Lazy bed
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Lazy bed (Template:Lang-ga or iompú, Template:Lang-gd [ˈfjan̪ˠakən]) is a traditional method of arable cultivation. Rather like cord rig cultivation, parallel banks of ridge and furrow are dug by spade although lazy beds have banks that are bigger, up to 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) in width, with narrow drainage channels between them.
The 1874 Canadian Farmer's Manual of Agriculture notes:
A common mode practised in Ireland, and in some parts of the north and west of England and Scotland, is that known as the lazy-bed fashion, which consists in planting the sets in beds of a few feet in width, covered from trenches formed with the spade.[1]
In addition to Ireland, England, and Scotland, the practice has been documented in Newfoundland, St. Pierre, the Faroe Islands, the Swiss Alps,[2] Devon,[3] Orkney,[4] and the Isle of Man. [5] One early-20th-century critique of the practise suggests it could lead to overcrowding of plantings.[6] Another critic wrote "This system is too laborious and expensive to adopt except in wet districts."[7] In the Hebrides and the west of Ireland, the method used is normally to lift up sods of peat and apply desalinated seaweed fertiliser to improve the ground.[citation needed] In Newfoundland, lazy beds were augmented with seaweed, a process which continues into the early 21st century:[2]
One method of applying seaweed is to spread it on a bed and cover it with soil from the trench. This method sometimes referred to as the 'lazy bed' system works well, especially in areas where the soil is shallow and drainage is poor.[8]
History
The name of the practice may derive from “lazy root”, an English nickname for the potato that was often grown in lazy beds.[9] An early 20th-century observer in Connemara noted that the "term 'Lazybed' would seem to be a misnomer, for, in fact, the system calls for a great deal of labour." [10]
The practice was used in southern parts of Britain from the post-Roman period until the post-medieval period.[citation needed]
Historically, lazy beds were reported in Orkney by 1795,[4] and by 1801 in Cavan;[11] by 1808, the practice had "taken great root" in Devonshire.[3] The abandonment of the method may have exacerbated the later Great Famine in Ireland.[12] Following the Famine, it was one of the practices suggested for the reutilization of reclaimable wastelands.[13]
Lazy beds have been identified in archaeological contexts from 17th and 18th century farms in Clydesdale,[14] and have also been uncovered as part of archaeological excavations in Newfoundland.[15]
See also
References
- ^ Whitcombe, Charles Edward (1874). The Canadian Farmer's Manual of Agriculture (PDF). Toronto: James Adam and Company.
- ^ a b Omohundro, John (2006). "An Appreciation of Lazy Beds". Newfoundland Quarterly. 99 (1): 29–31.
- ^ a b Harrod, TR (2017). Soils in Devon IX - Soil Survey Record No. 117 (PDF). p. 103. ISBN 978-1-9998453-0-8.
- ^ a b Anderson, John (1998). "The First Statistical Account of Parishes of Stronsay and Eday" (PDF). Sib Folk News: The Newsletter of the Orkney Family History Society (7): 11.
- ^ Page, CJ (2002). "Manx Farming Communities and Traditions. An examination of Manx farming between 1750 and 1900" (PDF). Scotish Society for Northern Studies.
- ^ "Farming and Gardening". Observer's Weekly. 1936-04-21. p. 31. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ Sanders, T.W. (1905). The Book of the Potato (PDF). London: W.H. & L. Collingridge. p. 76.
- ^ Traverse, Ross (1982). "Seaweed for Newfoundland and Labrador Gardens". Decks Awash. 11 (1): 46.
- ^ Mann 2011, Lazy Beds.
- ^ O Buachalla, Liam (1937). "Some reflections on the social and economic organisation of Connemara". Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. 15 (7): 31–46.
- ^ Coote, Charles (1802). Statistical Survey of the County of Cavan (PDF). Dublin Society.
- ^ Mann 2011, p. 229.
- ^ Malley, George Orme (1870). "The Utilization of the Reclaimable Waste Lands of Ireland". Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. 5: 168–183.
- ^ Ward, Tam (1992). Upper Clydesdale Through The Ages - The M74 Project (Archaeology) (PDF). Biggar Archaeology Group. ISBN 0 9520145 0 5.
- ^ Pope, Peter E. (2008). "An Archaeology of the Petit Nord - Summer 2007" (PDF). Provincial Archaeology Office 2007 Archaeology Review. 6. St. John's, NL: Department of Tourism, Culture & Recreation, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador: 54–59.
Bibliography
- Mann, Charles C. (2011). 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-26572-2.
External links
