i 

 244 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



lines show the angle at which the straight part of the handle and 

 the blade should stand with each other, in order to have a shovel 

 hang in such a manner as to work easily. When a man takes 

 such a shovel in his hands across one knee, as if he were about 

 to shovel dirt, the blade should lie nearly flat on the ground, 

 on a level with his feet. This will be readily comprehended 

 by the dotted lines. Every laborer who knows how to handle a 

 dirt shovel with dexterity, knows that the blade of a shovel 

 must lie nearly flat on the ground, in order to enter the dirt 

 with the least force of the operator. In Fig. 109, for example, 

 the dotted line a b represents the level on which the laborer 

 stands. The blade lies flat on this level. -One hand of the work 

 man grasps the handle at c, and the other hand at d, while the 

 handle rests across one knee at e. Now by a slight motion 

 of the body forward, the shovel is thrust in with the least 

 possible force, and by the motions then of straightening up and 

 thrusting down the hand at d, as already mentioned, shovelling is 

 performed with as little fatigue and force of a laborer as it is 

 possible to do it. With a shovel hung like Fig. 109, a laborer 

 can avail himself of some mechanical advantage in shovelling; 

 whereas, with a shovel exactly like it, which has a short handle, 

 like the handle of a spade, one hand must not only lift much 

 more than a shovelful, but it must operate as a fulcrum for the 

 other hand to pry across, so as to balance the shovelful. A 

 shovel like Fig. 109 is not designed to be used in ditching, or 

 for shovelling up ridges along a fence, because it is so wide 

 at the entering edge that twice as much force is required to 

 make it enter the dirt as is required for a shovel like Fig. 1 1 of 

 the same width. For shovelling sand or mortar, or for clean 

 ing stables and such like, a shovel like Fig. 109 is preferable 

 to one like Fig. 110, which represents a round-pointed ditching 

 shovel, or the best kind of a shovel for casting up a ridge along 

 a fence. Fig. Ill represents a round-pointed shovel similar h> 

 Fig. 110, with the sides turned up by a blacksmith, for working 

 in a narrow channel or ditch. Figs. 109, 110 and 111 are all 

 hung alike, as will be seen by the dotted lines, and hung ac- 



