x303. Letter from Lord Soniervtlle, 24' 



accidental approbation of Ducket's hand-hoe, which I was j^uilty 

 of recommending to notice fome yenrs ago. Doubts were en* 

 tertained, or rather niore than doubts, that a man could not 

 hoe as much land, in a given quantity of time, as was reprefent- 

 ed in that work. The itatement was not mine \ flill I can have 

 ;io doubt of the facH: ; nor will the Reviewer himfelf have any, 

 when he remembers, that the hoe cleans three rows of corn at 

 nine inches intervals, at once. If he wifi\es to know the extent 

 and importance of hand-hoeing, let him fcek for information in 

 the county of Eil'ex, which one of your authors confiders to be a 

 well-farmed county. Your Reviewer's furprife will ceafe, when 

 he learns how much is done there in a day, and in many other 

 counties, by the hoe of common conltrudlion. Let him alfo 

 advert to the price of hand-hoeing broadcaft turnips ; 4s. 6d. per 

 acre for the firll hoeing, a common price, where every turnip is 

 fet out and earthed up ; and a lefs fum for the fecond. 



I noticed, in a work lately pubJifiied, the Portuguefe hoe, ancf 

 expreiTed myfelf in the following words :— » 



* In the ufe of the hoe, the Portug\iefe excel in a very great 'legree. 

 The ftrong land in their vineyards, which mull be dug by' hand, could 

 not be worked by hoes upon a conftru6tion common with us ; but the 

 handle being (hort, as well as hght, the hoe, by its own weight and 

 conical form, cuts deep without much exertion. , Every man who has 

 feen thefe implements at work, will bear telHmony to their extraordina- 

 ry poy/ers. Mr Mark Ducket, in his ingenious invention of a hoe for 

 cleaning crops of all defcriptions, whether drilled, or Iiand-fet in rows, 

 feems to have availed himfelf of a fhort handle and heavy iron-work, 

 the exa6l reverfe of our common hoe, which, except on the lii/Iitefl 

 fands, demands great exertion to make any impreffion wliatever, if the 

 foil be dry. 



* Tiie inhabitants of mountainous diflricls on many parts of the con- 

 tinent fet us excellent examples, by taking advantage of every fpot of 

 foil, however Heep and difficult of accefs, and turning it to the ufe of 

 vegetation : Nor could this be eiTedied by any better implement than 

 the Portuguefe hoe. This hoe the author has put into the hands of a 

 Weil India gentleman, for the ufe of our colonies, who was boimd to 

 the Weil Indies, and driven into the Tagus in diibefs. The autlior 

 happening to exprefs his regret, that he had not, jull then, the means 

 of obtaining for him Mr Ducket's hoe, which, in conjun(R;ion with the 

 other, would form a complete fyilem of hand culture, where hand cul- 

 ture was reqiaifite, was furprifed and gratified to learn, that fome dozens 

 of thefe hoes were actually on board the veflel, for the ufe of the colo- 

 nies. It then occurred to him, that he had, in the courfe of lall fam-« 

 mer, fuggefted the ufe of this implement to a veiy diiiinguilhed perfon- 

 age, who intereils himfelf not a little in the welfare of thofe illands. 

 Jylany will perhaps fuppofe, that this hoe, however applicable elfewhcre, 



v/ould 



