School: Doirín an Lomáin (roll number 14235)
- Location:
- Derreennalomane, Co. Cork
- Teacher: Seán de Barra
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0293, Page 148
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- XML “The Potato Crop”
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- Potatoes are grown on our farm. We sow about an acre of land every year. My father prepares the ground for them. The potatoes are sown in ridges. He draws farmyard manure out on the ground and spreads it evenly over it. The ground is then ploughed into ridges with an iron plough, and a trench is left between every two ridges. Wooden ploughs were used long ago but they are not in use now.
The potatoes for sowing are cut into small pieces and an "eye" is left in each piece. The remaining part of the potatoes are called "sciollawns". When the potatoes come over the ground the trenches are ploughed and earth is put up on the ridges with a shovel, and artificial manure is put on them. The potatoes are earthed again when they are about six inches over the ground. In the Summer months the potatoes are sprayed with a mixture of bluestone, washing soda and water to prevent a disease called blight from the potato crop. The spraying is done with a spraying machine, but long ago the people did it with brooms.
In Autumn the potatoes are dug with a(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Hannah Hayes
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Derreennalomane, Co. Cork
- Informant
- Patrick Hayes
- Relation
- Parent
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 68
- Address
- Derreennalomane, Co. Cork
