School: Desart, Cill Choinnigh (roll number 3839)
- Location:
- Ballymack (Desart), Co. Kilkenny
- Teacher: Mary Commins
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0854, Page 107
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- XML School: Desart, Cill Choinnigh
- XML Page 107
- XML “The Potato Crop”
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- Potatoes are grown on all farms in the District. Each farmer grows enough for his own use - about half an acre. A grain crop is grown the year before. The stubbles are ploughed and the drills made, then the manure is spread. This is generally done about April. The drills are made with the plough - leaving eighteen inches between each. Wooden ploughs were used in the past but there are none in use now.
Spades are bought in shops - not made.
Before the seed potatoes are sown they are cut leaving an eye in each seed. Some farmers sort the potatoes and sow the small ones without cutting. The local people do not help each other in sowing them as no farmer sows a large quantity
When the potato plant is a few inches over the grown they hoe between the plants to remove the weeds which grow very plentifully in this district. Then they scuffle the weeds between the drills with a scuffler. After a few weeks they put clay to the potatoes with a special sort of plough having two(continues on next page)
