Btfafei are ol ■ u low Lzes, some of them very large, hut a 



umber of a medium extent, worth from lunu/. to 6000/. 



a, year* Of the proprietors, the influence of Lord Uandarf'ia by, 



most considerable, though sever. il others hav 

 worth from 10,000*. to 15,000/. a year and upwards. The 

 traxSers ht re, as In Rose iromon, have leasehold properties, fre- 

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

 the purchasers* Properties of this de- 

 scription, worth from 1000/. to 1000/. a year, are very common. 



Tillage farms, however, ar< generally of small extent, one of 

 ninet) Irish acres being thought large ;" vet the man igement is, 

 In many Instances, more respectable than in most other parts 

 of Ireland. Hut the principal business is grazing, every v iriety 

 oi this kind of land being found here. The exemption of graz- 



ing land from every kind of tithe operates as an encourag 

 in persevere ln this system. Leases an? commonly tor tw< nty- 

 one years and a life. The cattle, which are lone-no ned, n ty 

 be ranked with the best in Ireland, and man: of to fine flocks 

 of long- u-oolled sheep are not inferior, in Wake ield'8 opinion, 

 of IjCso su-rshire. The rich lands produce a kind of 

 flax, very different from thai which is raised in the north: it 

 grows to a great height, and appears to be exceeding!' well 

 adapted for sail cloth. 



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

 at Carrick ; and that of linen, worsted, and coarse woollens, as 

 branches of domestic industry. But the wealth of this extensive 

 district chiefly consists in its cattle and sheep, corn, and othei 

 land produce. 



7879. LIMERICK. 622,915 acres, of low-lying fertile lands, surrounded by higher grounds. {Wakt 

 field, $c. Sup. Encyc. But. Edin. Gaz. 1827.) 



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

 lg leases, and sub-l t almost ad infinitum. The land seems 



Eond 



on long 



to be or greater yearly value than In most parts of Britain at a 

 distance from large towns; for, according to Wakefield's in- 

 formation, the preen acres would have let, in 1808, for three 

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

 Considerable farms brought rive guineas the Irish acre, and in 

 Some instances more. The rent of the mountain land had in 

 creased En a still greater proportion than the grazing and com 

 fin us. One grazier held land of the value of 10,000/. a year; 

 and in one season slaughtered, in Cork, SOO 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 

 2/. 10*. to ol. 



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 slated by the same author to be at a medium ; of a heat 

 ten, here 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. 1 i 

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



fart of the provision and corn trade is possessed by the city of 

 .imerick. 



The soil is remarkably fertile, and consists chiefly of fine 

 mould covering a light limestone gravelly soil : it produces all 

 kinds of grain in abundance. 



7880. CLARE. 962,560 acres, nearly half productive land, and the remainder moor-:, mountains, and 

 bogs, with more than 100 lakes interspersed. The climate, though moist, is not unfavourable 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. Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.) 



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

 ficc, have been found, hut not worked. 



Lauded property is in t f-\v 1 iree estates, of which 'he most 

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

 lately sold and divided. 



The sh.e of funis varies greatly. Those under tillage are 

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

 few. Orating firms extend from 100 to Soil acres, several of 

 m huh, and sometimes in distant situations, are held h> one in- 

 dividual. Frequently several persons join in the occupation of 

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

 term 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 

 arbitrary. 



All the different species of grain are cultivated with consider- 

 able ncooss. Rape and flax, the former chief!) for its seed, 

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

 extent. Potatoes oocupj a pari of ever farm, and their cul- 

 ture is conducted with more care and Judgment than that of 

 any other crop, though ti a greater expi tut of time and labour 

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

 gard to the kinds of t- rops cultivated* the gre it est defect is in 

 wh ii are called green crops, corn being, with pol itoes, the 

 chief and almost the onlj obj cut of attention t" the arable 

 farmer; and turnips and cultivated herbage being eithei 

 on a vers small s> ale, or, si \a the case throughout he greater 

 pari of the county, altogether disregarded or unknown. The 

 corn crops thus Decesaaril] follow each other, until the soil is 



exhausted ; and « here extra manure, BUch -is sea- weed and sea- 

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

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

 sever il yean afterwards. Potatoes are in mo-t cases pi inted 

 upon land that has l-een prepared by burning ; and the same 



crops? ton times taken for two yean more without manure; 



in the fourth vear wheat follows, and then rep 



will replace the cost of seed and labour. 

 The imylem tits in common use are generally ru I 



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

 in many parts, • ven where the soil Is light and dry, the plough 

 is drawn bv four horses abreast, with traces of rope, and coll ir 

 of straw, liut from the roughness of the surface, the poverty of 

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

 is much more extensively employed than the plough, over all 

 the arahle land of tins county. 



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

 Shannon and Fergus, are equal to the fattening of the largl -i 

 oxen. This rich tract extends from Paradise to Limerick, 

 aliout twenty miles, and Is computed lo contain about 20,000 

 at res, ofa deep dark-coloured sod, over a bluish or black day, 

 or nioory substratum ; producing, ow ng 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 5/. per acre, 

 equal to about 3/. '2s. pel English acre, and for meadow, in 

 many instances, much more. These meadows are said to 

 p oduce at the rate of more than four tons of hay the English 

 acre. The cattle of this county .ire almost all long-honuii, 

 good milkers, and very hardy. The sheep have been gr< itlj 

 improved in shipe, l>\ 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 fine Quality, made from the celebrated coclcagee apple, 

 which is still found near the small to* n called Six .Mile Bridge. 

 " An acre of trees," says Young, " yields from four to ten hogs- 

 beads per annum, average six; and, what is very uncommon 

 in the cider counties of Kngland, yields a crop every year." It 

 does not appear from the latest accounts, that any considerab'e 

 quantity of this cider is now produced lure, though what there 

 is seems to maintain its former character, and h held in great 

 estimation. 



Manufactures are yet in their infancy. All the linen made in 

 the COtint] I* used fur home consumption. 



7881. KERRY. 1,128,320 acres, more than three fifths mountainous and waste: the sea-roast and 

 Islands being the moat westerly land in Europe: Some of the mountains 3000 feet high. (Smith's History 

 of Kerry. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Bicheno's Ireland, 1830, $c.) 



