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CAV
the county nearly from north to south, dividing it into
two unequal portions: on. the summit, near Lavy chapel,
is a spring, a stream descending from which takes an.
easterly course towards Lough Ramor and into the Boyne,
which empties itself into the Irish sea in Drogheda har-
bour; another stream flows westward through Lough
Erne into the Atlantic, on the coast of Donegal. From
the elevation and exposure of the surface, the climate is
chilly, though at the same time salubrious; the exha-
lations from its numerous lakes being dispelled by the
force of the gales. The soil in its primitive state is not
fertile, being cold, in many places spongy, and inclined
to produce rushes and a spiry aquatic grass: it com-
monly consists of a thick stratum of stiff brown clay
over an argillaceous substratum; but when improved
by draining and the application of gravel or lime, it
affords a grateful return of produce. In the vales is
found a deep brown clay, forming excellent land for the
dairy.
Agriculture is very little improved:. the chief crops
are oats and potatoes; in some districts a considerable
quantity of flax is cultivated, and wheat, within the last
two or three years, has become a more common crop.
Green crops are seldom or ever grown, except by some
of the nobility and gentry. Lord Farnham has in cul-
tivation a large and excellent farm, and around Virginia
are evidences of a superior system of husbandry. The
chief proprietors afford by example and encouragement
every inducement to agricultural improvement, but with,
little success, except in the introduction of the iron
plough, which has been generally substituted for spade
labour, by which the land was formerly almost exclu-
sively cultivated. Into the mountain districts, however,
neither the plough nor wheel car has yet found its way;
the spade, sickle, and flail are there the chief agricultural
implements, cattle and pigs the common farm stock,
and oats and potatoes the prevailing crops. The sides
of the mountains are generally cultivated for oats to a
considerable height, and their summits are grazed by
herds of small young cattle. This practice more espe-
cially prevails in the barony of Tullaghagh, in the
mountain district between the counties of Fermanagh
and Leitrim, generally known as “the kingdom of
Glan,” but more properly called Glangavlin, or the
country of the Mac Gaurans. To this isolated district
there is no public road, and only one difficult pass; in
some places a trackway is seen by which the cattle are
driven out to the fairs of the adjacent country. It is
about 16 miles in length by 7 in breadth, and is densely
inhabited by a primitive race of Mac Gaurans. and
Dolans, who intermarry and observe some peculiar cus-
toms; they elect their own king and queen from the
ancient race of the Mac Gaurans, to whom they pay
implicit obedience. Tilling the land and attending the
cattle constitute their sole occupation; potatoes and
milk, with, sometimes, oaten bread, their chief food;
and the want of a road by which the produce of the
district might be taken to the neighbouring markets
operates as a discouragement to industry and an incen-
tive to the illicit application of their surplus corn.
Wheat might be advantageously cultivated in most of
the southern parts of the county, by draining and pro-
perly ploughing the land; a great defect consists in not
ploughing sufficiently deep, from which cause the grain
receives but little nourishment, and the land soon
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CAV
becomes exhausted, and is allowed to recover its pro-
ductiveness by natural means. Hay seeds are scarcely
ever sown. The farms are mostly small; and in many
parts the farmer has looms in his house for weaving
linen, on which he mainly depends for support, and
hence neglects his land. Weaving, however, has of late
somewhat declined, but tillage has not improved in
proportion. Barley is sometimes sown, and the crop is
generally good. In consequence of the system here
practised of shallow ploughing and the unchecked
growth of weeds, flax does not flourish in this so well
as in some of the other northern counties, but it is still
an amply remunerative crop. The fences in most parts
are bad, consisting chiefly of a slight ridge of earth
loosely thrown up. Draining and irrigation are wholly
unpractised, although the country offers great facility
for both; the gentle elevations are generally dry, and
afford, beneath the surface, stones for draining; and
the low grounds abound with springs, whose waters
might be applied to the beneficial purposes of irrigation.
Large allotments in the occupation of one individual are
found only in the mountainous districts, and are applied
to the grazing of young cattle during the summer
months. In the demesnes of the gentry some sheep
are fattened; but there are no good sheepwalks of
any extent, except in the neighbourhood of Cavan,
which district, indeed, is so superior to any other part
of the county for fattening, that oxen are fed to as
great size as in any part of Ireland. Dairy farms are
by no means numerous, although the butter of Cavan
is equal to that of any other part of the kingdom. The
breed of cattle varies in almost every barony: that best
adapted to the soil is a cross between the Durham and
the Kerry, but the long-horned attains the greatest size.
In the mountain districts the Kerry cow is the favourite;
and in the lower or central parts, around Cavan, are
some very fine Durham cattle and good crosses with the
Dutch. The sheep are mostly a cross between the New
Leicester and the old sheep of the country; the fleece,
though mostly light, is good, and the mutton of excellent
flavour. The horses are a light, hardy, active breed,
well adapted to the country. The breed of pigs has
been much improved, and although they do not attain
a large size, they are profitable and readily fatten.
Lime is the general manure, although in some parts the
farmer has to draw it many miles; and calcareous sand
and gravel, procured from the escars in the baronies of
Tullaghonoho and Loughtee, are conveyed for that use
to every part of the county where the roads permit,
and sometimes even into the hilly districts, by means of
two boxes, called “bardocs,” slung across the back of
a horse, which is the only means of conveyance the
inhabitants of those parts possess.. The woods were
formerly very considerable, and the timber of uncommon
size, as is evinced by the immense trees found in the
bogs; but demesne grounds only are now distinguished
by this valuable ornament. There are, however, nume-
rous and extensive plantations in several parts, which
in a few years will greatly enrich the scenery, particu-
lary around the lakes of Ramor and Shellin, also near
Stradone, Ballyhaise, Ballymacue, Fort Frederic, Farn-
ham, Killesandra, and other places. The county con-
tains bogs of sufficient extent for supplying its own
fuel, and of a depth every where varying, but generally
extremely great: they commonly lie favourably for