School: An Bháinseach (C.) (roll number 11965)
- Location:
- Bansha, Co. Tipperary
- Teacher: Eibhlín, Bean Uí Mheiscill
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0575, Page 042
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- XML “The Potato Crop”
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- We sow about one acre of potatoes every year in our garden. They grow best in "brown" newly turned up ground. The soil is best prepared by ploughing first on the length and then on the breath with a chill plough. It is then harrowed with a spring harrow. Next it is drilled by a plough with a double-moulding board.
Then there are several loads of farm yard manure put along the drills. This must be evenly divided and broken. The medium size potatoes are cut into skillawns and those that cut them made sure to leave an "eye" or two in every skillawn. These skillawns would then be stored on the floor of the loft for a couple of weeks before sowing. Then when the time comes for sowing the skillawns which have been already prepared we lay them along on the manure about nine inches apart. We then close the drills with the double moulding plough and leave them stand for about a week. Then they are rolled with a stone roller. When the stalks are well over the ground we grub them with a grubber then hoe them and earth them with a drill plough. They are left thus until they are fit to be dug out of the ground which will be done about the middle of Autumn. Some people dig them with spades while others plough them out of the ground. The good ones are put into pits with clay and left stored like this for the winter months. The black ones are taken home and boiled for pigs.
