ARMAGH. 163 



Their food principally potatoes arid oatmeal, 

 very little meat ; the better fort, however, buy 

 fome beef for winter, but it is not common. 

 Many of them live very poorly, fometimes 

 having for 3 months only potatoes and fait 

 and water. There are few labouring poor 

 unconnected with the manufacture, but when 

 it is not in a very flourifhing ftate, they live 

 better than thofe employed by linen. No flax 

 farmers j fcarce any but what is raifed in 

 patches by the cotters. Upon light or moun- 

 tain lands they prefer the American flax- feed. 

 Upon heavy or clay lands they fow Riga 

 Dutch, or Flanders feed; the quantity they 

 get is more and better in quality than from the 

 American, and will laft 20 years. For fine 

 linens they never fave feed, pulling it green : 

 but for coarfe linens they fave as much as 

 they can. 



I was informed that the produce of the flax 

 depended on the oilinefs of it, and that the 

 goodnefs of the linen on not being too much 

 bleached, which is only an exhalation of the 

 oil. If fo, it fhould appear that perfecting 

 the feed muft injure both linen and flax : but 

 Hill the contrary is the opinion here. The 

 quantity of feed from 21 to 3 bufhels per acre : 

 or 4 bufhels of their own, from the idea that 

 it is not fo well faved. 



They plough their potatoe-land or barley- 



ftubble once the end of March or April, and 



fow it. But it is found by feveral that the 



M 2 beft 



