132 



TOOLS USED IN HORTICULTURE. 



stronger soils, it should be less broad, and the iron should be thicker ; and 

 for thinning seedlings, such as onions, lettuce, or turnips, the blade need not 

 be more than two inches broad. The triangular hoe, fig. 20, a, is useful in 

 light soils, and for separating, by its acute angles, weeds which grow close to 

 the plants, to be left, and also for thinning out seedlings ; but for loosening 

 the soil among seedling- trees, or other plants growing close together on strong 

 soil, the pointed or Spanish hoe or pick, fig. 21, deserves the preference. 

 One of these tools has a short handle, and is used for 

 stirring the soil in narrow intervals among the plants 

 sown broadcast hi beds ; the other is worked with a long 

 handle, like a common draw- hoe ; and it has a cross- 

 piece on the neck of the blade, which serves as a guide 

 to the operator in directing the blade perpendicularly 

 downwards, instead of to one side, when it might ma- 

 terially injure tap roots. In France and other parts of 

 the Continent, there is an almost endless variety of hoes 

 and hoe-picks, a number of which will be found figured 



Fig 21. Spanish hoes. and described m the Gard , Mag ^ and in the Emyc. of 



Gard., 3d ed., 1832. Sometimes a draw hoe and a rake, or a draw hoe and 

 a hoe pick, are fixed back to back, as shown in fig. 20 ; but these instru- 

 ments are not much used. The common draw hoe, also shown in fig. 20, 

 will suffice for most garden purposes. 



395. Scrapers, fig. 22, are narrow pieces of board, 

 or of sheet-iron, fixed to a long handle in the same 

 manner as a draw hoe, and used to scrape the worm 

 casts from lawns or walks. Where worms are kept- 

 Fig. 22. Lawn-scraper. under by the use of lime-water, these tools are 

 scarcely necessary. 



396. Thrust hoes, fig. 23, may be considered as intermediate between 

 the draw hoe and the spade. The 



common form is shown at o, and a 

 modification of it at e; but 6, the 

 blade of which is of steel, and sharp 

 on every side, so as to cut either 

 backwards or forwards, or on either 

 side, is a more efficient implement ; 

 though in the hands of a careless ope- 

 rator it is liable to wound the plants, 

 among which it is used for loosening 

 the soil, or cutting up the weeds. 

 Booker's hoe, c, is a very powerful im- 

 plement, but liable to the same objec- 

 tion ; as is Knight's hoe, d. Thrust 

 hoes are best adapted for light soils, and for cutting over annual weeds; they 

 are also most suitable for hoeing between plants in rows, where the branches 

 reach across the intervals ; because no vertical stroke being ever given by the 

 thrust hoe, as with the draw hoe, the branches are less likely to be injured. 

 The hoes a and e are, perhaps, the strongest and safest for general use. 



397. Spades, fig. 24. The spade consists of the grasping-piece or handle, 

 or upper extremity, a ; the shaft, which joins the handle to the blade b ; 

 the hose, or pail of the blade into which the handle is inserted, c ; the hilts, 



Fig. 23. Thrust-hoes. 



