The last year was not altogether a bad one for
the agriculture of Ireland, as, although the acres under tillage had decreased from 5,121,000' to 5,081,000, the area under pasture had in- creased from 10;211,000 to 10,259,000, or rather more than half the area of Ireland,-20,327,000 acres. In wheat, the in- .oreasewas 428,000 Owts. ; in oats, 4,025,000 cwts. ; and in barley, 183,000 cwts.; but the grand increase was in potatoes and turnips, amounting to 1,872,000 tons of the former, and 2,281,000 tons of the latter ; that is, nearly two extra tons of potatoes for every household-in Ireland, This increase is due to the extra- ordinary success of the "Champion " potato, and some other de- scriptions raised from seed. The former appears to be exemptfroin -disease, and though the official reporters warn the peasantry that its healthiness will decrease, and that it must from time to time -be again raised from seed, we question whether if the -cultivators did not always choose the refuse for planting, this- would prove true. The original potato—Raleigh's potato— lasted two hundred years, and we believe the kinds imported by Dr. Carey into Bengal have been untainted in half a century. 'he decline in cattle, sheep, and pigs arises, we imagine, from no worse cause than overselling, under the temptation of high prices. Ireland is now scoured for bacon.
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