340 Mode of harvesting Corn in Ireland. 



as the cabins were which we had recently seen, 

 those which we now passed had a still meaner 

 appearance, differing in their construction by 

 having hipped roofs ; the consequence of some 

 difficulty, I presume, attendant on raising the 

 gable ends. 



As soon as the crops of corn, which are prin- 

 cipally oats, are cut and sheaved, they are im- 

 mediately put together in pikes, the buts of 

 the sheaves being placed on the outside for the 

 purpose of withering and drying the grass with 

 which they abound. The labor in bearing the 

 sheaves to these pikes must be considerable; 

 but the practice in so wet a climate is indispen- 

 sable, as it effectually secures the grain from 

 injury. This mode is not confined to Ireland, 

 for it is the prevailing custom in South Wales ; 

 it is however consequent also on the humidity of 

 that country, and is of itself a sufficient and 

 satisfactory reason for keeping the land in pas- 

 ture. We saw more wheat within a circuit of 

 ten miles round Belleek, than we had observed 

 in a preceding one of a hundred. At Shrale, 

 seven miles on our way hither, are the ruins of 

 a castle and abbey. 



From Ballinrobe to Galway is twenty-five 

 miles; the places for refreshing horses are very 



