Irish Agriculture. 
49 
tried has succeeded better when house-fed and in confinement. 
It would be much wiser to endeavour to improve our agricultural 
system, and thus increase our resources, than to rest satisfied 
with merely what unassisted nature provides, and then waste 
our time in seeking for a breed of cattle that will bear misman- 
agement and starvation best." Since Mr. Barnes wrote his essay 
Shorthorns have found their way into nearly every part of Ireland, 
and altered materially the character of Irish cattle, but to this 
day there are many breeders and rearers of stock which has been 
improved by the introduction of Shorthorn blood, who " rest 
satisfied with merely what unassisted nature provides," and who 
are indifferent to the advantages of "an improved system of 
agriculture," which would, as Mr. Barnes justly remarked, 
"supply a sufficiency of artificial food for all their wants, and 
thus increase our resources." 
There is a point in connection with the Irish grazier's system 
of cattle rearing which, I think, deserves consideration. One 
of the essential qualifications of the Shorthorn breed is " con- 
stitution." That the breed is capable of resisting even an 
inclement climate is a well-known fact, for we find that in the 
Orkney Islands it thrives as well as it does in Yorkshire or in 
Meath. At the same time the Shorthorn is an artificial breed ; 
that is, it has been brought to its present state of excellence 
under conditions very different from those in which cattle exist 
where provision for them, in the shape of food and shelter, is left 
entirely to unassisted nature. How far, therefore, this compara- 
tive neglect may exercise an influence on the health of animals 
possessing much improved blood is a question which has not, 
as yet, received that degree of attention it undoubtedly merits. 
Will exposure to cold and continued rains, and lying for months 
on wet lairs, affect the respiratory organs and lay the foundation 
of what may afterwards become developed into serious maladies? 
What effect will these debilitating influences, combined with 
insufficiency of food, produce on the system generally ? These 
are questions which should be thoroughly sifted, for they are of 
great importance in connection with the production of live stock 
in Ireland. 
The system of rearing stock, as described, has prevailed from 
time immemorial, and no change or improvement has been in- 
troduced of any consequence, unless in the case of cattle and 
sheep which are being fattened on grass. In this instance, the 
practice of giving cake, or other artificial food, to stock, is on 
the increase, more especially in the case of stock whic h had been 
fairly wintered on turnips, but not finished. When these are 
turned out into the pastures I have found them, in several in- 
stances, getting cake, to push on the finish ; or, as Mr. M'Combie 
VOL. VIII. — S. S. E 
