Book I. 



AGRICULTURE OF ANTRIM. 



J 205 



Landed property is in few hands. 



Agriculture is in a very backward state in Donegal. The use 

 of the plough is confined tu a small proportion of the cultivated 

 land, and is generally of a bad construction ; spade labour is 

 preferred in most places. B irley is the chief grain crop, and 

 it is almo%t all used in distillation; oats are onlv grown for 

 home consumption, and wheat is confined to a few favourite 

 spots. There are onlv two flour mills in the county. The cul- 

 ture of flax is considerable in the barom of Raphoe, and is ex- 

 tending even in the mountain districts. Potatoes are cultivated 

 every where ; turnips, clovers, and other ureen crops, are al- 

 most unknown among the tenantry. Vil age or partnership 

 farms still abound, but firms now beg n to be let to individuals 

 as separate holdings. In the low country they are from ten to 

 fifty acres in extent, and from 40 to 500 in be mountains. The 

 fences are commonly nothing better than ditches, with banks 

 of tuif or clay, so that the cattle requ re. to he herded while 



the crops are growing; and in many parts they are allowed to 

 graze promiscuous!) as soon as the crops are removed. Sea- 

 weed and shell-sand are used as manures, but ver\ little lime- 

 stone, or limestone gravel. The practice of paring and burning, 



so common in many parts of Ireland, is se dom Ksorted to in 

 this county. Leases are granted fur twenty -one years and a 

 life. 



The staple manufacture of Donegal is linen. Women are 

 much employed in knitting stockings. Kelp is prepared along 

 the north-west coast ; and, during the fi-hm, season, three or 

 four salt-pans used to be kept in full work. But whisky, sav6 

 Dr. M* Parian, particularly in the mountain region, and all 

 around the coast, is the chief manufacture. " It is by running 

 their barley into this beverage that thev provide for one half- 

 year's rent- This is, therefore, a tax raised by the rich cm the 

 morals and industry of the poor." 



7892. LONDONDERRY. 510,750 acres, generally mountainous, fertile and beautiful in the valleys, 

 and containing every variety of soil. (Sampson's Survey of Londonderry > 1S02. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc* 

 Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.) 



Landed proper tif. With the exception of lands belonging to 

 the church, and the towns of Londonderry and Coleraine, and 

 certain portions reserved by the crown to be af:erwards erected 

 into freeholds, the whole of Londonderry was granted bj 

 James I. to the twelve companies or guilds of London. The 

 estates are, therefore, heldfrom these companies, either in per- 

 petuity, or on determinable leases. The principal proprietors 

 or leaseholders are Lords Waterford and Londonderry, Conolly, 

 Ogilby, and the fami'ies of Beresford and I'onsonhy. 



rhe average rize if farms is from five to twenty Irish acre's, 

 or at a medium little more than fifteen acres English. W hole 

 districts are subdivided into patches of seven or eight acres, 

 but in a few situations there are farms of upwards of 300 acres. 

 The leases, though mosr commonly for twenty-one years and 

 one life, arc frequently for such verv short periods, as to be a 

 gr at drawback upon agriculture. The practiceof letting land 

 upon short leases is, however, only recently introduced- 



The principal crops are potatoes, barley, oats, and flax. 

 Wheat is not in general cultivation. Turnips are verv ran-, 

 and sown grasses and clovers far from being common. No 

 uniform rotation of crops is recognised in practice, but it is 

 usual to take two crops of oats successively, and sometimes flax 

 the year following. Florin is the predominating plant in the 

 meadows, where it grows spontaneously with great luxuriance. 

 The live stock presents nothing worthy of particular notice. 

 Grazing grounds are not extensive, and there art- few dairies. 

 On the east side of the Bawn there are two extensive rabbit- 

 warrens. 



The principal manufacture is linen ; the value exceeds hair a 

 million sterling, besides brown or unbleached linens. 



Granite, freestone, sandstone, and those beautiful rock 

 crystals, which, when cut, are termed Irish diamonds, are 

 found in various parts. Iron, copper, lead, and coal have also 

 been found. 



7 L !> J. ARMAGH. 293,871 acres of varied and rather interesting surface of mountain, plain, and bog; 

 with rivers, streams, and lakes, and a climate mild for the latitude; 244,000 acres are esteemed fit for 

 cultivation. The celebrated George Ensor is a native of this county, and resides on his own estate at 

 Loughgall, near Armagh. (Cooie's Survey of Armagh, 1804. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. 



Gaz. 18-7.) 



Marble of an excellent quality, and of great beauty, is wrought 

 in Armagh. The chain of'mountains called the Fews, of 

 which Sieive Gullian is the highest, present many highly 

 sublime and picturesque scenes. 



Estates in this county are not large, there being only seven or 

 right proprietors who possess them of the annual value of from 

 6000/. to 10,0007. The farms also are small, being commonly 

 from five to twenty acres, and seldom exceeding forty or fifty. 



Neither the arable nor the pasture husbandry of this county 

 present much that is worthy of notice. Potatoes, flax, and 

 oats are the chief produce of the arable districts; and those 

 are cultivated in a very rude and inferior manner, in conse- 

 quence of the ignorance of the farmers, and their want of 

 capital. 



