The Busy Woman s Garden Book 



scuffle-hoe is a real boon to the gardener in obvi- 

 ating this difficulty as in using it one walks back- 

 wards, pushing the hoe from one instead of draw- 

 ing it towards one as is done with the common 

 garden hoe; this leaves a beautiful, clean tilth, 

 absolutely free from trampled areas and nothing 

 cut off by the hoe will take on a new lease of 

 life over night. More real work can be accom- 

 plished by the use of the scuffle than with any 

 other tool in the garden; it does not supplant 

 altogether the wheel cultivator but does its work 

 when used alternately with it; the cultivator 

 breaking up the soil to a greater depth, and more 

 rapidly than the scuffle, but the latter destroys 

 far more thoroughly all weeds and reaches closer 

 to the plants, slipping underneath the leaves and 

 close to the stems and routing out any and all 

 weeds lurking there. The cultivator leaves the 

 ground in ridges and aerates it, the scuffle levels 

 it again and produces a fine dust-mulch which will 

 preserve the moisture until another rain calls for 

 the use of the cultivator. 



Unless the season is a very rainy one, one good 

 4*4^ 



