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KIL
usual way of bringing land into tillage, and was en-
couraged by many landlords under particular restric-
tions, but is now generally discountenanced, as the
carbon and all volatile particles are dissipated by the fire.
The use of oxen in the plough seems to be rather
increasing, though the proportion is very small in com-
parison with horses. The native horses are lively, active,
hardy, and well adapted to the uses of the farmer:
few are bred in the county; of English breeds the
Suffolk is most in request. The attention paid to the
breeding of cattle is inferior to that of the adjoining
counties of Carlow and Waterford, and some parts of
Tipperary: the common breed is a cross between the
old Irish and Lancashire, and some districts have the
old native cow. Some noblemen and gentlemen have
a superior kind, being a cross between the Irish and
Durham; and crosses between the Irish and Devon
and Ayrshire and Durham breeds appear to suit both
the soil and climate. But those that attain the”
largest size are a cross between the Limerick and Dur-
ham, which fatten speedily and weigh well. The little
Kerry cow is much sought after in some of the dairy
districts, in which it improves much, and when crossed
with the Ayrshire is very profitable to the small farmer.
The breed of sheep is generally little improved; the
New Leicester and Ayrshire breeds are found in the
lawns and demesnes of some gentlemen, but are com-
paratively few in number. Pigs have been greatly
improved by the introduction of the Berkshire and
other superior breeds. In all the minor departments
of rural economy, except the rearing of poultry, the
farmers are very deficient. The fences generally are
very indifferent, principally consisting of an old broad
mound of earth (called a ditch), with a deep and broad
trench on one or both sides, or of dry and broken stone
walls, except in the immediate neighbourhood of Kil-
kenny or on the farms of gentlemen, where in many
instances quickset hedges show to great advantage:
the parks and demesnes are mostly enclosed with high
stone walls. The county is very deficient in woods and
plantations, although there are some of considerable
extent around Kilkenny, Durrow, Desart, Woodstock,
Besborough, Castlecomer, Thomastown, and other
places on the banks of the Nore. Callan and its neigh-
bourhood, once so celebrated for its extensive woods,
is now denuded; but from Kilkenny to Callan the
fences appear better and the land more judiciously
divided than in other parts. Planting is by no means
general, except around demesnes. An agricultural
society, the first midland society formed, has been
long established, of which, perhaps, the most beneficial
result is the improvement of agricultural implements,
which has been accomplished to a considerable degree.
As the soil is seldom much raised above the rock
that forms its basis, it is not difficult to trace the sub-
strata: these are granite, silicious schistus, silicious
breccia, argillite, sandstone and limestone. The granite
hills form a very small part of the county, being mere-
ly the extension of the Wicklow group, which, including
Mount Leinster and Blackstairs in the county of Car-
low, forms the hills of Brandon between the Barrow
and the Nore, and ultimately terminates in the low and
secondary hills which unite to the south, towards the
mountains of Waterford. The stratum which usually
joins the granite is silicious schistus, and lower down
VOL. II.—105
KIL
argillaceous slate. The granite varies in shades of grey,
red, and yellow, and in the fineness of its grain; the
best is of a light yellow tint, finely grained and com-
pact; black mica is found in it, together with specks of
iron ore and crystals of schorl: it can be raised in
blocks of large size, and may be chiselled into any
form. Below Innistiogue, part of the hills are composed
of granite; on their lower part the yellow mica is
sometimes found by itself in large masses. The de-
tached stones which form the surface of these hills are
called fire-stones, and are worked into hearth-stones,
and also applied to other purposes. Pieces of a very
fine deep red and compact jasper, of various sizes, the
largest ten or twelve inches long and half as broad,
have been discovered in the granite district. The silici-
ous schistus is blackish, sometimes containing grains of
quartz; when broken it has a shivery texture and thin
lamellæ, and is hard enough to scratch glass. The base
of Brandon Hill, and of that extending thence to Graig,
is composed of it; between Innistiogue and Ross it is
quarried out of the steep banks of the river. New Ross
is mostly built of it: the dip of these quarries is east-
ward. Martial pyrites frequently lies between the beds
of this stone: the strata are also intersected by broad
veins of quartz: iron ochre occurs in it, and it is much
tinged by oxyde of iron. A few specks of copper are
sometimes perceived, but no vein has been discovered.
Fine-grained galena has also been detected in it, in
small quantities and in detached fragments. Silicious
breccia forms many of the lower hills: it consists prin-
cipally of fine quartz sand, united by a silicious cement
and enveloping rounded pebbles of quartz, from the
size of a pea to two or three inches in diameter, and of
a reddish tinge: it seems to be one of the stones styled
by Kirwan semiprotolites, and wherever its base can be
discovered, it appears to lie on silicious schistus. This
stone is constantly accompanied by red argillite, which
covers the sides of the hills, but scarcely ever the sum-
mits: it prevails on the northern sides of these hills,
and from its appearance is sometimes called red slate.
The hills of breccia run southward from, the Nore,
spreading to thesouth and south-east till they approach
the Suir: the great hill of Drumdowney, bounded by
the Ross river, forms the extremity of the principal
range. The stone here is of a fine grain, and is raised
for mill-stones, which are principally quarried on the
top of the hill of Drumdowney, where an enclosure of
about 300 acres has been made for the purpose: they
are sent coastwise to Cork, Dublin, and other ports;
the dimensions of the largest are five feet in diameter
and sixteen inches in the eye. This stone is sometimes
accompanied by a fine-grained white sandstone, consist-
ing chiefly of quartz with a silicious cement: its chief
defect is that the strata are very thin. Slaty argillite
also often forms the lower parts of those hills, varying
from reddish brown to green or blue, but being very
heavy is not well adapted for roofing. In the western
part of the county there is an extensive quarry of excel-
lent slates, scarcely exceeded by any in colour and
lightness. The northern part, including the whole of
Fassadineen and the upper part of Gowran, consists
either of ferruginous argillite, or of silicious schistus:
of the latter, stones are raised in several quarries for
the purpose of flagging; the former is always found
above the coal, and is thence called coal-cover. It is a
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