48 
Relative Profits to the Farmer from 
where the pasture, although of a strong and fattening nature, is liable to pro- 
duce the rot or bane in sheep. 
I am not acquainted with any circumstances which would make the breed- 
ing of horses more profitable than breeding sheep or cattle. As agricultural 
horses are now selling, I believe if one had the right sort of mares nothing 
would pay better than breeding one or two colts to a 100 acres or so, as these 
could be kept with little extra trouble ; but the less one has to do with hacks 
and hunters the better. In the former case a fair ordinary colt rising three 
years old is worth 40?. In the latter you cannot sell at this age, nor until 
they arrive at five or six years old, and then what with blemishes, accidents, 
want of style or beauty, bad colour, and cost of breaking, the price which 
one gets is an unremunerative one. 
Upon an ordinary farm it is advisable to have a fair quantity of both sheep 
and cattle ; sufficient sheep to eat tlie turnips, &c., and sufficient cattle to 
consume the hay and straw ; but should it be necessary to keep less of either, 
the cattle should give way to the sheep, as the latter give a quicker return, 
and are better manure-makers than the fonner. Upon high and thin land 
sheep are of the first consideration. 
I know of instances where farmers have given up the breeding of hack 
horses, of which they bred four or five a year, and replacing them with 
sheep and cattle, on the grounds of profit. I am not acquainted with any 
farmer, nor have I heard of one, who has given up sheep or cattle and turned 
to horse-breeding. I do not know of a man who has changed from sheep to 
bullocks, or vice versa. The sort of agricultural horse best suited to this part 
of the country is one which stands about 16 hands high on clean, short, flat- 
boned legs ; which has a light head, good shoulders, and short back. 
As to cattle, nothing beats or even approaches the well-bred Devon in this 
district. They thrive well on higli or low lands ; and on high, poor land, 
especially, they distance all competitors. I have known of several instances 
where the Shorthorns, and the cross between them and the Devons, have 
been tried, but in almost every case they have again given place to the 
Devons. 
The sheep kept in this neighbourhood are principally Devon Long-wools, 
and some of the best and most hardy flocks here have been produced by a 
cross with pure-bred Cotswold rams. These sheep thrive w^ell over great 
variations in soil and climate ; feed well on turnips, and with little or no com 
or artificial food; they are fat in April, when they are about fourteen months 
old, the carcase weighing from 70 to 90 lbs., and the fleece averaging 8 or 
9 lbs. each, 
Geo. Babbage. 
34. Carrigeen, Ceoom, Limerick. 
It is very doubtful, as at present circumstanced, whether farmers could 
breed more .«tock or not. Of course more nught be done if the farms were 
put into a higher state of cultivation, and fitted w'lih better homestead 
accommodation, &c., &c. 
On farms that can be worked under a mixed system (tl)at is, that breed and 
finish their own stock), I think more advantage than is might be taken of 
the relative prices of corn and meat, with profit to the farmer and a con- 
siderable increase in the amount of meat jiroduced. 
In this country, on all good grass lands cattle and sheep pay better than 
horse breeding. On farms where a regular working staff" is kept, it is generally 
found cheaper to buy than to breed. If mares are ko])t specially for breeding, 
and not worked, they are a very heavy item, and a foal dropped under such cir- 
