CHAPTER XXXIII 

 GARDEN TOOLS 



WE can scarcely work the garden without tools. Let me 

 at the beginning advise particular care in their choice. They 

 should, on the one hand, not be too big or heavy for the 

 worker's strength. A boy or girl working with a tool meant for 

 a man will find it much too heavy and clumsy, and will get so 

 tired that gardening will soon seem stupid and unprofitable. 

 On the other hand, the tools should not be too light, which 

 usually means flimsy. It is waste of money to buy such tools. 

 Gardening is most satisfactory when the tools are " just right." 

 Don't use men's tools, therefore, and, on the other hand, don't 

 be satisfied with the first set of child's tools that is offered at 

 the grocery. Go to the hardwareman and ask for better 

 tools, and if he cannot help you, go to the florist, or the seeds- 

 man. If you hunt long enough, you will find what you want, 

 strong but light, and neither too big nor too small. 



Although such tools will cost a little more than cheap ones, 

 yet they will outlast them many times, and their number need 

 not be great. Indeed, in a very small patch, after borrowing 

 a spade or fork for an hour, we can get along with a short 

 pointed stick. New York City children in the poorer sec- 

 tions cultivate their little gardens, which are only about five 

 feet by ten, entirely with sticks which the children themselves 

 shape and sharpen. They can be used to loosen the earth, to 

 dig out weeds, to make furrows for planting. 



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