THE NORTHERN REGION includes practically the whole of Ulster, but it may be divided into two parts—an eastern and a western. In the former, the debris from the basaltic rocks, which constitute the Antrim Plateau, furnishes considerable areas with a fertile soil, and the plains around Lough Neagh and in the valley of the Bann are among the most productive in the country. The Old Red Sandstone, which occurs in parts of Tyrone, has also weathered down into good arable land, but in the Silurian districts of the south-east of Ulster the soil is generally poorer, and much of it is devoted to pastoral pursuits. In the west, on the crystalline and granitic rocks of Donegal, conditions are much less favourable to agriculture, and the more mountainous districts are almost entirely barren.
The north-east of Ulster is the most prosperous district in the whole of Ireland, a result which must in part be attributed to the strong infusion of Scots and English settlers which took place in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Over 20 per cent. of the total area is under cereals and green crops, while less than 60 per cent. is under hay and grass. In the western division, on the other hand, only about 12 per cent. of the land is under crops. Ulster produces nearly one-half of all the oats grown in the country, and practically all the flax. For the cultivation of the latter crop, the moist soil and temperate climate are peculiarly favour able. Unfortunately, in the after treatment of the plant the Ulster farmer appears to be careless and unscientific, and Irish flax does not hold its own with that imported from abroad. Dairy farming and pig-raising are also important pursuits of the agricultural population.
The industrial life of Ireland is concentrated, to a great extent, in the east of Ulster, which, although practically without mineral wealth of its own, is easily able to obtain coal from Ayrshire and south Lancashire, and iron and steel from Cumberland and other parts of Great Britain, for the shipbuilding yards at Belfast. There,
it is true, a certain amount of compensation for the want of raw material is found in the relative cheapness of land and labour and the excellent facilities for launching vessels. Belfast builds some of the largest ships in the world, and, according to tonnage, has an output of about 10 per cent. that of the United Kingdom. Londonderry is also engaged in shipbuilding, but on a much less extensive scale.
The manufacture of linen in Ireland was a natural result of the cultivation of flax in that country, but at the present time much of the raw material is imported from abroad, especially from Russia. The facilities for bleaching afforded by climatic con ditions and the nature of the water supply, as well as the large reserve of female labour, have done much to concentrate the industry in Belfast, though it is also carried on to a greater or less extent in many of the surrounding towns and villages. Shirt-making, which gives employment to a large number of people in the west of Ulster, probably owes its origin to the presence of the linen industry. The cutting and finishing processes are performed in large workshops in Londonderry, but the actual sewing of the shirts is a domestic industry throughout Londonderry, Tyrone, and part of Donegal. Other industries in Belfast and Londonderry include rope-making, engineering, brewing, and tanning. In the west of Ulster, especially in Donegal, where geographical conditions are adverse to economic development, and where much of the land is under the control of the Congested Districts Board, there are few manufactures. The most noteworthy is handloom weaving in wool, which, partly as a result of the Board's fostering care, has attained some importance in south Donegal.