FARM IMPLEMENTS.' 105 



feature of some importance, since it insures its use in inaiiy 

 lauds, where a more expensive machine would not find its way. 

 It sows onions, turnips and other similar seeds, with great uni- 

 formity, and mangolds, carrots, beets, etc., as we^l as any machine 

 I have examined. 



Weeding Hoes. The first American patent for improv^e- 

 ment in hoes was granted in 1819, and for cast steel hoes in 

 1827, though cast steel hoes were made in Philadelphia, by two 

 establishments, as early as 1823. The business in the manu- 

 facture of these and other small agricultural implements has 

 grown up to immense proportions, employing a large number 

 of hands. For lightness and high finish, combined with 

 strength and durability, American hoes are unrivalled. 



Allen's Weeding IIoe. A simple but effective and valu- 

 able implement is a weeding hoe, invented by Geo. P. Allen, of 

 Woodbury, Connecticut. {Fig. 50.) 



It is a scuflle hoe, to be worked back and forth between the 

 rows of vegetables, running just beneath the surface. It is one 

 of the most useful little implements in the garden, and in clean- 

 ing walks. The zigzag edges of the blade greatly increase the 

 cutting surface, and make it easy of operation and very useful 

 in destroying weeds. It is appropriately named "the weed 

 killer." 



Implements for Harvesting. But by fiir the mo?t 

 striking improvements in modern agricultural implements, are 

 those connected with the harvesting of crops, particularly the 

 grass crop and the smaller grains. So important have these 

 become to the welfare of society, that if we could suppose them 

 to be blotted out of existence, even for a single season, it would 

 produce a shock, which would be felt all over the civilized 

 world. And yet scarcely more than fifteen years have elapsed, 

 since the practical economy of mowers and reapers became an 



