236 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



good work. The bowl is frequently made in a straight line with 

 the handle, whereas, there should be so much hang to it that 

 when it is full of dirt there will be no tendency to turn over in 

 the hands of the workman. (See SHOVELS, paragraph 323.) 

 There should be so much hang (see HANG, in the next vol.) 

 or crook to it that, in filling it with dirt, it must be carried to 

 the opposite side of the post hole from where the digger is 

 standing, and then crowded down into the dirt, not by thrust 

 ing, but by the weight of the operator, and as it enters the 

 dirt it should be carried back to the other side of the hole. 

 Fig. 104 represents a side view of the dirt-spoon, by which it 



FIG. 104. 



SIDE VIEW OF DIRT-SPOON 



will be seen what is about the correct shape for the bowl, and 

 crook of the handle. Our old-fashioned ladles for scooping 

 boiled beans from the dinner-pot come nearer to a dirt-spoon 

 than any other implement, and when a ladle hangs cor 

 rectly for dipping beans out of a dinner pot, it may be used 

 as a model for making a post- or dirt-spoon. The handle of 

 the dirt-spoon may be of wood, and bent like a shovel- 

 handle ; or the spoon may have an iron shank, a foot or so in 

 length, bent in proper shape, like Fig. 104. Let the bowl be 

 kept bright, so that dirt will not adhere to it, and clean it with a 

 little paddle, instead of striking it on a stone or block to knock 

 the dirt off. When it is struck on a stone to clean the dirt off, 

 the edges will soon become all stove up, and the dirt will not 

 slip off" readily. 



THE PLUMB RULE. 



" From the zenith above to the nadir below, 

 A plumb in a vertical line will go." GRAY. 



319. The plumb rule, Fig. 105, is made of a strip of board 



