30 AN EGG FARM. 



They are both built of wood, edged and bound with 

 iron. The shovel is made somewhat corcave, being 

 designed to move a pretty full load for a short distance ; 

 the scraper, which only skims the surface, is made 

 straight. A rope is used instead of an iron bail for draft 

 attachment in the shovel to make it lighter, and for the 

 same reason the iron edge and bands are thin. The 

 mass moved being very dry, light, and mellow, admits 

 of a rather slight construction of the implement ; and, 

 as this is to be used by backing the team at every shov- 

 elful, and pulling the shovel back by hand, as little 

 weight as possible is desirable. The wooden rod con- 



FIG. 5. SHOVEL FOR DRY EARTH. 



necting the two crooked handles of the shovel is essen 

 tial, serving as a convenient handle in backing. Now, 

 during a time of dry weather, by harrowing your ground 

 with the short-toothed harrow or the barbed wire drag, 

 half a dozen times on a hot day, the soil will become 

 sufficiently pulverized, and also advanced one stage in dry- 

 ness. The next da} 7 watching the weather as closely as 

 a haymaker hitch your horse to the scraper, and try to 

 scrape 1 in. deep, no more, and gather the earth into 

 small windrows, extending regularly across the field, the 

 operation being like raking hay. Next, make the team 

 follow the windrows, and cock the dirt into heaps of a 



