School: Esker
- Location:
- Esker More, Co. Offaly
- Teacher: M. Ní Ghríobhtha
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0800, Page 249
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- XML “The Potato Crop”
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- (continued from previous page)When the stalks begin to appear the drills are hoed or wed. Some people use a grubber to make the drills small and then they remove the weeds by hand.
To mould the potatoes the double-boarded plough is used between the drills. After a month or so they are re-moulded if necessary.
Very few people here about spray the potatoes.
June 29th as a rule we dig our new potatoes.
In September and October the crop is removed from the ground.
This work is done by means of spades, a plough or a spuddler (it depends on the amount to be dug which implement is used.) Children help with the picking.
The bad potatoes are left in the drills. The good ones big and small, are carted to one place. A hole or pit is dug and the potatoes are put into it. They are covered with bog sods, called scraws and clay. Some people cover(continues on next page)
