56 



AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



u U 



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the manufacturers ; in heavy work they are apt to become loose. 

 Besides their common use as potato-diggers, they are also val- 

 uable for loosening the earth among young crops, around plants, 

 and in narrow borders where it is desirable to avoid treading 

 upon the newly-loosened soil ; for removing grass that has be- 

 come sodded among edging or near the roots of plants ; also for 

 " chopping over" ground that has become dry, before sowing 

 it ; for covering seeds sown in drills, and for many of the gen- 

 eral purposes of a small rake. 



RAKES. 



The wood-headed rake (Figures 54, 55) is a familiar garden 

 Fig. 54. Fig. 55. tool. The head of a rake is 



3 the bar, into which the teeth 

 are fastened, or to which 

 they are attached. When 

 this is of wood, the end of 

 the handle is tapered and 

 inserted at the centre of the 

 , bar. having two or more 



Smaller wood-headed * & 



Rake. side-braces of tough wood or 



pretty strong wire. They have eight, or 

 ten, or twelve teeth, at about an inch apart, 



Larger wood-headed Rake. whlch afe either clinched, Or, mOTO neatly, 



riveted in with small burrs. Such rakes are 

 to be found, of excellent make, in almost every country store r 

 their single general defect being that the handles are from six 

 inches to a foot too short. It is not force, but reach, that is 

 required in a rake ; and the handle of a garden-rake should be 

 but little, if any, shorter than that of the ordinary hay-rake. 

 Cast-steel rakes of various sizes (Fig. 56), with heads to 



Fig, se. which the teeth are welded, not riveted, having 

 | it I! 1 1! j\vii II iTil either shank or socket for the handle, though, 



Ivflffl v! I i n general, the former is preferable, are also 

 cast-steel Rake, with found in company with the former, the handles 



shank. having the same defect ; but in other respects 

 they are all that can be desired, except where, for special rea- 

 sons, the wood head may be preferred. 



