20 
Irish Agriculture. 
sents the loss of the winter keep of 577,370 head of cattle, as 
compared with the annual production of root-food during the 
years 1851 to 1855 inclusive; being equivalent to the loss of 
the winter food, or at least a considerable proportion of it — 
of one-seventh of the total number of cattle in Ireland at the 
present time. This deficiency is partly due to the fact that 
the extent under turnips and mangels has been less during the last 
five years than it was during the first five vears given in the fore- 
going Tables ; but it is also due to the decrease in the average 
produce per acre, which the returns show has taken place of late 
years ; amounting, in the case of both turnips and mangels, to 
five tons per acre. How far this may be accounted for, by the use 
of inferior artificial manures, is not easily proved ; but it is a 
fact, that certain manures, originally of a high character, fre- 
quently become much altered after leaving the wholesale agent, 
before the retail dealer gives them out to his customers. There 
is also good reason to believe that, notwithstanding the vigilance 
of some of the Irish agricultural societies, such as the Chemico- 
Agricultural Society of Ulster, the County Kildare Society, and 
the Queen's County Society, there is a strong trade in spurious 
manures carried on. Those so-called manures are imported 
from England, and consist largely of clay and ochre. It is the 
small farmers who chiefly suffer by this nefarious trade, as those 
who purchase largely take care to protect themselves, either 
by having the manures analvsed, or by purchasing only from 
manufacturers, or wholesale agents whose characters are above 
suspicion. The only way in which the small farmers can 
be protected, under present circumstances, is for each local 
farming society to watch the sale of manures in its particular 
district, and to have samples of all doubtful manures submitted 
for examination by a competent analytical chemist. It is to be 
hoped, however, that Parliament will ultimately provide some 
means for preventing the manufacture and sale of adulterated 
manures, and of punishing those who may be engaged in the 
trade. 
The following Tables (IV. and V.) show the manner in vwhich 
the country was divided into holdings in 1860, also the area 
under crops, grazing-land, fallow, plantations, bog and waste, 
unoccupied, in the several classes. 
These Tables throw much light on the agricultural condition 
of Ireland. The cultivation of crops occupies, as will be seen, 
a much larger per-centage of tlie acreage held bv the small 
class of farmers, whilst large landholders devote more to 
grazing. 
The no.xt point is the enumeration of the different classes of 
