Irish Af/n'cuUure. 
45 
grass. There are many similar instances indifferent parts of the 
country, of large accumulations of land in the hands of one or two 
individuals. 
We have seen that the farmers whose holdings do not exceed 
50 acres in extent are possessed of stock valued at over 17^ millions 
sterling. In the case of the larger class of landholders the value 
of their live stock is verv little over 18 millions sterling, although 
the extent in their possession is more than 8| millions of acres, 
irrespective of bog and waste, against a little over 7 millions 
acres held bv the smaller class of occupants. Hence, it is evident 
that the occupation of large holdings, when such are kept chiefly 
or wholly as grazing land, is not a system calculated to develop 
the food-producing resources of the country ; inasmuch as it pro- 
duces or maintains a smaller proportion of stock than we find 
maintained where cultivation, even although such is in many 
respects defective, is the predominating feature. This is a 
conclusion which many, I am convinced, were not prepared for, 
but it is the only conclusion at which we can arrive after duly 
considering the very carefuUv prepared returns submitted to the 
public by the Irish Registrar-General ; and, I may add, it is a 
conclusion which is borne out by facts. 
The grazing system, as pursued in Ireland with reference to 
the rearing of live stock, may be described as a system which is 
based altogether on unassisted nature. Art has nothing whatever 
to do with it, beyond saving a crop of hay on some piece of old 
pasture which has been specially reserved for " meadowing." 
There are no houses on such farms for sheltering cattle during 
winter, and the only cultivation which is to be seen in many 
grazing districts is to be found in a paddock adjoining a herd's 
house, and that is confined to an acre or two of potatoes and oats 
for the use of the herd's family. Not a turnip is to be seen. 
Here and there patches of rape are grown, chiefly, however, where 
sheep are kept. Where this state of matters exists, the grazings 
are not rough mountain pastures, but fine undulating tracts of 
country, capable of easy cultivation, and when cultivated, or 
where land of a similar kind is cultivated, producing magnificent 
crops of turnips. The manner in which cattle are kept during 
winter has been already hinted at. They run at large over the 
pastures, and it is only during severe weather that they get any 
artificial food, which is simply hay, scattered over the ground. 
In those parts of the country where hedges are abundant and 
well-grown, or where plantations exist, the outlying cattle have 
shelter to some extent, but tliere are many stock-rearing districts 
which do not possess those advantages. The early part of the 
summer grazing is, therefore, spent in recovering the condition 
lost during winter ; and thus the cattle pass through alternating 
