32 



GENERAL ADVICE 



For small beds of flowers or vegetables, hand- 

 weeders of various patterns are essential to easy 

 and efficient work. One of the best pat- 

 terns, with long and short handles, is 

 shown in Fig. 24. Another style, which 

 may be made at home of hoop -iron, is 

 drawn in Fig. 25. A finger-weeder is 

 shown in Fig. 26. Many patterns of 

 hand-weeders are in the market, and 

 other forms will suggest themselves to 

 the operator. 



Small hand -tools for digging, as trow- 

 els, dibbers and spuds, may be had of 

 dealers. In buying a trowel it is econ- 

 omy to pay an extra price and secure a 

 steel blade with a strong shank which 

 runs through the entire length of the 

 handle. One of these tools 

 will last several years and <=/? ' 

 may be used in hard soil, // 

 but the cheap trowels are // 

 generally hardly 

 worth the buy- 

 ^ ing. One of 

 the steel imple- 

 31. Weed-cutter, ments may be 

 secured to a 



long handle; or the blade of a broken trowel may 

 be utilized in the same way (Fig. 27). A very 

 good trowel may also be made from a discarded 



32. Hand-roller. 



