The New International Encyclopædia/Down

DOWN. A maritime county in the southeast of Ulster Province, Ireland (Map: Ireland, F 2). Area, 957 square miles. It has a low, rocky coast-line of 67 miles, or 125 by the inlets, skirted by many islets. The Mourne Mountains cover 90 square miles in the south, and rise 2796 feet in Slieve Donard. The other parts of Down are mostly undulating and hilly, with plains and fine meadows along the rivers. The chief crops are oats, potatoes, turnips, wheat, flax, and barley. Many hogs are raised. The chief manufacture is linen, especially the finer fabrics, such as muslin, woven in the houses of the small farmers. Flax and cotton mills are common. Hosiery, leather, salt, thread, and woolens are also made. These, with corn, butter, pork, and hides, are the chief exports. Down is among the best cultivated of the Irish counties. Capital, Downpatrick. Population, in 1841, 368,200; in 1891, 269,734; in 1901, 289,330.