266 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Eight miles from Holkham, we called on Mr. Blythe, 
at Sussex Farm, named after himself by the Duke of Sus¬ 
sex, as a token of his approbation. Heavy rain prevent¬ 
ed us from visiting many fields here, but we were de¬ 
lighted by what we saw, as well as by the frank, courteous 
demeanor and practical wisdom of Mr. Blythe. 
He has about 700 acres, chiefly a light shallow soil, 
resting on the chalk. His wheat crop is from 24 to 38 
bushels per acre, about the average that we found 
throughout the country, on the best farms. He top dres¬ 
ses his wheat with nitrate of soda. Bones also he uses 
very largely, and now dissolves them all by sulphuric 
acid ; indeed, we met with evidence as to the good effects 
of this mixture on all sides. Twelve lbs. of acid per 
bushel seems a good quantity to apply; but it must in all 
cases be previously diluted with once or twice its bulk of 
water. An excellent way of applying it, is to place 
the bones in a conical heap on a bed of ashes, and slowly 
pour on the diluted acid. They will absorb nearly the 
whole; the outside bones should then be turned inside, 
and the whole will in a short time become soft and fit 
to mix with ashes for drilling or sowing. 
We Avere compelled to hurry away from Mr. Blythe, 
in order to accomplish a visit to Mr. Overman, at Weasen- 
ham, distant about 12 miles. Here we found another 
excellent practical man. He has a fine dairy of about 
30 pure Ayrshires, for the butter of which he realizes 
from £200 to £250 per annum, or from $950 to $1200. His 
old grass lands were the best we had seen, and were not 
managed on the impoverishing system too common in 
Norfolk, of grazing by day, and folding at night on the 
fallow fields. He also clays his light land heavily, and 
vrhat is unusual in that quarter, uses the subsoil plow. 
It was so nearly dark when we left him that we saw but 
little of the country between his place and Lynn, where 
we the-night, John P. Norton. 
NOTES OF TRAVEL IN IRELAND.—RURAL AND 
AGRICULTURAL—No. I. 
Dublin, February, 1845. 
My ’Dear Friend—I risk nothing when I say that the 
notes of my sojourn in his island, that gave birth to my 
excellent and revered parents, and that has almost 
claimed me too as a native, will not only interest you 
deeply, but assist and instruct you in your present pur¬ 
suits as a farmer. 
First impressions they say are very lasting; if my first 
impressions are to continue, and there is any truth 
m the saying of <{ laugh amt grow fat, ; > you may expect 
to see my dimensions considerably increased by the time 
l return, for my sides ache with continued laughter 
since my landing. Porters, jaunting-car boys, waiters, 
and even the beggars, are constantly cracking their jokes 
at either your expense or their own. There is a natural 
wit and drollery about them, that is constantly oozing 
out at some point or other. I shall not attempt to de¬ 
scribe to you the beauty of this city, or of its indescri¬ 
bably beautiful bay and surrounding scenery, but refer 
you to the various published accounts of them, which 
vou may read with as excited an imagination of their 
beauties as you please, without the least fear of exagge¬ 
rating the reality; words cannot, canvass alone may, 
convey some idea of the magnificence of the bay of Dub¬ 
lin and the surrounding country, gently rising in terraces 
from the shore to the Wicklow hills and mountains in 
the back ground, and thickly studded with the villas and 
country residences of the Dublin merchants and gentry. 
Having often heard my father speak of Billy Murphy, 
the cattle salesmaster of Smithfield, I was anxious to see 
his old stand, (the space occupied by the stock sold by 
any particular salesman, is called his stand,) and the 
market, if not the man himself. On going to bed I or¬ 
dered the porter to call me at half-past 6, A. M., and to 
have a jaunting-car at the door at 7 precisely, which was 
obeyed to the moment; and off I set on this most extra¬ 
ordinary but convenient and agreeable conveyance, (that 
I shall take another opportunity to describe,) back to 
back with my driver, who quickly discovered I was a 
stranger, and who with the inquisitiveness of a yankee. 
