The Irish standard., 1914-09-05
farm work is done largely in the

farm WORK Is UOue largely III tuS
early spring-generally in. March.
Land that is to be planted to pota-
toes is plowed in a peculiar way. It
is worked into ridges about three
feet wide, which are separated by a
little ditch some eight or ten inches
deep. The top of the ridge is made
fiat and when planting time comes,
which is in April, the potatoes are
stuck" in the ridge. This is done
by making holes with spade. about
eight inches or foot apart, and
dropping the seed in these holes.
The potatoes are thus planted much
closer together and much earlier
than in Minnesota.
About two weeks after the pota-
toes are planted fertilizer is thrown
over the ridge and this is covered up
by dirt taken from the small bitches
on either side of the ridge.
When the stalks grow up the
ridge becomes a mat of vines. There
is no means of blowing them as the
Minnesota farmer does. Neither are
they hilled. The dirt must be thrown
on the ridges by means of a spade
serves the purpose of the killing pro-
cess. Weeds must be pulled by hand.
Various kinds of machines may be
had for digging potatoes, but the
average farmer does this work by
means of an ordinary potato fork.
Cellars are a rarity in the country
districts in ireland. The potatoes
are either put into a house made of
stone or else put in pits and covered
with enough straw and dirt to pro-
tect them from the weather.
The blight often does serious harm
to the potato crops. here. Spraying
is done to prevent it. The agricul-
tural board is doing a good deal to-
ward educating farmers as to the
best methods for checking and pre-
venting potato diseases. This year
the crops look excellent. The stocks
are large and green and potatoes are
already being dug to serve the needs
of the table.
Wheat, oats and barley are plant
ed by hand instead of by a seeder.
A harrow is then drawn over the
field to cover up the seed. Fertil-
izer is then thrown on the fields to
insure a good growth. Farmers
living along the coast haul sea weed,
which is cast up by the waves, and
scatter it over their land for fertil-
izer.
Most of the grain is cut with the
sythe and sickle. 1t is gathered up
by hand and bound in bundles, the
bands of which are made from the
straw. 1t is then put into shocks
and when these have dried out suf-
fciently they are hauled into yard
near the house, where they are made
into small stacks.
The stacks are threshed out by
means of the fail during the winter,
as the grain and straw are needed.
There are some threshing machines,
but they are owned by farmers who
own large farms.
The first thing one notices are the
small fields into which the land is
divided by means of stone walls and
hedges. Most of these fields are
only a few acres in area. The larg-
er ones will have an area of as much
as ten or a dozen acres. There is no
in the way the bound
aries run. The farmer does not in
terfere with the boundaries though
his land may include several fields.
Generally he will plant the whole
field in one kind of grain.
This part of Ireland, the province
of Connaught, is less luxuriant and
pleasing to the eye as one rides over
it than the province of Ulster. While
Ulster is rough and mountainous
there does not seem to be as much
stony and Doggy land as there is
about here.
The people who first came to this
rather barren province have trans
formed it. Green fields spot the hill
sides now except where either stones
or boys make it impossible to trans
form the waste places into green
fields. The people are interested in
their labors as they never were be-
fore because now they own the land
and may reap the profit of their
thrift. Where once cows and chick
ems were kept in the cottages in
which the people lived, barns are now
being built and an interest in keep
ing the home neat and tidy is shown.
But there is ample room for i'm
provement along agricultural lines in
Ireland yet. Better means of tilling
the soil and better houses are badly
needed. AS the people become pros
porous and have money beyond the
needs of meager living these things
will come.
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