Jul; u, iiea. ] 



JOUHNAii OF hokticultheb and cottage gasdenek. 



28,- 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



THE SPADE. 



EADERS of The Journal of 

 HoETICULTUEE Biust be mucli 

 obliged to the cori-espondent wJio 

 so ably described the market- 

 gardening of West Cornwall ; 

 and amongst other notices 

 mentions the ground as be- 

 ing dug over and the Po- 

 tatoes talien up with the 

 Cornish spade or shovel. 

 I believe there would be 

 great difficulty in inducing any other 

 class of workmen to use this imple- 

 ment. One we have at Linton lies 

 about, and is regarded more as an 

 object of curiosity tlian an article 

 to w-ork with. In shape the plate is 

 exactly like the spade on playing- 

 cards, and on that account may 

 either claim antiquity or distinc- 

 tion. The handle is either a plain, 

 round, straight one, like that of a 

 hayfork, or with a slight curve, but 

 no top cross-handle. There is also 

 a little bend at the neck. In this 

 respect these spades differ from the 

 navvy spade of the same form. In digging it is easy 

 to perceive they arc better adapted for entering the 

 ground than for lifting any groat quantity of mould from 

 it ; and it is easy to understand that much less power is 

 required to force them into the gi'ound than the ordinary 

 square-mouthed spade, but in the latter the hand assists 

 more in that dutj'. The unevenly-broken bottom of the 

 cultivated surface may, however, be better suited to vege- 

 tation when the work is done with the Cornish spade 

 than when it is performed with the ordinary one, as we 

 have every reason for believing that digging is better 

 than ploughing from the same cause ; still we cannot 

 admit the ira})lement to have any claims to general adop- 

 tion, and doubt not but time will see its final abandon- 

 ment. 



Taking a wide stride — or shall we say voyage.? — up 

 the channel to the other extremity of our triangular- 

 shaped country, we shall land in Kent, and there we find 

 that n<5 county certainly presents a greater extent of 

 surface under hand-cultivation ; and it is not too much 

 to say that, taking a circuit of several miles from where 

 I write, the extent of ground under the plough is not 

 double of that under the spade. This is a large proportion, 

 but in some parishes the quantity under hand-culture 

 is double tliat under plough ; and it might be thought that 

 where so large an area is operated upon, those engaged in 

 the work would for their own interest have long ago found 

 out the best implement for the purpose ; yet t expect 

 the tiller of tlie soil in other counties would shrink from 

 the use of the Kentish spud, as it is locally named, as 

 No. 120,-Toi. v., New Sebies. 



much as from the Cornish spade or shovel. Siai we 

 have no right to condemn the practice of others actil we 

 have duly inquired into all its bearings, and very often 

 we shall find oiir hasty condemnation was -wilLcml a, 

 cause. 



The Kentish spud is certainly not a tool oomn5«ndittg 

 itself to the amateur. It is in many instances of great 

 weight, the handle-socket reaching almost up to the toip ; 

 and the prongs, three in number, are flat at\heir points, 

 and gradually become square as they unite with the 

 cross-piece. The neck is much bent, so as to point the 

 prongs very much forward when the implement stands 

 upright. The advantage of this is to enable the -Jiggea- 

 to get over a larger space of ground by digging shallow ; 

 and as prongs are less hurtful amongst rootis than a 

 square-edged spade, the implement is of course adapted 

 to the Hop-gardens and fruit-orchards, which oonBtitmte 

 so large :i part of the ground cultivated in this way. 

 Most ordinary digging of plain ground is also done witli 

 the same implement ; and whether such be clayey or 

 stony the strong tines of the spud find thei'- way down- 

 wards better than the .spade would do. Tn TQxy light 

 ground the spade may be used; but it is far from being 

 in much repute, excepting in such gardening operations 

 as cannot well be accomplished with the spud. 



I believe, but am not certain, that the Potato-fork, ,as' 

 it is called, had its origin in Ireland; hut whether so 

 or not, it is certainly to a stranger an implement easier' 

 to manage than the Kentish spud. In it t.tjee rath«sp , 

 broad prongs, much shorter and more straight, sire set 

 into a head or handle of much the same description 8s ■' 

 the other, but it is altogether so much lighter that it is 

 much easier to wield. Its use is widely diffused, an'ff 

 some of the stiff lands of Hertfordsliire and adjoining 

 counties are much easier turned over with it than with 

 tlic spade. There are also many modifications of it, and 

 of course various sizes. One, a sort of hybrid lietween, , 

 a fork and the spade, has the tips of all its tinea united tp ' 

 a plate having an edge like a spade. Thu adyantEge of 

 this is strength, and in ground that sticks tenaciously 

 to the tool there is less space for it to do so, and it 

 delivers its load more readily. It, however, requires the 

 same amount of force to induce it to enter the gi'onnd 

 as the spade, and, not possessing some of the advantages 

 of that tool, is not much used; but the ordinary threo- 

 tined digging-fork is in general repute in most of the 

 midland counties, and is unquestionably a useful ai tide. 



The morc-recently-introduced steel diggiog-foiks, by 

 some of the best implement-makers, are nuqucsticnably 

 making tbeir way, from being adopted by spirited 

 individuals in various districts. They are generally 

 four-tined, and when made of good steel and not too 

 slight they work very freely, clearing themselves well. 

 Some of them, however, appear to be too weak for the 

 stiff heavy lands, or to do such stubborn work as trench- 

 ing and the like, but no doubt a stouter ai-ticle can be 

 had ; whde to the amateur, who likes a tool that will 

 enter the ground easily, is liyht to handle, and to which 

 the wettest soil finds but little space to cling, the steel'' 

 No. 772.— 'Voi,. XXX., Old SemES. 



