School: Drumatemple (C.) (roll number 7055)
- Location:
- Drumatemple, Co. Roscommon
- Teacher: Treasa, Bean Uí Chuinn
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0260, Page 331
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- XML School: Drumatemple (C.)
- XML Page 331
- XML “The Potato Crop”
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On this page
- The Potato Crop.
On my farm about half-acre is under potatoes each year. On large farms the farmer sows about five acres. The ploughman turns up the ground with his plough. Some people scatter "special" as manure on the ground before it is ploughed. "Big" farmers sow their potatoes in drills. Other people sow the potatoes in ridges. Ridges are made my turning four sods side by side, and drills are made by opening the ground and putting in manure. Then the slits are left on the manure and are closed with the plough. Before the potatoes are sown they are cut and an eye left in each slit. The part of the potato that has no eye is called [Leadain] and cannot be sown. People help one another by "swap", that is one man helps his neighbour to sow the crop and the neighbour in return helps him.
When the stalks begin to appear the people put mould from the furrows in between the stalks to protect them from the frost.
The potatoes are afterwards sprayed when the stalks are about six inches high. When the blossoms begin to apear they are sprayed secondly. Some people spray the potatoes three times.
Spraying is made by getting ten pounds of washing-soda and eight pounds of blue-stone to forty gallons of water. A road of potatoes is sprayed with this.(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Janie Mc Neill
- Address
- Cloonaddra, Co. Roscommon
