School: Trentagh (roll number 16331)

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1. Potatoes

   

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   Potatoes.
   We plant potatoes at home every year. Sometimes my sister Meta prepares the ground and sometimes my father prepares it. Some farmers put manure on the ground before they prepare it, if the soil is not rich. They cart the dirt which is swept off the street, or farmyard manure and empty it in the field. Then they scatter it with shovels. We plant the potatoes in drills. They are made with a drill plough. Wooden ploughs were used a good many years ago but they are not used now. The handles and beam were made of wood but all other parts were made of iron. The spades were bought.
   Seed potatoes have to be picked and the long buds broken off. The big potatoes and the small potatoes are kept out. They are no good for seed. The seed potatoes are then emptied beside a ditch and covered with rushes till the buds are a nice size. Then my mother cuts them. She puts the cuts into sprouting boxes. There has to be an eye in every cut. She gets either one or two cuts out of each potato. The pieces that there are no eyes in are called heels. We boil them for feeding fowl. While my mother is cutting the potatoes, my sister, my father and I put out the manure with a horse and cart. We put it in rows of lumps. Each row does seven drills. Then we throw it in the seven drills with grapes and scale it.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. economic activities
         1. agriculture (~2,659)
            1. potatoes (~2,701)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Joseph Kennedy

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Treanbeg, Co. Donegal

   Informant

   Mr D. Kennedy

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   54

   Address

   Treanbeg, Co. Donegal