Irish Agricultural Horses. 



247 



in imports was 1,920,000 lbs., and the home consumption was 

 about normal, so that the increase in production over 

 1895 amounted to 1,600,000 lbs. This is said to be due to the 

 fact that farmers are taking up dairying instead of fattening, 

 as in the latter case they still find great difficulty in obtaining 

 a suitable and profitable market for fat beasts. 



From the evidence put before the Commission on Horse 



Breeding in Ireland it appears that the 



Irish pure-bred Clydesdale or Shire horse, so 



Agricultural , ;. ■ : _ , , . , , , . 



Horses. general in England, is very little bred in 



Ireland except in the neighbourhood of a 

 few of the big towns, and it is to its absence and the use of 

 lighter horses on the small farms of the country that the 

 better breeding of Irish horses is in a great degree attributed. 

 Cart-horses and half-bred cart-horses are largely bred from, 

 and this is said to be due to the fact that these low class 

 stallions usually stand at very low fees, and are consequently 

 much more patronised than horses at higher fees, and that 

 their foals, looking large and strong, are easily sold to 

 small dealers in country fairs. According to the Registrar- 

 General's returns large numbers of horses in Ireland appear 

 to be used for agricultural purposes, in Ulster 88 per cent, 

 being returned under that head, in Leinster 74, in Munster 

 85, and in Connaught 89 per cent. 



Ten years ago there were two Raiffeisen credit banks in 

 Austria ; in 1896 the number of these 

 La itost^a Shl c °-°P erative institutions in the several 

 Austrian provinces was 1,018, with a 

 membership of nearly 60,000. The loans advanced by the 

 banks amounted in 1896 to ,£625,000 and their assets to 

 1 50,000. 



