School: Cooley

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1. The Potato Crop

   

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   Potatoes are grown on our farm. Three acres are sown under this crop every year. The arran banner gives the best result. The ground is manured with artificial and farmyard manure. Potatoes are sown in drills. After the ground is cultivated it is made into drills with a drill plough. Drills average about 25 inches each in size. Wooden ploughs were used in this district a few years ago, a few farmers still use them, Jimmy Bonner, Moville used to make these wooden ploughs. The spades are bought in the shop. The seed has to be properly selected and care should be taken that none of the potatoes have scab or bad eyes. When the potatoes are cut for planting two good eyes are sufficient in each cut. The people generally sow their own potatoes. After the potatoes have been planted 3 weeks the bottoms of the drills are grubbed with a grubber. This loosens up the soil. Then the drills are made up with a drill plough. This prevents weeds from growing. When the potato tops get about 5 or 6 inches above the ground the bottom of the drills are all grubbed again and all lumps of clay are broken with a "slipe". Then the weeds are all hoed down

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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

   Ruby Gibson

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Gulladoo, Co. Donegal

   Informant

   Mr Gibson

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Gulladoo, Co. Donegal