There are no extensive dairy farms, nor are there any farmers 

 exclusively in this branch of husbandry; nevertheless a con- 

 siderable quantity of butter is made here. One hundred weight 



per cow is considered as the average produce. The proportion 

 of the milch cows to the size of the farms is, on small farms 

 under five acres, one cow ; on farms exceeding five, and under 

 ten acres, perhaps two cows, s> Idom more. A considerable 

 number of cattle are reared. From the low country they are 

 sent to the mountain farms, and frequently afterwards sold in 

 the Scotch market. They are in general of a small stunted 

 breed. The native sheep are an awkward breed; the wool 

 coarse, and in small quantity ; very little of it is exposed to 

 sale, there being hardly sufficient for domestic use. Goats, 

 swine, and poultry abound. \\ ild geese, swans, wild ducks, 

 and several other species of aquatic birds, are indigenous to the 

 lakes and rivers. Formerly bees were much attended to, but 

 at present they are neglected. 



The roads in general are bad ; and, what is extraordinary, 

 the turnpikes are the wor*t, and the cross roads the best. 



The principal manufacture is that of linen. 



7894- DOWN. 559,995 acres, of which one eighth are mountainous and waste, the remainder hilly and 

 productive, cultivated by small manufacturers, and embellished by plantations, bleaching grounds, and 

 neat white-washed habitations. The climate is variable, but not subject to extremes. (Dubourdicu's 

 Survey of Down, 1802. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gaz. 18270 



Landed property. There are some large estates, though in 

 general it is much divided, and has all the dirterent gradations, 

 from the most opulent nobleman to the tenant in perpetuity 

 who farms his own land. Most of it is freehold. The rental 

 was above the average rental of the best counties in Scotland, 

 as returned to the commissioners of the property-tax in Jsll. 



The farms mav be divided into two kinds : the first, such as 

 are possessed by farmers who have recourse to no other branch 

 of industry ; trie second, such as are held by weavers and other 

 tradesmen. The former run from twenty to fifty, and, in 

 some instances, so far as 100 acres ; the latter are of ever, size, 

 fmm one to twenty acres. It has been remarked that the 

 divisions of the farms are so minute, as to be extremely pre- 

 judicial to agriculture. The rent is always paid in money ; 

 personal services are never extracted. Some leases are for lives 

 and years, others for lives alone. Fences consist chieth m a 

 ditch and bank, without quicks of any kind, or sometimes with 

 a few plants of furze stuck into the face of the bank ; but dry 

 stone walls are frequent in the stony mountainous parts. 

 Great improvement has been made in its agriculture within 

 these twentv yevs. Threshing- mil Is and two-horse ploughs 

 have been introduced ; but it cannot be said that a good system 

 prevails generally, which the small size of the farms, indeed, 

 renders impracticable. A regular rotation is rarely followed in 

 the crops ; f dlows. clovers, and turnips, are upon a very small 

 and from the greater part of the arable land, it is still 

 the practice to take crops of grain in succession, only partially 

 interrupted by potatoes, flax, and peas. Oats, the principal 

 grain, are grown on all soils; barley is usually sown after 

 potatoes, and also wheat to some extent on the coast. Of flax 

 they sow four bushels an Irish acre, and the medium produce 

 is fifty stones. Kve and peas occupy but a small space. Lime, 

 marl," shellv-sand, and sea weed, are used as manures. Faring 

 and burning are confined to the mountains. 



7805 ANTRIM. 622,059 acres: on the east and north mountainous, destitute of plantations, and 

 abounding in bogs ; the other parts more level and fruitful, and the climate drier than in some other 

 emmties (Newcn/ianrs Statistical Survey. Wakefield. Dubourdtcu s Survey oj Antrim, 1812. Sup. 

 Encyc. Brit.) 



4 II 3 



There are extensive meadows on the banks of the Bann and the 

 Laggan ; but the soil, except on the mountains, is thought to be 

 better adapted to tillage than pasture. A good many beasts are 

 fatted, but cows are the prevailing stock, kept in small numbers 

 on everj farm. Thev are long-horned, thin in the sides, and deep 

 in the belly, but yield much milk when well fed, and each of 

 them from 60 to as much as 120 pounds of butter in the year, 

 or about two thirds of thermdium produce of the butler dairies 

 of England. Numerous horses are reared in the mountainous 

 districts; and goats, furnishing the inhabitants with milk are 

 seen around all the cottages. Sheep, in flocks of any size, are 

 confined to the mountain districts. The\ are very small, many 

 of them, when fat, not weighing more than seven or eight 

 pounds a quarter. On the low ground there are a few, seldom 

 exceeding half a score, on almost every farm. A great number 

 of hogs are fattened ; many of them bred in the county, but 

 not a few brought from the west of Ireland. The dry hills of 

 this countv, covered with heath and odoriferous herbs, are well 

 adapted to bees, but the number of hives has greatly decreased 

 within these twenty years. 



The principal manufbeture is linen, which is carried on in 

 all its branches. Kelp is also an article of commerce. 



Copper and lead are found within the precincts of Down, and 

 marine exuvia? among the hills at a great distance from the sea. 

 There is also black marble susceptible of a high degTee of polish, 

 slate, coal, freestone, and crystals. Natural woods are seen on 

 some parts, but plantations are scarce ; there are a good many 

 orchards, a small one being attached to almost every cottage in 

 the bleaching districts on the low grounds. Bleaching is con- 

 ducted on a considerable scale upon the banks of the rivers ; 

 and vitriolic acid is made in several of the towns. Fish abound 

 on the coast ; but the inhabitants of Down derive littb benefit 

 from the bounty of nature in this particular. 



