School: St Brigid's Convent, Mountrath (roll number 13343)

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1. The Potato Crop

   

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   Potatoes are much grown in the country. Each farmer sows about three or four acres of potatoes. The soil is tilled and drills are opened with a plough in March or April. Then farmyard manure is spread. The seed is then planted about twelve inches apart, after first being sorted and cut in two or more pieces. Each piece must have at least two eyes and out of those eyes the new buds grow.
   In olden times a spade or and old type of wooden plough was used but the iron plough and the garden spade take their place nowadays. A man named Dalton from Abbeyleix made or forged the spade in days gone by. Spades are made at the present time in Dublin.
   The potatoes are tilled and the weeds removed during the summer months and are sprayed twice in June and July. This solution consists of a mixture of sulphate of copper and soda. This helps to

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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

   Patsy Mooney

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Mountrath, Co. Laois

   Informant

   Mrs Ellen Mooney

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Mountrath, Co. Laois