Book 1. 



AGRICULTURE OF LEITUIM. 



1 203 



The mountains are chiefly occupied with young cattle and 

 goats; sheep, apparently the moat profitable animal in such 

 situations, are neither numerous nor of a valuable kind; and 

 the little cultivation to be found here is so generally performed 

 with the spade, that, in some entire parishes, as Young assures 

 us, there « as not a single plough. 



The prevailing soil in the low grounds is clay, of different 

 qualities; some of it seems to be a species of pipe-clay, and 

 other sorts might be converted into bricks and earthenware. 



Estates are very large, both in extent and value ; some of 

 them, according to Wakefield, worth 50,000/. a year. Leases 

 are in general tor thirty -one years and three lives, and a con- 

 siderable portion of the whole county is let to partnership 

 tenants. Few of the tenants in the north quarter about Kern- 

 head occupy so much land as to require them to employ labour- 

 ers; they pay their rents by the sale of butter and pigs, and by 

 turf which they carry to Limerick. It is the practice for farmers 

 to hire large tracts, which they stock with cows, and these cows 



are then let out to dairymen upon such terms, a.-. leave them but 

 a very smalt return for their labour. The best corn land I 



Tralee, and towards Dingle, where more tlax is raised than in 

 am other part of the county. 



The principal articles which Kerr\ affords for export are its 

 raw produce, beef, butter, hides, and tallow. It does no' raise 

 more corn than is necessary for its h« me consumption, and 

 carries on no manufacture for sale but that of coarse linen, 

 which is only on a small scale. 



Agriculture is at a low ebb; and the general face of the 

 country ^ives the impression of wildness and discomfort. In- 

 stead of hedges, mounds of earth ar.d stone, called ditches, are 

 every where to be seen; and as these afford but a Slight pro- 

 tection against the trespassing of cattle, it is customary to t:e 

 the legs of each quadruped together with wisps of straw, and 

 sometimes to yoke two together ; even fowls and turkeys are 

 thu a bound. (Dicheuo.) 



7882. ROSCOMMON". 556,847 acres of flat surface, in some places sprinkled with rocks, and in many 

 interrupted bv extensive bogs ; the richest land on limestone, and adapted either for aration or pasture. 

 {Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gaz. 18-27.) 



Coal and iron -works were formerly carried on, but are now 

 neglected . 



Estates were once very large ; but they have been broken 

 down in some instances, by the granting of leases in perpetuity ; 

 a practice which has given rise to a class of landholders, inter- 

 posed between a few great proprietors on the one hand, and a 

 numerous body of cultivators on the other. 



Some of the* best long-horned cattle and long-woolled sheep 

 in Irt-i tnd fed, but there are few dairies. During the late war, 

 its fine irreen pastures, under this management, afforded a very- 

 ample rent, and tillage was therefore conducted on a small 

 scale ; but the plough has been more in request since the 



peace, both here and in other parts of Ireland ; and the soil of 

 such rich grazing lands, requiring nothing more than the com- 

 mon operations of tillage to yield large crops, the growth of 

 corn throughout Ireland has been greatly increased ; yet, within 

 these few years, agriculture was here in a very backward state. 

 " In Roscommon," says Wakefieid, " I heard of horses being 

 yoked to the plough by the tail, but I had not an opportunity 

 of seeing this curious practice. I was, however, assured by- 

 Dean French, that it is still common with two-year-old colts 

 in the spring.'* Potatoes, oats, and flax are the principal 

 crops. There are several fine lakes, and the Shannon runs 

 along nearly the whole of the eastern boundary. 



7SS& GALWAY. 1,659,520 acres of varied surface; above a third part bogs, mountains, and lakes, 

 and very unproductive, and thinly inhabited. (Button's Survey of Galway, 1824. Wakefield, Sup. 

 Encyc. Brit., $c.) 



The east part of the county is flat, warm, and fertile, with 

 manv seats, though none oi" note. Rivers and lakes abound. 

 Lough Reagh and Lough Coutra are fine pieces of water ; the 

 letter is said to possess all the beauties that hills, woods, and 

 islands can impart to that feature of landscape. 



Several large estates, affording an income of from 5000/. to 

 10,000/. a vear, and upwards. One of these, the most exten- 

 sive in the British Isles, stretches along the sea-coast for seventy 

 miles. Only a small portion is held by absentees. A full third 

 of the land is let on partnership leases, to an indefinite numler 

 of persons, very often twenty, who by law *re joint tenants, and 

 entitled to the benefit of survivorship. The leases are com 



same occupier longer than the time they are in tillage. The 

 pasture is held in common ; and the elders of the village are 

 the legislators, who establish such regulations as may be judged 

 proper for their community, and settle all disputes that ariae 

 among them. Their houses stand close to each other, and 

 form what is here called a village." 



The cattle of Galnay are long-homed and of an excellent 

 description, fully equal, in the opinion of Wakefield, to any in 

 England. But sheep form the most valuable part of their live 

 stock ; " some of the first flocks in the world," says the same 

 writer, ** are to be found in this county." The crops are the 

 same as in other parts of Ireland, but potatoes are not culti 



monly for three lives or thirty-one years. " These people," ] vated to so great an extent. They plant potatoes on an oat 



savs Wakefield, " divide the land and give portions to their 

 children, which consist of a fourth or firth of whit they call 

 * a man's share ; * that is, of the land which originally belonged 

 to one name in the lease. A certain portion of the whole 

 farm, or take, as it is styled, is appropriated for tillage, and 

 this portion is then divided into lots, perhaps twenty or thirty. 

