1202 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



able cabins, crowded with filth, poverty, and indolence. The 

 crops are uotatbes, in favourable situations, succeetled by wheat 

 and oats, tor one or more years ; sometimes barley follows the 

 wheat. Flax is cultivated in many small patches. Hemp very 

 rarely. Turnips and clover are seJdom to be seen on tenanted 

 lands. Sea sand, sea-weed, and lime, fovm a useful addition to 

 the stable and farmyard manure ; which is, however, in many 

 cases, allowed 'o fat washed away by the rains, and t;reitly re- 

 duced in value by careless managem'.nt. Paring and burning 

 is practised in every part of the county, as an established mode 

 of preparation for the first crop in the course. The implenients 

 of husbandry are Renerally b;id : the common Ir.sh ploufjh and 

 harrows, seldom furnished with iron tines, drawn by horses or 

 mules, and, in a few instances, by oxen ; wheel cairiafjes have 

 become common. A considerable number of dairies are kejit 

 in the vicinity of the city of Cork, where the produce, in the 

 shape of butter and skim-milk, finds a ready market. In fjeneral 

 the cows, which are chiefly of the half Holdemess breed, are 



let out to a dairyman, at a certain rate for each, bv tlie year ; 

 \et many farmers conduct the business of the dairy themselves. 

 The average number of cows in a dairv may be from thirty to 

 forty. A few sheep are kept on every farm, commonly in fet- 

 ters, and upon the most worthless pastures. I'loprietors have 

 introduced stranger breeds, and nnd them to answer ; but 

 sheep can never become an object of importance in a district 

 whe-e farms are so small. 



Tithes, of which no inconsiderable part are lay propertv, are 

 generally paid by a composition with the farmers. The "usual 

 mode is to have them valued before harvest, and to appoint 

 days of meeting with the parishioners, for the purpose of letting 

 them. 



The principal manufactures are sail-cloth, duck, carvass, 

 and drilling; osnaburgs for negro clothing; coarse woollens ; 

 spirits at several large distilleries in Cork; and gunpowder in 

 tie nei'.chbourhood of the same city, the only manufactory of 

 that article in Ireland ; it belongs to Govamment. 



7878. TIPPER A RY. 882,"98 acres, divorsified with heaths, mountains, and fertile vales ; of which the 

 Golden Vale is among the richest land in the kingdom. Tlie climate so mild, that cattle graze out all the 

 year. There are 3ti,()00 acres of bog in tliis county, including part of the Great Bog of Allen. From the 

 survey made by Mr. Ather, under the direction of the commissioners for enquiring into the nature and 

 extent of Irish bogs, it appears that this waste land might be easily drained. (JF 

 Brit. Ediii. Oax.) 



Wakefield, ^c. Sup. Eiicyc. 



Minerals. Slate, lead, and coal are worked. 



Estates are of various sizes, some of them very large, hut a 

 greater number of a medium extent, worth from 4000/. to 60(H)/. 

 a year. Of the proprietors, the influence of Lord I.i.mdalf" is by 

 far the most considerable, though several others have estates 

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

 graziers here, as in Roscommon, have leasehold properties, fre- 

 quently of much greater value than the freeholds, of whi<h, 

 also, thev often become the purchasers. Properti-s of tbis de- 

 scription, worth from '2000/. to 4000/. a year, are very common. 



Tillage farms, however, are generally of small extent, one of 

 ninetv Irish acres being thought larye ; yet the management is, 

 in many instances, more respectable than in most other parts 

 of Ireland. But the principal business is grazing, every variety 

 of this kind of laud being found here. The exemption of graz- 



ing land from every kind of tithe operates as an encouragement 

 to persevere in this system. leases are commonly for twenty- 

 one years and a life. The cattle, which are Iong-ho.ne<l, may 

 be ranked with the best in Ireland, and manv of the fine flocks 

 of long-wooUid sheep are not inferior, in Wakefield's opinion, 

 to those erf I/eiccstershire. The rich lands produce a kind of 

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

 grows to a great height, and appears to be exceedingly well 

 ad ipted for sill- cloth. 



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

 at Carriek ; 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 other 

 land produce. 



7879. LIMERICK, 622,975 acres, of low-lying fertile lands, surrounded by higher grounds. {Wake- 

 field, 4c. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.) 