but with great and deferential politeness, soon pumped 
out of me the country from whence I came; it would be 
difficult to describe to you the pleasure he evinced on 
finding I was from America; the numerous questions he 
successively put to me about certain places where rela¬ 
tives and friends of his own were settled, and the earnest¬ 
ness with which he respectfully insisted on waiting on 
me with his vehicle during my stay in the city, which I 
consented to, and certainly I was afterwards not sorry for 
it, for he proved to be a most intelligent fellow, inti¬ 
mately acquainted with every locality in and around the 
city, as well as with the persons and character of every 
man of any note whatever, which he took great pains in 
pointing out to me as we went along, and much pleasure 
in always accompanying his remarks with some detail of 
the history of the man, either good or bad, as his acts 
might have deserved through life. He was of great ser¬ 
vice to me, for I gained more information through him 
in one week, of persons, places, and things generally, than 
I could have done in two months, without his invaluable 
aid. Neither was this an isolated instance of the integ¬ 
rity and intelligence to be met with amongst this class of 
men. I was told, and believe it, that as a body, they are 
strictly honest, truly intelligent, full of fun and good hu¬ 
mor, and temperate to a man. Arrived at Queen-street, 
which is nearly at the western extremity of the city, I 
soon discovered I was at the market, and alighted from 
my jaunting-car. The sight that here presented itself, 
truly astonished me. At this end, extending the length 
of two of our squares, is the pig market, (you hardly 
can hear the word hog used here,) all put into pens in 
separate lots, which pens are movable, and laid by when 
market is over, leaving the street quite unimpeded after. 
A fairer specimen of fat hogs I never saw; even in 
size, not averaging over 200 lbs., in shape equal to the 
best Berkshires, all milk white, with blooming red skins, 
it is remarkable that out of several thousands there were 
not certainly 10 black hogs in the pens. Strange as it 
may seem to you, I find that they are here only in the 
commencement of their pork-packing, the first of the 
season commencing with the New-Year. All these hogs 
are brought up to market by jobbers or dealers, who 
make a business of buying them up in the country mar¬ 
kets, in ones and twos, from the persons who fatten and 
raise them, for I am given to understand, that it would 
be difficult to find more than two or at most three hogs 
fattened by any one person, and all fed exclusively on 
cooked potatoes, the refuse of the poor man’s table, from 
the time they are pigged. When you recollect that 
Ireland supplies England and her navy with all her salt¬ 
ed provisions, besides fully one half, I am told, of her 
fresh meat, the fact here stated, of how these hogs are 
supplied, will give you some faint idea of the extent and 
importance of the potatoe crop in this country, as well 
as the immense number of humbler cottagers and house¬ 
holders. When we recollect too, the quality and char¬ 
acter of Irish lard and pork in every part of the world 
that it has ever reached, what becomes of the theory and 
assertions of all those who have so boldly stated that 
potatoes possess no fattening qualities, and that good 
meat could never be made from them? Passing through 
the pig market, you get into a street fully five squares 
long, and about 3Q0 feet wide; the center of which, say 
100 feet wide the whole way through, is occupied by 
sheep, which from their likeness to each other, you 
would suppose belonged to one man, all without excep¬ 
tion, of the long wooled Leicester or Bake well breed, 
weighing I was told on an average, (the wethers) from 
30 to 35 lbs. a quarter, nett. Each lot was neatly and 
clearly branded with the initials of the owner, and the 
ewes marked with a small star or dot of tar over the 
tails, so that the butchers could at once distinguish them 
as they passed along,; I find that wether mutton is fully 
one penny or two cents per pound greater value than ewe 
mutton, and that the latter is generally withheld alto¬ 
gether from market during the two fall months, October 
and November, it being the rutting season. The sexes 
even belonging to the same man are in separate pens. 1 
can hardly estimate the number in market, but from 
5,000 to 8,000 at least. On either side of the sheep pens, 
were thickly ranged the cattle, right over the side walks 