 These lots are again subdivided into fields, which are parti- 

 tioned into small lots, each partner obtaining one or two 

 ridges ; but these ridges do not continue in the hands of the 



stubble, or on ley that has been burned or manured, and follow 

 with wheat, here or barley, or oats; the latter kind of grain is 

 not unfrtquently taken after wheat and barley. Paring and 

 burning the soil is very common. The greater part of the rent 

 of some of the estates on the shore is paid from kelp, which 

 is prepared in large quantities. 



In common with the greater part of Ireland, Gal way em- 

 ploys some of its people in the linen manufacture, and it seem* 

 to be the only manufacture in it worth notice. 



78S4. MAYO. 1,270,114 acres, in great part mountains, bogs, and lakes ; half-heathy mountains, with 

 valleys very fertile, but neither woods nor plantations, excepting on one or two estates. {M'Parlan's 

 Survey if Mayo, 1802. Wakefield. Sup. Eneyc.Bnt. Edin. Gcz. 1827.) 



Many valuable fossils ; iron formerly made, but discontinued 

 for want of fuel. Excellent slate ; and pttro-siles semilucidus, 

 similar to what is used in the English potteries. The low 

 grounds of the county are composed of limestone, or limestone 

 gr.ivel, and are equally well adapted to tillage or pasture. 



The estates worth from 7000/. to '20,000/. a year ; but then- 

 extent, owing to their containing a great proportion of waste 

 land, is still greater than the ratio of then* value. 



The size of farms varies with the nature of the soil and sur- 

 face ; but, though several hundred acres are sometimes let out 

 in one farm, yet, as the farms are commonly held in partner- 

 ship, the space allotted to each tenant is generally only a few 

 acres. As each of them keeps a horse, it is computed that 

 there is one for every ten or twelve Irish acres. The leases are 

 for different periods, fifteen years, twenty-one years, and one, 

 two, and sometimes three lives, or thirty -one years. 



Agriculture is in a very backward state. The plough, com- 

 monly drawn by four hordes abreast, is of the worst descrip- 



tion, and the harrows are often furnished with tines of wood, 

 instead of iron. It is still the practice, in the mountain dis- 

 trict, to yoke the horses by the tail. But in some of the baro- 

 nies, the plough is seldom or never employed at all, the tillage 

 being performed by the spade ; and in 'others they use the 

 spade in cultivating potatoes, and the plough only for com. 

 \et potatoes, oats, and on the sea-coast barley, are sown to a 

 considerable extent, and also flax. Wheat is cultivated onlv in 

 particular spots, and chiefly by proprietors, a few of whom have 

 aiso introduced turnips, peas, beans, rape, and cabbage. There 

 is some excellent grazing land for cattle in the barony of Ty - 

 rawley, and good sheep pastures in Kilntain. Some grazier* 

 hold oOOO Irish acres. The English long-homed cattle, which 

 were imported by the principal proprietors, have greatly im- 

 proved the native breed. 



The habitations of the labourers, or cottars, are in general 

 very wretched, and shared by them with their cow and pig. 



7885 LEITRTM 407,260 acres, one half bog, waste, and water, and the remainder dark fertile soil, 

 incumbent on limestone. {M*Parlan*s Survey of Leitrim, 1802. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. 

 Gaz. 1827.) 



Coal, ironstone, lead, copper, &c. are found, but not worked. 



Estates large, and nearly all the great proprietors aie absent- 

 ees- The leases are commonly for three lives or thirty-one 

 years. Agriculture is here in a very low state. The tillage 

 farms are small, seldom exceeding fifty or sixty acres, and the^e 

 are almost always occupied in common by a number of tenants. 

 The plough is verv little used. The most common implement is 

 the loy, a kind of "spade eighteen inches long, about four inches 

 broad" at the bottom, and five or six Inches at the top, where it 

 is furnished with a wooden handle about five feet lone. The 

 first two crop? are potatoes, which are followed by flax, and 

 then oats for one or mo'e years. Clovers and other green crops 

 are unknown to the practice of the tenantry. The county 

 raises grain and potatoes sufficient for its own consumption, 

 but exports very little of either. Its cattle have be^n much 

 improved by the introduction of English breeds, to which 

 some of those now bred and reared in it are said to be not in- 

 ferior. There are no considerable dairies, yet a good deal cf 



4 



butter is made throughout the district. The sheep are of the 

 native race, small, and but few in number. 



About the beginning of the eighteenth century, Leitnm is 

 said to have been almost a continued forest. There is now lit- 

 tle wood in it, and no considerable plantations. He proprie- 

 tors, however, have of late paid some aitcntion to this method 

 of improvement, and several large nurseries have been esta- 

 blished for the sale of forest and other trees. 



There are several bleach-fields, and some coarse potteries ; 

 and a number of people are employed ill weaving. .But (be 

 linen made here, as veil as the coarse woollen go. .1-. is bjeflj 

 for the use of the inhal itants themselves. The houses ot the 

 lower classes are of the worst description : even the more re- 

 cently erected farm buildings, including a little barn and cow. 

 house, do not cost more than ten or twelve pound,. lurf is 

 their only fuel, and potatoes and oaten bread the chief articles 

 of food meat being used on extraordinary occasions onlj. 



H 



