IRELAND. 



283 



Io.r>r>:r.j 

 state of 

 fnculture. 



In considering the agriculture of Ireland, it will be 



w~y^ proper to divide it into three p.irts. The arable hus- 

 bandry, the dairy husbandry, and th<- grazing husban- 

 dry. The general character of a!! tiie thru- kinds, par- 

 ticularly of the arable husbandry i- very low. 



That the agriculture of Ireland ha- improved much 

 within these few yr.i </nt from the greater sup- 



plies of com which she has been enabled to export to 

 Great Britain On this point, the Report of the Com- 

 mittee on the Com Trade, which sat in 1813, is de- 

 cidedly satisfactory. This committee put certain que- 

 ries to" the Farming Society of Ireland ; and the follow- 

 ing is their report of the answers to these queries, and 

 of the result of other investigations which they enter- 

 ed into on the same subject. 



The answers of the Farming Society of Ireland, 

 to the queries of the committee, shew, that there has 

 been a very considerable increase of tillage in that 

 country in the course of the last ten yean ; estimated, 

 by many skilful persons, at nearly one-fourth. That 

 the land already in tillage is capable of being rendered 

 much more productive that the same bind in some 

 part', upon which formerly seven barrel) of wheat the 

 acre was considered a good return, now yields, by bet- 

 ter management, (without the loss of two seasons rent 

 and labour under the system of open fallow,) at least 

 ten barrels the acre ; and that there are very consider- 

 able tract* of land now in gras-t fit to be converted into 

 tillage; almost all the meadows and pastures which 

 are dry and free from rock, being capable of producing 

 a crop of lea oat* with one ploughing, and of being 

 made productive afterward*, by rotation crop*, in the 

 usual way. 



The evidence of several persons, well acquainted with 

 Ireland, concurs in proving, that the tillage of Ireland 

 has of late Tear* increased very much, and U capable 

 of being still farther increased. Of the actual i 

 cable increase, it i* bnponiMe to form any correct opi- 

 nion ; but when all the various circumstances are taken 

 into consideration, whicS exist in Ireland favourable 

 to tuch an increase, the production of a much greater 

 quantity of com may be expected, than would be suffi- 

 cient to provide for the average deficiency (calculated 

 upon the inportation for the last ten yean) of the pro- 

 duce of this country to supply its own wants. 



* comparison of the prices of corn in 

 Ireland, coupled with the value of corn exported 

 thence in the but year, aT 2,938, 1 80, affords a striking 

 practical illustration of the foregoing reasoning : 



April 181ft April 1813. 

 The highest price of wheat, ptr barrel ] 



of V) stone, was j 



of barley, per barrel of 16 stone, 44. 

 of oats, per barrel of U stone, 3*4. 23*. 



It is worthy of observation, how much Urger the 

 proportion of corn imported into (i real Britain from 

 Ireland. n to the whole of the corn imported into Great 

 Britain in the but five years, than it was in the prece- 



tsm. 



he last five yean, the value of the whole imported 

 wts i "'9 ; of this was Irish com I 



being something more than one-third of the whole. 



the preceding sixteen yean, the value of the whole 

 apported was jL' .54, 58f>,787 ; of this was Irish corn 

 7; being 616,075 more than one-seventh 

 of the whole." 

 Tillage husbandry forms a small part of the agricul- 



ture of Ireland. In consequence of die village-part- 

 ner^iip system, which prevails in the western counties 

 the small manufacturing farmers in the eastern parts 

 of I'lster the small subdivisions of property through- 

 out the greater part of the southern ..-oast the large 

 tracts of mountains ami the extensive grazing pas- 

 tures and dairy farms in other parts of Ireland, then- 

 is little room for tillage husbandry. This husbandry 

 varies so much in different parts of Ireland, that Mr. 

 Wakefield, in order to give a clear and accurate idea ot" 

 it, divides the whole country into nine districts. 



In the first district he comprehends the flat parts of 

 Antrim, the eastern side of Tyrone, Down, Armagh, 

 Monaghan, and Cavan. In this district the farms are 

 extremely small ; in consequence of which, the land is 

 generally dug with the spade. Potatoes, flax, and oats, 

 ore the crops commmonly cultivated ; and these are 

 grown till the land is exhausted, when it is recruited 

 by the cow, the goats, two or three sheep, and the 

 poultry lying upon it for some years. The ploughs 

 used in tin- ili-trict are of the most rude and imperfect 

 structure, and do their work in the most slovenly man- 

 ner. When a plough is used, three or four neighbours 

 unite their strength, each bringing his horse, or his bul- 

 lock, or his milch cow. Most ploughs are attended by 

 person, whose employment it is to turn back the fur- 

 row, which would otherwise revert to its bed. All 

 the other operations of agriculture are performed in 

 this district in the same rude manner. The little wheat 

 that is raised in it, i* " lashed ;" that is, the grain is 

 knocked out by striking the sheaf across a beam placed 

 above a cloth ; it is, however, afterward* thrashed with 

 a flail. In this district, a* well as in the greater part 

 of Ireland, the corn is thrashed on the highways, and 

 is dressed by letting it fall from a kind of sieve, which, 

 daring a pretty strong wind, is held by a woman as 

 high from the ground as her arms can reach. 



Under the second district, Mr. \Vakcficld comprises 

 the northern part of Antrim, Ixindoiiderry, the north 

 anil west of lyroHe, and the whole of Donegal. Til- 

 lage here is in a much worse state than in the first dis- 

 There is no clover ; and, with the exception ol 

 a little near Derry, no wheat. 



The third district comprehends the northern part of 

 Perm.::. Ji. Mere the farms are much larger than in 

 either of the former di.itricU, the agriculture better, 

 and the crop* more product' ve. Some wheat is grown, 

 but oats are the most prevalent crop. A small portion 

 of the land, however, is only employed in tillage. 



The fourth district comprises Sligo, Mayo, Galway, 

 Clare, and parts of Hoscotnmon, and Longford. In 

 some parts of this district, the spade culture is general- 

 ly pursued ; but in other parts the land is cultivated 

 with the plough, drawn by four bone* a- breast. In 

 RoscommuB, the practice of yoking horses to the plough 

 by the tail U still followed, at least with two-year-old 

 colts in the spring. Oat* are chiefly raised in this dis- 

 trict ; but along the sea-coast of Sligo considerable 

 Quantities of barley are grown. A large portion of this 

 district is let on partnership-leases, according to the 

 village system. 



In the fifth district, which comprehends Limeric, 

 Kerry, the south-west and northern part* of Cork, and 

 part of the county of \Vati -rlbrd, little corn is grown, 

 with the exception of the southern part of Cork. 



In the sixth district, which takes in the remainder 

 of Cork, most of the land is in pasture ; and, where it 

 is in tillage, the spade is.-generally used. 



The seventh district comprehends gome parts of Tip. 



St. 



