Book a. 



AGRICULTURE OF ANTRIM. 



120.!> 



tended property Is Jn few hands. 



A^culture is in a very backward state in Donegal. The use 

 of the plough is confined to asmall proi>ortion of the cultivated 

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

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

 it is almost all used in distillation ; oats are only grown for 

 home consumption, and wheat is confined to a few favourite 

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

 ture of flax is considerable in the barony oftRaphoe, and is ex- 

 tending even in the mountain districts. Potatoes are cultivated 

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

 most unknown among the tenantry. Village or partnership 

 farms still abound, but farms now begin 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 the mountains. The 

 fences are commonly nothing better than ditchesi, with banks 

 of turf or clay, so that the cattle require.to be herded while 



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

 graze promiscuously as soon as the crops are removed. Sen- 

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

 stone, or limestone gravel. Thepracticeof paring and burning, 

 so common in many parts of Ireland, is seldom sesorted to in 

 this county. Leases are granted for twentj-one years and a 

 life. 



The itaple manufacture of Donegal is linen. Women ara 

 much employed in knitting stockings. Kelj) is prepared alonf; 

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

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

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

 around the coast, is the chirf manufacture. " It is by runnhuf 

 their barley into this beverage that they provide fbr one hialf- 

 year's rent. This is, therefore, a tax raised by the rich on the 

 morals and industry of the poor." 



7892. LONDONDERRY. 510,720 acres, generally mountainous, fertile and beautiful in the valleys, 

 and containing every variety of soil {Sampson's Survey of Londonderry, \S,Q^. Wakefield. Sup. Encye. 

 Brit. Edin. Gaz. 1827.) 



Landed property. 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 afterwards erected 

 Into freeholds, the whole of Londonderry w:as granted by 

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

 estates are, therefore, held from these companies, either in per- 

 petuity, or on determinable leases. The principal proprietors 

 or leaseholders are Ix)rds Waterford and Londonderry, ConoUy, 

 Ogilby, and the families of Beresford and Ponsonby. 



The average lize of farms is from five to twenty Irish acres, 

 or at a medium little more than fifteen acres English. Whole 

 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 most commonly for twenty-one years and 

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

 great drawback upon agriculture. The practice of letting land 

 upon short leases is, however, only recently introduced. 



The pnnapal cropt are potatoes, barley, oats, and flax. 

 Wheat is not in general cultivation. Turnips are very rarp, 

 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. Fiorin 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 are few dairies. 

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

 warrens. 



The principal manufacture is linen ; the value exceeds halt 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. 



7893. 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. {Coote's Survey of Armagh, 1804. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. 

 Gax. 1827.) 



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

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

 which Sleive GuUian is the highest, present many highly 

 sublime and picturesque scenes. 



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

 eight proprietors who possess them of the annual value of from 

 6000?. to 10,000/. The farms also are small, being commonly 

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



Neither tlie 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 Ls, on small farms 

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

 ten acres, perhaps two cows, seldom more. A considerable 

 number of cattle are i eared. From tlie 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. Wild 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 roadt in general are bad ; and, what is extraordinary, 

 the turnpikes are the worst, and the cross roads the best. 



The principal manufacture is that of linen. 



7894 DOWN. 559,99.5 acres, of which one eighth are mountainous and waste, tl)e 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. {Dubourdieu's 

 Survey of Down, 1802. Sup. Encyc. Brit. Edin. Gax. 1827.) 



Landed property. There are some large estates, though in 

 general it is much divided, and has all the different 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 1811. 



Thefarmt may be divided into two kinds : the first, such as 

 are possessed by farmers who have recourse to no other branch 

 of industry ; the 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 every size, 

 from 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 chiefly of 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 twenty \ears. Threshing-mills 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 ; fallows, clovers, and turnips, are pon a very small 

 scale ; 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 fo<ir bushels an Irish acre, and the medium produce 

 is fifty stones. Rye and peas occupy hut a small space. Lime, 

 marl, shelly-sand, and sea weed, are used as manures. Paring 

 and burning are confined to the mountains. 



There are extensive mtadoivt 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 leasts are 

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

 on every farm. They are long-homed, thin in the sides, and deep 

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

 them from CO to as much as I'iO pounds of butter in the year, 

 or about two thirds of the medium produce of the butter 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. They 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 county, covered with heath and odoriferous herbs, are well 

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

 within these twenty years. 



The primipal manufacture is linen, which is carried on in 

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



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

 marine exuvias among the hills at a great distance from the sea. 

 There is also black marble susceptible of a high degree of polishj 

 slate, coal, freestone, and crystals. Natural woods are seen j 2 

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

 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. Fisli abound 

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

 from the bounty of nature in this particular. 



7895. ANTRIM. 622,059 acres; 



on the east and north mountainous, destitute of plantations, and 

 ;l and fruitful, and the climate drier than in some rthT 

 Wakefield. Dubourdieu's Survey qf Antrim, 1312. 5v. 



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

 counties. {Newenham's Statistical Survey. "' ^ '^ t, .i......j....'. c , 



Encyc. Br't.) 



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