The Sun.
London, England, 1826-08-08 00:00:00

COUNTY OF LIMERICK.

This county is spread along the Shannon, opposite to
It is one of the largest counties in Ireland, and is, perhaps, one
of the most' fertile. There is one district, called the Golden
Vein, which is not exceeded in richness by any land in the ern-
pire. The farmers tell you it is inexhaustible. Parts of this
county are employed in grating cattle on the same trtem as that
of Clare ; the remainder is devoted to tillage and dairy. The
mode of farming is this :—You take one or two crops of potatoes,
then a crop of flax, and lastly, four or five successive -crops of
oats, or a crap of pot4bies7-then a crop of wheat,' barley, and
o,its, in succession; after which,if you choose to lay down the
ground, it will get into heart in ten years without any artificial
means. The wheat is, perhaps, the hest in Ireland—indeed, the
barley and oats bear also a high character, and fetch the top price
of Irish grain at Liverpool market, to which it is all exported.--
The present present average rents are from 21. Lis. to 01. an erre. Many
farms let now at these rates brought Si. and Id. 10‘. during the
war. The dairy business is conducted on a very large scale, and
with more arrangement than in Clare. A speculator buys 100
or 200 cows, which be feeds on ground paying from Ms. to 425.
per acre. Instead of employing dairy people himself, he lets the
cows out in lots of SO or 40 each, to men who undertake .to pay I
him one cwt. 'of butter, and from V. 10s. to 5/. in money for
each cow. The butter is made of the cream Skimmed from the-'
milk, and there is only ow person who has courage to follow the
improved and modern method of churning the whole as drawn
from the cow, after an interval of 12 hours. Within twelve
miles of Limerick, at a place called Ilerbertatown, there is a difs
trict peculiarly suited to the cultivation of flax. The people are
all employed in this trade, and with so much advantage to.them-
selves, that a friend informs me, in the scarcity. of gold, some
years ago, he picked up 2,000 guineas in the village of Herberts-
town alone. ~

great deal of the county of Limerick is the property of ab-
sentees, the principal of whom are the Earl of Limerick, Lord
Courtenay, of infamous character, Lori Mount Earl, Count de
Selig, and the Earl of Egremotit. Let Mae Culloch lecture as he
pleases, facts will brat him for ever—the degraded state of the
peasantry of this rich county is in the teeth of his theory. Agents
under agents, and tithe proctors, grind them as they please ; and
the certain result is, that there is more burning, slaughter, and
assassination, in the county Limerick, than in any other part of
Munster.

The city of Limerick, sixty miles from the sea, on the river
Shannon, is situate at the junction of tike comities of Clare, Lime-
rick, and Tipperary, and is admirably adapted to receive the pro-
duce of all. During the war it was a place of considerable trade,
and largely employed in the preparation of provisions for the navy,
though never so extensively as Cork. At present its trade con-
filets in the exportation of corn to Liverpool and Scotland, and of
bacon and butter to London.

A new bridge is in progress over the Shannon to Clare ; when
completed, it will add much to the beauty of the city, and the Ma..
tive situation of both.

The new town of Limerick is as handsomely built as Glou-
cester-place, or Baker-street. Houses let from seventy to eighty
guineas a year ; those during the war let at one hundred and
thirty guineas. •

Living k Antos moderate, aud-shs qnalisy-of provision excel.
lent. Beef and mutton at preaent are sd. a lb. ; 10.04 la.M. a
couple • fresh butter la. a lb. ; whisky fie. 3d. a galhm. The
price of labour in the town of Limerick is Is. a day, in the
country 10(1.
The crops in Limerick have antlered ntueh hire She vontiotiejt
drought this year. Wheat has not rt:LiriVed so midi injury air
barley and Oats, and it may realise an average crop. though of an
inferior quality. Oats will be deficient at least one half, and as to
barley, tame fialrbthave not until the last fortnight received a drop
of rain since they were tilled.