24:6 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



of wet and dry weather, and by prying with them, and other 

 rough and hard usage, shovels that are correctly hung are often 

 brought into a shape like Fig. 108 before they are one quarter 

 worn out. The handles of such shovels ought to be made of 

 timber having a natural crook, not bent, and then there would be 

 little liability to spring out straight. Let the blades of shovels 

 be kept bright by wiping them dry after using them, and apply 

 ing a few drops of oil, not salted grease, as many do, for salt wih 

 rust iron, and keep the handles near the blade well painted, and 

 never use a shovel for spading or prying, for it is not a spade 

 nor a handspike. "When a shovel is used to spade with, the 

 almost certain consequence is, that the blade will be bent directly 

 across the middle. What has been penned holds equally good 

 with reference to the hanging of scoop shovels, and of forks for 

 pitching manure. 



BOOT IRON FOR SPADINQ. 



326. In spading or shovelling, when it is necessary to stamp 

 the spade into the dirt with one foot, the shoulder of the spade 

 or shovel would, in a short time, wear the sole of a boot entirely 

 through, besides making the foot tender or lame. To obviate all 

 such occurrences, a boot iron, Fig. 112, is used for the purpose 



FIG. 112. 



a 



BOOT IEON FOB SPADING. 



of protecting the boot, and for giving efficiency to the force of 

 the laborer, a is the sole of it, made of iron, about three-six 

 teenths of an inch thick, as long as the boot is wide, and about 

 two inches in width from the flange e to the forward edge of the 

 iron at a. At b is one of the ears through which the leather 



