The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-02-05
OBSERVATIONS on IRELAND,
Rev. II. Latham. In yorhville Enquirer.

'"' wv ~ ~ "h'uId''y suggested Dy ali
the circumstances in the case The whole
Island contains only 20,Sl5. 400 acres and
nearly one.seventh part of this area is
covered with bogs. In addition Ia this
a large amount of tn surface oc the coun.
try Is Mountainous ar the 5nrlers, and
rendered unfit for cuilivaiinn. Ii NAV
be safely said that the cultivablr surface
"f Ireland cres not exceed $4,000, 600
acres The population "f Ireland. accord
ing To the census of 1881. is 5,7462l4
DIVIDE the whole number of acre, in the
Island by the whole number uf the pnru
lati"n and we get a fraction mare than
tw" and six tenth acres To each iuhabi
tant. Perhaps Ireland has an inhabitart
Tor every two acres of tillahle soil on the
island. The question. "How do the
Irish live? ?" IL, it will he seen c..m this,
y proper one. ~ r1c lime, the popula
tlun q; Ireland was nearly twice IA large
Rs 1t is to-day. and the area of
cultivahle land much less. The area Of
cultivable land in the State of South
Carolina is a. great, il no; greater, than
that OF Ireland, while the population is
only about one sixth ~ large.
at present, the irish are largely
engaged in stock raising. OF the whole
island, only about five millions of acres
arc planted ! u cops. while ten millinns
of acres are devut. d to paslurngc. The
farms IN Ireland are smalI--very small
when compared with farms in our cnun
try. They vary from less than an acre TO
more than five hundred acres. or the
latter Class, there are only. abnut fifteen
hundred on the island. The greatest
number of farms coutnin more than thirty
acres and less than fifty. The number
of very small fnrms-lhose containing
less than five ncres-.is gradually decreas
ing. In 1871 more than one half of Ire.
land was embraced in, as they say, hold
tngs, varying in size from less than one
acre To five acres. Those small farms or
holdings were ruined ly the potato
blight of lSi7. The tenants were unable
TO pay the rents, and all that could. left
the country. The houses in which they
lived are still standing, but without in.
hnhitanis.
The tendency, for perhaps half cen.
Jury, mas been To increase the size of the
farms or holdings as the population de.
creases.
The agricultural products of Ireland
are wheat, oats, barley, rye, bere, beans,
pease, potatoes. turnips, flax and mangel.
wurtzel. Since lS47 there has been an
"nnual FILLING off i'll the cultivn,ian oi
wheat. This il true with regard To the
cereals, but of none is it 80 remarkable
IN of wheat. In 1880 Ireland produced
only about four million bushels of wheat.
or less than one bnShei to each inhabi
tant. Flour and wheat are shipped from
various parts of the world, and no cheap
is the freight that flour sells for less l.,
Irll md h,, -,
markets. Wheat is taken across the Al.
'hnt'c on The ocean steamers for the nomi.
nal cum Of thirty six cenls per ton nf
twenty ytwo hundred and furly pound.
Tie result is that comparatively little
wheat is produced in Ireland.
The year lS47 seems to have been n
cultural history Of Ireland In that year
were s0wn in wheat; ut prrscnt there
are less than one hundred aud fifty thou
land. The falling off in oats hus been
about one. half, decrease in barley has
been very little, while rye has fallen off
about one third. Bere, which, so fur as
could discover, differs nothing fiom
barley, and from nlI that I could leurn
differs only from barley in that it has six
c"ws in the head or ear, is mt present
cultivated only to Il limited extent. II @
cultivation Of beans has increased. In
appearance the beans of Ireland are very
unlike those in our country. I was told
that they will not grow in any part of the
United Suites. In some paris of Canada
they do we'll. The Irish bean grows an
II stalk which attains ahnut three feet
in height. The pods which contains the
heans are short and lurger than any that
grow i'll our country. think that beans
are largely cultivated by the pnnrer
classes of the people. The beans are
white, at least what saw were white.
and was told that they are very strong
food. Horses are fed upon them during
the winter season. In Ulster province
aax is more largely cultivated than in
any other part of the island. In fact
nearly all the flax produced in Ireland ia
produced in Ulster province. In 1880
there were in all Irelcnd less than one
hundred and iiny sight thousand acres
cultivated in flax, and nearly one hun.
tired and iltythree thousand were in
Ulster.
Tnrnips and potatoes are largely cult.
waited in every section of Ireland. In our
Southern country turnips are usually
mwn during the month of August. In
Ireland they are sown in the month of
MAY. Generally, they are planted iu
rows and carefully worked; rarely are
they ROwn braadcast. AZ we do. The
heat of the sun is not sufficient to kill the
young plants, AS twonid do in our South.
srn country.
In Ireland very little attention is paid
to vegetable Eardens. Cabbage is planted
everywhere all oSc. the potato fields.
the edges of the potato beds are planted
in cabbage, and wherever there is miss
10 tho bed cabbage is planted. It Is
eaten by the people az we eat i, and ;s
fed to the stock in winter. In appear
ance, in taste, and in nature; Irish cab.
bage differs very much from that grown
in our country. It is not 80 large, dnes
not head up" az ws say, and in taste it
is milder. In fact, cnuld scarcely tell,
from the taste of it. that II was cabbage.
This may be accounted for, iD part Mt
least, from the fact that the cOoking of
cabbage in Ireland is very different from
what 1t is In our Southern country. We
boil cabbage with fat bacon-the fatter
the better, we think. The Irish buil II
with beef I confess did not relish It,.
The greatest difference that I observed
between cabbage in Ireland and cabbage
in America. is that in Ireland it takes
part of two years TO make cabbage. The
plants are 'set o,t," as we say. In the
Spring of one yefr, aud the cabbage are
ready for use drring the Summer of the
next year. I.rge quantities of hay are
prhucad IT, ireland. The greatest diff
Guilty the farmers have tn contend with
in raising hay is the want nf sunshine to
cure it, In addition fn t!,is IL rains n