farmer ever very anxious to prevent either of these defects, because it is sold by weight. In this, however, as in many other things, he betrays a surprising degree of ignorance, since it is well known that whatever corn gains in this manner by false weight, it loses in quality. But what is still more extraordinary, and exhibits in the strongest point of view the force of habit, the oat-millers assured me, that from ten to fifteen per cwt. of dirt was always mixed with the oats saved for their own consumption, which they would never be induced to take out. Sir Charles Coote says, speaking of a barony in Cavan,* "Here there is no market for grain at all; the corn is brought to market in meal. Oatmeal and potatoes are the only provisions for sale in any of the markets of the country. If oats are wanted for purchase, the farmers houses are the places resorted to." And in another place he observes, that "provisions very seldom appear for sale, as the weavers till just land enough to afford them potatoes, oats, and the flax plot. These articles of food, with butter-milk, are their best fare; the butter and thehog are now sent to market." And this statement will apply to the greater part of the district under consideration. Of late years clover has become a favourite object with all these petty farmers;† but it is never eaten on the field, being always mown and carried to the cow, which in general is kept under a shed. It is suffered for the most part to stand a year or two, and if it were a durable plant it would be permitted to remain much longer. It is considered of too great value to think of breaking up the land where it grows. The horse participates in this delicious fare, and I have often hailed with much satisfaction the sight of the little patch of clover, so useful in every point of view, which I have no doubt yields to the helpless infant many an additional draught of wholesome milk, and prevents the infliction of heavy blows and imprecations, which would otherwise be bestowed upon the weak and half-starved animal. To raise a crop of peas or beans, except in gardens, is scarcely ever attempted, and I am inclined to think that even the cultivation of barley depends on the vicinity of the illicit distilleries. In Cavan the "corn-kiln," so common towards the north-west, is every where seen, and its existence is an indication of the dampness of the climate. Sir Charles Coote says, that these kilns are peculiar to Cavan,§ but in this he is mis * Survey of Cavan, p. 74. + Ibid. p. 240. Sept. 23d, 1808. Dungannon.-Left Moneymore and took the road to Stewarts-Town, through a cultivated corn country, to Coal Island; on quitting Stewarts-Town the country appeared more under grass. The land immediately about the town very valuable; Lord Northland never lets any at less than one guinea or a guinea and a half per acre. The leases are for three lives. Lord Northland spays his ewes. Some limestone in this neighbourhood. Labour thirteen-pence a day in summer. His lordship has observed that the flax-seed around him is equal to the foreign. Sept. 24th. Castle-Blaney.-Land from a guinea and a half to two guineas; leases for two or three lives. The tenures are so small, as seldom to exceed twenty acres. Survey of Cavan, p. 244. taken, as there are many counties in which the oats, unless previously dried, could not be ground into meal. "Peculiar to this county" says he, "is a semicircular thatched hovel, with a hole to admit the fire below, like the eye of a lime-kiln; in the centre are two beams, over which a hurdle is thrown, and above this is placed a straw mat to spread the corn upon, and to which the heat ascends. Two small apertures are made opposite to each other in the sides of the hovel to draw the air; one of these is always closed when fire is applied." AUG. 22d, 1808. CAVAN. FORTLAND.-I saw here 160 persons reaping oats for Mr. Maxwell; they were all his tradesmen, the tenants of his brother or his neighbours; but whether he was indebted for this assistance to popularity, or the anxious desire of these poor people to obtain patronage, by conferring an obligation, I could not readily ascertain. The field was of considerable extent, and had first been laid down with rape-seed; the oats were estimated at this time by Mr. Maxwell to produce twenty-five barrels per acre. Under them I observed a capital plant of grass, arising from a mixture of different kinds of seed; namely, one barrel of rye-grass, twelve pounds of red clover, twelve pounds of white, and the same quantity of trefoil. Rode to this place through a country exceedingly uneven, without the appearance of any thing that could properly be called hills. Lost here the limestone substratum, the greater part of the soil not having much staple, over a brown stone rock. The crops of corn were light and the inclosures small; but very little of the land seemed to be under tillage. The rent full forty shillings per acre. AUG. 24th. CAVAN. FARNHAM.-Flax, meadow, grass, potatoes, and oats, are the principal crops in this neighbourhood, the cultivation of wheat being very limited. In the county of Cavan population and tillage extend to the very tops of the hills. The fields, which are surrounded by fences, or rather embankments, are small. The chief objects of cultivation are potatoes, oats, and flax, but the land appears to be quite exhausted. Each occupier has a cow or two, and a couple of goats tethered. On the outside of Mr. Coote's domain, I was struck by the appearance of a good fallow, and on inquiry found that a Scotch farmer had settled there on 150 acres of poor rocky land, which he hired at the rate of thirty shillings per acre.* This man said, that"in the low parts of his tenure there were forty good acres, which would enable him to pay his rent." The price of corn is subject to great fluctuation; oats are sold by the barrel, which is equal to fourteen stone. Last winter Mr. Sanderson paid eight-pence per stone; in May one shilling and sixpence. He observed that flax was raised by the cotters for the purpose of affording employment to This is not more than seventeen shillings English, per English acre. the women; were a gentleman to introduce it into his course of cultivation he would lose. AUGUST 13th. AKMACH.-Came to-day from the neighbourhood of Louth across the Fews Mountains without seeing either wheat, clover, or barley, throughout the whole course of my journey. Goats seemed to be much more common than cows. AUGUST 19th.-Wheat is threshed here by the women, who, in order to separate the heads, knock the sheaf against a board. This operation is called "lashing.” AUGUST 22d, 1809. ARMAGH.-If oats are short and handsome, the people here say they are "" very snod." To cut oats green is called cutting them glazy." AUGUST 24th. TYRONE. CLOGHER. For twenty years past there have not been five acres of wheat in this whole barony. The poor are unacquainted with the taste of wheaten bread, and live only on oatmeal-cake and potatoes. No meat used but at Easter and Christmas. Worn out corn-land is manured for potatoes; if a farmer possesses any agricultural knowledge, he sows barley; but the common run is flax, next oats, then waste no clover is sown except in gardens, or in very small patches. Within the last fifteen years good land has let at from forty shillings to two guineas. It is poor land which will not bring a guinea and a half. Farms consist of from fifteen to twenty acres. AUGUST 26th. The wheat at this time quite green. On the 27th saw many instances of men watching their cows, which were feeding on the green borders of the small corn-fields. |