School: St. Cronan's Longford Wood, An Teampoll Mór (roll number 6662)

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1. The Potato Crop (continued)

   

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   till the drills are opened in spring. In the end of March the ground is harrowed and rolled and harrowed again and, in some cases, cross-ploughed before the final harrowing. If the weather is fairly dry, the clay is now very fine and the drills are opened with a double mould-board plough. Farmers or their workmen are very exact about opening drills, because, if they are crooked, all the neighbours laugh at them. A man need a quiet, well trained pair of horses, a good eye, and a steady pair of hands, to open a straight drill in a long field.

   When the drill are opened the manure if not "ploughed in" in autumn, is now put out, and spread in the furrows. The potatoes, which were cut into sets (*sgilláin as they are often called locally) two or three days before, are laid over the manure, at a distance of from 10 to 12 inches, and the furrow is now closed by splitting every drill with the plough. Some farmers prefer to plant the potatoes under and not over the manure.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. economic activities
         1. agriculture (~2,659)
            1. potatoes (~2,701)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Paddy Treacy

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Clonakenny, Co. Tipperary

   Informant

   James Treacy

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Shanacloon, Co. Tipperary