Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

CAR
being cultivated to the very summit, does not strictly
merit the name of mountain. This latter district is de
ficient in the natural beauties which gratify the eye in
the northern and eastern parts; but their absence is
considered to be amply compensated by the treasures,
concealed beneath the surface, as this part of the
county forms the commencement of the great coal field
of Leinster, and bears all the external marks of dimi
nished fertility which usually characterise such tracts.
Though the country is well watered, there is nothing
in it entitled to the name of lake, although the more
ancient name of its chief town, Catherlougb, “the city
on the lake,” would lead to such an inference. The
climate ‘is mild and salubrious, subject neither to the
extremes of heat and cold, nor of excessive moisture,
to which regions in the neighbourhood of lofty moun
tains, or near the shores of the Atlantic, are liable. The
soil is rich and generally of a calcareous nature, except
in the more mountainous parts, and, even there, cultiva
tion has been carried to a considerable height on the
acclivities. Agriculture is in as highly improved a state
here as in any other part of Ireland. So far back as
1779, the vicinity of Carlow town was noticed by Young
as one of the few places in which green crops formed
part of the system of rural economy, turnips being at
that time extensively planted there; though it does not
appear that they became a general farm crop till many
years after. Since 1817, agriculture, as a system, has
been extending its beneficial effects with rapid progress
under the fostering care and spirited example of some of
the resident gentry. Wheat of a superior quality is grown
in every part, barley only on some of the most favoured
soils, whilst oats and potatoes are -universal; the barley
has long been celebrated and in great demand, and
large quantities are annually shipped to England 5 the
potatoes also, particularly those grown on the calcareous
soils, are much esteemed. Turnips are every where
cultivated with success by the gentry and large farmers;
but the small farmers are generally averse to the culture
of green crops, notwithstanding the inducement held
out by several landlords of releasing them from the
payment of rent for land tilled for turnips or mangel-
wurzel. Clover seed is sometimes sown on the larger,
farms, and the sowing of grass seeds in laying down
exhausted land is now pretty general, although the old
and pernicious system of allowing the land to recover
by a natural process is still too prevalent; flax, hemp,
rape, vetches, &c, are occasionally sown. The pas
tures are remarkably good, and although the land is
not so rich as in some parts of Tipperary and Limerick,
the cattle attain a larger size here than in either of those
counties. Dairies are numerous, and the dairy farms
extensive and profitable; butter, generally of very
superior quality and much esteemed in the English and
foreign markets, is the chief produce; cheese is made
only for domestic consumption. The dairy farmers
pay great attention to the selection and breed of milch
cows. Limerick heifers were much in demand, but
a cross between the Durham breed and the old coun
try cow is now the favourite: some of the Durham
breed are, nevertheless, highly prized for the dairy,
but they neither fatten so soon nor weigh so profitably
as those crossed with the Limerick, Devon, or Tees-
water breeds. Sheep of the New Leicester breed have
been introduced at considerable expense by some of the
259
CAR
most spirited agriculturists, and are now become pretty
general and in high repute; they appear to be well
adapted to the soil and climate, and bear an excellent
fleece. In the hilly districts the sheep are smaller;
those in highest repute are a cross between the new
Leicester and the Kerry. Pigs are not so generally
kept here as in some of the adjoining counties, and
are mostly of” an inferior kind. Draining has been in
troduced by some of the gentry, but irrigation is very
little practised. The fences are far superior to those of
the adjoining counties, though in many cases the large
old ditches or mounds of earth, with a deep shough
on one or both sides, are to be seen. A kind of fence
common here is formed out of the blocks of white
granite which lie scattered over a great part of the
county or are procured from the quarries; these blocks
being cloven with great regularity, the larger slabs are
fixed upright in the ground, and the lighter and longer
pieces ranged transversely along the top, in the manner
of posts and rails, forming an unique and very durable
fence. Agricultural implements on the most approved
principles are generally used in every part, except the
hilly districts, where the old heavy implements may
still be partially seen: the iron plough and light harrow
have been in use some years by gentlemen, and are now
in the possession of almost every farmer. The old
heavy wooden car has given place generally to one
of lighter form, with iron-bound spoke wheels, but
having very short shafts. Carts nearly similar to those
of England, with narrow wheels, are every where used
by the wealthy farmers, but the old clumsy low-backed
car is common, upon the road. The whole of the county,
with the exception of the mountainous parts already
noticed, is well wooded: trees thrive well, but not every
species; an oak wood is rarely met with, although
oaks flourish in the soil. The spruce and silver fir,
after having been tried for some time, were extirpated
on account of their unhealthy appearance 3 the soil
was thought not suitable to them. The weeping, or
Hertfordshire, elm is frequently to be seen: the elm in
general germinates earlier here then elsewhere. But the
most beautiful and ornamental trees are the sycamore,
chesnut, lime, birch, and white thorn, the last of which
attains a large size: the entire level part of the county
presents much the appearance of some of the English
counties. Lime is plentiful, and the facilities of its
conveyance for agricultural purposes abundant. Fuel is
equally so: coal is brought from the collieries of Kil
kenny and the Queen’s county by land carriage, and
turf is procured from the small bogs in this and the
adjoining counties. Horticulture is in an advanced
state; few farm-houses are without a vegetable garden,
and the scarcer kind of esculents, and likewise flowers,
are generally cultivated.
The county lies between the great eastern granite
district of the county of Wicklow and the coal formation
of the Glueen’s county and Kilkenny. _ The granite shews
itself along the south-eastern verge, in the mountainous
range of Moxmt Leinster and Blackstairs, where it is
interrupted by the precipitous valley of St. Mullins, but
it appears again at Brandon hill, in the southern part of
Kilkenny. The coal country is surrounded by and rests
upon limestone, the strata of which, wherever examined,
present appearances extremely similar. The description
of the limestone valley between the granite country, two
L
12