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

 on long leases, and sub-l-jt almost ad infinitum. The land seems 

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

 distanc:e from large towns ; for, according to Wakefield's in- 

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

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

 Considerable farms brought five guineas the Irish acre, and in 

 some instances more. 'Phe rent of the mountain land had in- 

 creased in a still greater proportion than the grazing and com 

 farms. One grazier held land of the value of 10,(X)0/. a year ; 

 and in one season slaughtered, in Cork, 800 head of cattle. 

 Manv of the best long-homed cattle of the United Kingdom 

 are fattened here, and also a considerable number of sheep. 

 Two-vear-old wethers sold then, without theh: fleece, at from 

 2/. Id*, to 3/. 



Only a small proportion of the land is in tillage ; tlie produce 

 of this, and some of the adjacent counties, in proportion to the 

 seed, is stated by the same author to be at a medium : of wheat 

 ten, here sevenu'een, barley twelve, oats nine, and potatoes ten. 

 Hemp was formerly cultivated extensively on the rich low 

 grounds, calUd 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. The com- 

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

 part of the provision and com trade is possessed by the city of 

 Limerick. 



'Phe soil is remarkably fertile, and consists chiefly of fine 

 mould covering a light limestone gravelly soil : it produces all 

 kinds of grain m abundance. 



7880. CLARE. 952,560 acres, nearly half productive land, and the remainder moors, 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 al)ounds, and coil, ironstone, black marble, lead, 

 &c., have been found, but not worked. 



Landed property is in a few large estates, of which the most 

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

 lately sold and divided. 



The size of farms varies greatly. Those under tillage are 

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

 few. Grazing taryns extend from 100 to 800 acres, several of 

 which, and sometimes in distant situations, are held by one in- 

 dividual. Frequently several j>ersons join in the occupation of 

 an arable farm, 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 imder tenants is variable, and often 

 arbitrary . 



All the difTerent species of grain are cultivated with consider- 

 able success. Rape and flax, the former chiefly for its seed, 

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

 extent. Potatoes occupy a part of every farm, smd their cul- 

 ture is conducted with more care and judgment than that of 

 any other crop, though at a greater expense of time and labour 

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

 gard to the kinds of crops cultivated, the greatest defect is in 

 whnt are called green crops, com being, with potatoes, the 

 chief and almost the only objects of attention to the arable 

 farmer; and turnips and cultivated herbage being either grown 

 on a very small scale, or, as is the case throughout the greater 

 part of the county, altogether disregarded or unknown. The 

 com crops thus necessarily follow each other, until the soil is 

 exhausted ; and where extra manure, such as sea-weed arid sea- 

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

 not be procured, it must be left in an unproductive sute for 

 several years afterwards. Potatoes sre in most cases planted 

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

 crop is sometimes taken for two years more without manure; 

 in the fourth year wheat follows, and then repeated crops of 

 oats, as long as thev will replace the cost of seed and labour. 



The imphmenis in common use are generally rudely con- 



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

 in many parts, even where the soil is light and dry, the plough 

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

 of straw. But from the roughness of the surface, the poverty of 

 the tenantry, and the minute division of farm lands, t! e spaue 

 is much more' extensively employed than the plough, over all 

 the arable land of this county. 



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

 Shannon atid Fergus, are equal to the fattening of the largest 

 oxen. This rich tract extends from Paradise to Limerick, 

 about twenty miles, and is computed to contain about 20,000 

 acres, ofti deep dark-coloured -soil, over a bluish or black day, 

 or moory substratum ; producing, owing 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 grazini; was, several years ago, as high as bl. per acre, 

 t<]ual to about 3/. 2*. per English acre, and for meadow, in 

 many instances, much more. These meadows are said to 

 produce at the rate of more than four tons of hay the English 

 acre. The cattle of this county Eire almost all long-homed, 

 good milkers, and very hardy. The sheep have been greatly 

 improved in shape, by crosses with Leicester rams; but there 

 is a general complaint that the quality of the native wool has 

 been deteriorated. A vast number ot 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 cockagoe apple, 

 which is still found near the small town called Six Mile Bridge. 

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

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

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

 does not appear from the latest accounts, that any considerable 

 quantity of this cider is now produced here, though wliat there 

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

 estimation. 



Manufactures are yet in their infancy. .411 the linen iKade in 

 the county is used for home consumption. 



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

 islands being the most westerly land in Europe. Some of the mountains 3000 feet high. {S?mWs History 

 of Kerry. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Bicheno's Ireland, 1830, 8^0.) 



