220 



CORK. 



Cork. seldom by oxen, frequently by mules, and generally by 

 ^^Y*** horses, the usual team of which consists of three, four, 

 and sometimes more, yoked abreast. Occasionally a 

 .plough with two horses is to be seen, which requires 

 one man to hold and another to drive. It is a great 

 sign of rudeness in the agriculture of this county, that 

 »io common farmer is provided with a roller or a heavy 

 harrow. This is one reason why their fallows are so 

 imperfectly made. The clods are broken by manual 

 labour : and for this purpose a spade is employed. In- 

 deed the spade culture is in very general use. It com- 

 pensates in some measure for the sparing use of the 

 plough, and may frequently be used with good effect, 

 where the plough could make little or no impression. 

 The preference of the spade, however, is rather the 

 result of habit than the dictate of judgment. Their 

 flail is very inefficient, made of any kind of wood that 

 can be obtained with least trouble, and seldom heavier 

 than a school-boy's whip. Sliding cars are in common 

 use among the poor farmers, though forbidden by act 

 of parliament to be used on the high roads. But the 

 wheeled-car is now introduced into all the better parts 

 of the county, and is said to answer the purpose ex- 

 tremely well. In the mountainous districts, manure is 

 often carried to the fields in panniers. Almost every 

 gentleman, as well as substantial farmer in the county, 

 has regular labourers, whom he pays with what are call- 

 ed conveniences ; these consist in a house, ground for 

 potatoes, grass for sheep and cows, &c. Some of the 

 labourers are paid in money. The potatoes are gene- 

 rally digged and collected by Kerry men, who can earn 

 sometimes by this employment about eight shillings per 

 -week, besides their board, 

 pattle, The breed of cattle in this county is rather of an in- 



»heep, &.c. ferior kind. The fanners, not being able to afford a 

 high price for stock, must be contented to buy it of a 

 small size. In the more hilly grounds, stock of this 

 kind may be considered as most advantageous. Among 

 the mountains towards the south-west of the county, 

 a small breed has been produced, by frequent crossing 

 of the Kerry, or native Irish breed, with the long horn- 

 ed. It has vely nearly the same character and proper- 

 ties as the former; which is accounted the best. Lord 

 Bantry has introduced the Devonshire cattle, which are 

 said to answer exceedingly well, both in milk and flesh. 

 There is a great number of dairies in this county, each 

 having at an average about 30 or 40 cows. The favou- 

 rite breed for milk is the half Holderness breed. The 

 common Irish cow frequently equals them in the quan- 

 tity, and the Devon cow excels both in the quality, of 

 the milk. The city of Cork is the chief market for the 

 butter produced in these dairies. It has been long ce- 

 lebrated for its sweetness. In the mountainous districts, 

 the male native sheep are to be found. These are of a 

 small size, thin in the fore quarters, narrow in the loins, 

 very active, and covered with nearly as much hair as 

 wool. Gentlemen purchase them for their own use. 

 There are almost ho large flocks. Very few are fed on 

 turnips ; some on potatoes ; and a sheep fold is never 

 to be met with. The Leicester breed has been partial- 

 ly introduced. The sheep belonging to the small far- 

 mers are long woolled, and very diminutive in size. 

 Some Merino sheep were disposed of a few years ago at 

 Cork, and bought up for breeding, at high prices. 

 There are considerable numbers of goats, which are 

 kept by all the families that are not able to purchase 

 cows. In some places hogs are kept to a great age, and 

 attain a monstrous size. They are fed and fattened on 

 potatoes only, and are allowed to run about all the while. 



Throughout the neighbourhood of Bantry, Cork, Cove, Cork. 

 and Castlemartyr, they are a long-legged, narrow-back- """ '~Y~ mm ' 

 ed, ill-shaped breed of animals. Turkeys abound in 

 the county; so much so, that an annual fair is held for 

 them. 



The condition of the farmers is not remarkable either Condition 

 for comfort or respectability. None of the farms are °* tlie lar " 

 large. Most of them are extremely small. Such as ex- meri " 

 ceed 30 acres are often held in partnership by two or 

 more families. This species of tenure is promoted by 

 their common law of inheritance, which divides the land 

 of the father among his sons. The practice of letting 

 the farm to the highest bidder, contributes also to de- 

 press the tenant, as well as to sour his temper. Little 

 or nothing is done to stimulate his exertions and to bet- 

 ter his situation, by those who are botli able and bound 

 to do it ; though to this general statement there are se- 

 veral honourable exceptions in the case of resident pro- 

 prietors, whose conduct to their tenants is equally just 

 and liberal. The cotter tenant, according to the ac- 

 count given by Mr Wakefield, is in a very miserable 

 plight. He has a cabin and a small patch of potatoe 

 land at a low l-ent. He also agrees for the keep of a 

 collop (10 sheep), or half a collop, at a rent still lower. 

 At the same time he works for his landlord at 5 d. per 

 day ; but when he comes to settle, he receives no- 

 thing, as the food of his sheep is set off against his 

 charges for laboxn-. In this way he toils without end, 

 while his family eats up the produce of his spot of 

 ground. The lower Irish call this " working for a dead 

 horse," or getting into debt. All the houses of the far- 

 mers and tenants, with a very few exceptions, are 

 wretched. Their mode of living is coarse ; their man- 

 ners are barbarous ; and on the whole exhibit nothing 

 on which the patriot's eye can rest with satisfaction. 



The rental of this county has been variously estimated Rental, 

 by different individuals. Mr Townsend takes it at 20s. estates, &£. 

 per Irish acre, Mr Newenham about 30s. and Mr Wake- 

 field takes the medium, viz. 25s. From the large propor- 

 tion of hilly and unproductive land which the county 

 contains, Mr Townsend' s valuation is pei-hajjs the most 

 accurate. At that rate, the whole rental will amount 

 to a little more than a million. According to Mr Young, 

 the average rent of an acre in 1777 was 5s. 2d. making 

 the gross rental of the county at that period about 

 L. 250,000. Mr Wakefield has given in his late work 

 on Ireland the annual revenues of some of the leading 

 proprietors of Cork, which it may be interesting to the 

 reader to state. Lord Bandon has L. 30,000 ; Lord 

 Shannon, Lord Cork, and the Duke of Devonshire, 

 above L. 20,000 each ; the heirs of Smith Barry, and 

 Lord Longueville, L. 20,000 each ; Sir John Keane, and 

 LordEgmont, L. 14,000 each; Mr Freeman, L. 15,000; 

 Lord Ponsonby, Mr Newenham of Coolmore, Mr Ander- 

 son, and Lord Riversdale, L. 1 0,000 each ; Mr Jephson 

 L. 12,000; Lord Middleton, Mr Hyde, and Colonel Fitz- 

 gerald, L. 8000 each ; Lord Arden, and the Marquis of 

 Thomond, L. 6000 each. Lord Carbery has 32 miles 

 of sea-coast, and Lord Kenmore has 20,000 acres. 



This county abounds in rivers. The three great ri- Rivers, 

 vers are the Lee, the Blackwater, and the Bandon. 

 The Lee rises out of a lake in the west of Muskerry, 

 called Gougane-Barra ; after a course of about 26 Irish 

 miles, it divides itself into two branches a little above 

 Cork, and uniting again below the city, falls into the 

 sea ten miles farther down, after affording upon its 

 banks the finest scenery that can be conceived. The 

 Blackwater rises in the mountains between Limerick 

 and Kerry, runs eastward through the county till it en- 



