School: Áth na Coille
- Location:
- Annaghkilly, Co. Monaghan
- Teacher: S. Ó Briain
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0945, Page 287
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- XML “The Potato Crops”
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- Potatoes are grown on every farm in this locality. On an average each farmer plants about an acre of potatoes each year. This amount seldom varies.
The farmer generally prepares the ground himself. He prepares it by ploughing. The ground in which corn grew the previous year is usually planted in potatoes. Some times before ploughing this ground he spreads farmyard manure upon it and then ploughs in the manure. Small farmers, who have no horses, sometimes plant their potatoes in lea ground. In this case little preparation of the ground is done. the furrows are marked out by turning the sod with a spade. This work is called 'coping'. The potatoes in this case will be planted in ridges. In all other cases where the ground is prepared by ploughing the potatoes will be planted in drills. When the time comes for planting the ploughed ground, when dry, is harrowed until all the soil is fairly fine. Then the drills are opened with a drill plough. There is no recollection of the use of a wooden plough. The spades used, where potatoes are planted in ridges,(continues on next page)
