School: Newtown, Fertullagh
- Location:
- Newtownlow, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: K. Shumacher
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0732, Page 066
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- XML School: Newtown, Fertullagh
- XML Page 066
- XML “The Potato Crop”
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- We sow about an acre or an acre and a half of potatoes every year. We hire a man to plough the land for us.The ground is manured when the potatoes are being put in, or when the drills are being closed. We sow our potatoes in drills. To make a drill a man ploughs with a pair of horses and a plough. He cultivates the land sometimes before he ploughs it ; then he draws manure out from the yard, and sows the potatoes and puts the manure on top of them. We dig potatoes out with a spade usually, but sometimes we hire a man to plough them out for us.I have never seen a wooden plough but I believe they were used in olden times in our district. My brother told me he saw a wooden plough.Sometimes we help our neighbours and when they have their potatoes sown they come and help us to sow ours.When the potatoes are sown they are left in the clay for a few weeks untouched ; and when the stalks can be seen they are grubbed with a grubber, and later they are sprayed. To(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Violet Matthews
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Ballynagore, Co. Westmeath
- Informant
- Mr Arthur Matthews
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Ballynagore, Co. Westmeath
