School: An Fearann (roll number 14438)

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1. The Potato Crop (continued)

   

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   but it is usually from ten to fourteen inches.
   The drills are then closed and the potatoes are left to grow until the first or second week of May. At this time the drills (are then closed and the) usually require to be cleaned and the cleaning is done with a scuffler and hand-hoe. After this the drills are earthed with a plough.
   The next thing to be done is to spray the young stalks. About the middle of June is the time for the first application and then a second spraying is performed a fortnight later. Some people spray a third time, but two sprayings usually suffice. With this operation completed the crop does not require any further attention until about the first of October when the potatoes are dug out and stored.
   They are lifted by different methods. The old custom was to dig them out with spades a rather slow operation. Now some people use potato diggers drawn by horses, others use either a Chill or Drill plough to turn them out of the ground.
   They are then sorted and stored in pits, and covered for the winter. Again about the end of January they require to be turned in the pits when the waste is again picked out. From this on they require to to be turned about once a fortnight as they begin to grow young shoots or stalks especially if

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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)

   Languages

   Irish

   English

   Collector

   Daniel F. Murphy

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Currahaly, Co. Cork

   Informant

   Mr Denis Murphy

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Currahaly, Co. Cork