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MON
sour, and moory, particularly near the foot of Slieve-
beagh; yet even in this district are some exceptions, for
amid the very poorest tracts several gentle elevations of
limestone are found, and in the valleys are extensive
deposits of marl; this moory soil is everywhere reclaim-
able, though the subsoil is stiff, and the shallow and
mossy loam on its surface imbibes the moisture like a
sponge, so that after a fall of rain it is nearly impassable
for cattle, and a few dry days harden the surface so as
to render it nearly impenetrable to a plough; this cha-
racter pervades the greater portion of the barony of
Trough. The central district, comprehending the de-
pressed land between the Slievebeagh and Crieve moun-
tains, is far superior to any other part of the county in
point of fertility; it is interspersed with beautiful lakes,
well watered with streams, has a sufficiency of bog, and
in richness and natural capability may vie with some of
the best improved lands in the north of Ireland. A
vein of excellent land runs from Glaslough, by Tyhallon,
Monaghan, Scotstown, and Clones, into Fermanagh at
Corren. The southern extremity of the county consists
for the most part of a rich and highly productive soil,
based on a substratum of limestone, and in some places
a deep loam highly improveable by calcareous manure.
The soil in the intermediate district varies much in
quality, and is disposed very irregularly: even in several
parts of the same field it is seen sometimes to vary
extremely, being deep and argillaceous at one spot, a
gravelly grit at another, exhibiting at a third a stiff clay,
and at a fourth a party-coloured mixture of red and
greenish gravel; yet in general character it approxi-
mates nearly to that of the northern part. The western
side of the county is a rich but shallow loam, in its
natural state spongy, wet, and overspread with rushes,
but capable of a high degree of improvement by
manuring.
The large estates of the county vary from £20,000
to £1000 per ann., but a very considerable portion of
the land is held in grants producing from £20 to £500
per ann.: the former are not resided on by the proprie-
tor in fee, but the latter almost uniformly; many of
them are held from the crown by the descendants of the
Scotch colony introduced here after the settlement of the
county by James I.; a considerable portion were grants
to Cromwell’s soldiers, many of whose posterity now
possess farms so small as not to yield an annual income
exceeding £20. Few of the farms on the larger estates
are tenanted in perpetuity: the usual term is 21 years,
and a life, or 60 years and three lives. The mountainous
districts form an exception to this observation, as they
are divided into extensive portions, and mostly depastur-
ed by young cattle. An extraordinary mode of tenure
formerly existed on some estates, of letting several town-
lands in one lease to all the occupying tenants, who might
be from 20 to 30 joint lessees; by which practice part of
the legal expenses for drawing the lease was saved by
the tenants, but it gave the landlord a powerful-control
over them, as any one of the tenants is liable to have
his goods seized for the rent of the whole: the rent
paid by each is acknowledged by a receipt on account,
and he who pays last obtains a receipt for the total
amount. The farms throughout the county do not
average 25 acres; the smaller, which are much more
numerous, not six: so that ten acres may be adopted
as the general average. Great, improvements have been
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made within the last few years in almost every depart-
ment of agriculture, both as to the treatment of the
land and the implements. The principal manure is
lime and the produce of the farm-yard, together with
composts of various kinds. Limestone in a state of
decomposition is found in several districts; when first-
raised, it has a compact slaty appearance, but on exposure
to the atmosphere forms a kind of paste; no benefit is
derived from it as a manure for the first year; but for
several years after the crops are most abundant. Marl,
though found in several parts, is little used except in
the southern districts, where it has been found very
beneficial to the corn crops: but in general, land is
seldom manured for any crop but the potato. In the
northern districts, in consequence of the smallness of
the farms, and the wetness of the soil, the manure is
mostly carried to the fields in baskets, here called
“bardocks,” slung across the back of an ass, and very
often on the shoulders of the women. There is no county
in Ireland where manual labour is more employed in
farming than in Monaghan. The spade which is gene-
rally used in tilling the land, working the manure, raising
potatoes, &c., resembles the English spade in having a
footstep on each side, but differs from it in having the
blade made hollow and filled with timber, to which the
handle is made to fit in a sloping form. In some parts,
where the soil is heavy and adhesive, the blade tapers
nearly to a point, and is much curved in the middle, to
prevent the mould clogging upon it. The principal
crops are wheat, oats and potatoes. Flax has been a
favourite and beneficial crop for the last few years: the
quantity sown is constantly increasing. Clover and
green crops are every year becoming more common.
The pasturage in the mountainous districts is mostly
formed of rushes and sprit grass, neither of which
affords much nutriment; in the other parts it is very
rich and close, the grass heavy and exceedingly nu-
tritious. In some parts white clover is produced
spontaneously, though too often choked with rushes;
in others it is sown with grass seeds and mowed twice
or thrice a year: oats are also mixed with the clover
seed, and cut green for fodder, by which management the
farmers estimate that one acre is more productive than
four of common pasture. The tops of furze, here called
whins, are used for fodder; they are prepared by being
pounded in a stone trough with a wooden mallet, which
makes them very juicy; they are greedily eaten by
horses, and answer the double purpose of food and
medicine.
In some parts much attention is paid to the fences,
which are generally quicksets of white thorn, often
mixed with sallows that are afterwards applied to many
purposes of country work; in some parts the only
fence is a small mound of earth, apparently raised more
as a boundary mark than as a means of security against
trespassing. The chief breed of horned cattle is a
cross of the Old Leicester with the Roscommon cow,
which grows to a large size and fattens rapidly. Butter
is made in great quantities in the north and west: for
though there are no large dairies, every farmer makes
some, the greater part of which is sent to Monaghan,
Newry and Dundalk, where it is bought up for the
English market. Sheep are very numerous in the north
and. north-west, and of great variety of sorts. The
native horses are not of a good kind; those worthy of