School: Lacken and Leny (roll number 3244)
- Location:
- Lackan, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: S, Mac Shamhráin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0738, Page 183
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- Potatoes are grown in every garden in the district, about 2 acres of ground being taken up for this purpose. The potatoes are mostly set in ridges, but some farmers set them in drills. When the potatoes are being set in ridges, first the ridge is marked out with a line, every ridge being about three feet wide. Then the furrows are marked out with a line also, these being about 1 foot wide. Then the ground in the centre between the two furrows is dug up and then manured. After that the potatoes are dropped, three across in a row each being about ten inches apart, and there is a space of about one foot between each row. After this the potatoes are covered with clay. Then in about a fortnight or three weeks after when the potatoes begin to appear over the ground there is more clay put on them this is known as second-moulding the potatoes. After another few weeks the potatoes are sprayed, some people spray them twice, this is to prevent the potatoes from getting blighted and going bad. In the Autumn the potatoes are dug up with spades and stored in pits for the winter.(continues on next page)
