The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-02-05
OBSERVATIONS OK IRELAND.
Rev. r. Latham, in Yorkville Enquirer.

Rev. r. Latham, in Yorxville Enquirer.
The question is often asked, GLOW dc
the Irish live?" This is not an idle ques
tion, but it is naturally suggested by all
the circumstances in the case. The whole
island contains only 20,Sl5.460 acres and
nearly one.seventh part of this area is
covered with bogs. In addition to this
large amount of the surface of the coun.
try is mountainous on the borders, and
rendered unfit for cultivation. 1t may
be safely said that the cutivabe surface
of Ireland does not exceed 100000
acres, The population of Ireland, accord
ing to the census of 1881, is 5,74G.2l4.
Divide the whole number of acres in the
island by the whole number of the popu.
latinn and we get fraction mare than
two and six tenth acres to each inhabi.
tant. Perhaps Ireland has an inhabitant
for every two acres of tilable sol on the
island. The question, "How do the
Irish live?" is, it will be seen from this,
a proper one. AT one time, the pcpula
ton of Ireland was nearly twice AZ large
as it is to-day, and the area of
cultivable land much less. The area OF
cultirable land in the State of South
Carolina is as great, if not greater, than
that Of Ireland, while the population is
only about one sixth as large
At present, the Irish are largely
engaged in stock raising. Of the whole
island, only about five millions of acres
are planted in crops, while ten millions
of acres are devuted to pasturage. The
farms in Ireland are small-very small
when compared with farms in our coun.
try. They vary from less than an acre 10
more than five hundred acres. Of the
latter class, there are only, about fifteen
hundred on the island. The greatest
number of farms contain more than thirty
acres aud less than fifty. The number
of very small farms-those containing
less than five acres-is gradually decreas
ing. In lS4l more than one half of Ire.
land was embraced in, as they say, hold
ings, varying in size from less than one
acre to five acres. Those small farms or
holdings were ruined ty the potato
blight Of 1S47. 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.
hahitans.
The tendency, for perhaps half GEN.
tury, has 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.
wurtze. Since 1S47 there has been an
annual falling off in the cultivatian OF
wheat. This is true with regard to the
cereals, but of none is it so remarkable
as of wheat. In 1880 Ireland produced
only about four million bushels of wheat,
or less than one bushel to each inhabi
tant. Flour and wheat are shipped from
various parts of the world, and so cheap
is the freight that -four sells for less in
Ireland than it does in our Southern
markets. Wheat is taken across the At.
iantic ON the ocean steamers for the nom.
nal sum of thirty six cents per ton Of
twenty-five hundred and forty pounds.
l'he result is that comparatively little
wheat is produced in Ireland.
The year 1917 seems to have been a
kind of revolutionary period in th- agri
cultural history of Ireland. In that year
more than seven hundred thousand acres
we're sown in wheat; at present there
are less than one hundred and fifty thou.
sand. The falling off in oats has been
about one. half, decrease in barley has
been very little, while rye has faIler off
about one third. Bere, which, so far as
could discover, differs nothing fIom
barley, and from all that | could learn
differs only from barley in that it has six
rows in the head or ear, is at present
cultivated only to limited extent. II @
cultivation Of beans has increased. In
appearance the beans of Ireland are very
unlike those in our country. / was told
that they will not grow in any part OF the
United States. In some parts OF Canada
they do we'll. The Irish bean grows on
II stalk which attains about three feet
in height. The pods which contains the
teans are short and larger than any that
grow in our country. Think that beans
are largely cultivated by the poorer
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
fax is more largely cultivated than in
any other part of the island. In fact
nearly all the fax produced in Ireland is
produced in Ulster province. In 1880
there were in all Ireland less than one
hundred and fifty eight thousand acres
cultivated in fax, and nearly one hun
''red and 6ily.three thousand were in
Ulster.
Turnips and potatoes are largely cult
waited in every section of Ireland. In our
Southern country turnips are usually
sown during the month of August. In
Ireland they are sown in the month OF
May. Generally, they are planted in
rows and carefully worked rarely are
they sown broadcast. as we do. The
heat of the sun is not sufficient to kill the
young plants, ms itwould do in our South
ern country.
In Ireland very little attention is paid
to vegetable gardens. Cabbage is planted
everywhere all over the putato fields.
The edges of the pntato beds are planted
in cabbage, and wherever there is Il miss
in the bed Il cabbage is planted. 1t is
eaten by the people AS we eat it, and is
fed to the stock in winter. In appear.
III frts, \, Ia
bage differs very much from that grown
in our country. 1t is not so large, does
not 'head up" as we say, and in taste it
is milder. In fact, could scarcely tell,
from the taste Of it, that it WAS cabbage.
This may be accounted for, in part at
least, from the fact that the cooking OF
cabbage in Ireland is very different from
what it is in our Southern country. We
boil cabbage with fat bacon-the tatter
a., -: l. l>,,st