TOOLS AND SUPPLIES 35 



blade bent toward the row easily draws the soil 

 close to the delicate seedlings, and makes it pos- 

 sible to keep the soil over the young roots without 

 injuring the tops. At the same time, its filed edge 

 snips off any weeds starting along the row. After 

 the rows of seedlings are thinned, the small blade 

 is able to work close around each plant. Such a 

 hoe is as useful as a small hand-weeder, with the 

 added advantage that the long handle enables the 

 worker to avoid the strain of constant bending. 



The best all-around garden implement is the 

 potato hook. Select it yourself ; see that it is light 

 in weight; that it hangs right 2 is properly bal- 

 anced. Out-doors, as well as in-doors, ease of 

 work depends much on the tool. A potato hook is 

 worth far more than a wheel cultivator. With it, 

 the rows may be deeply and evenly prepared for 

 seeding and ridged up, as well, when desired; 

 the stones, all but the very finest, whipped out of 

 the way. Then, turned over, the bend next the 

 handle marks the tiny furrow for the seed, while 

 the back of the hook smooths the surface. Cover- 

 ing the seeds is managed perhaps more easily with 

 the hoe, but a shove with the back of the hook 

 will do it nicely and without the bother of chang- 

 ing tools. There is no better cultivator. With 

 it, one may vary the depth to be cultivated, largely 

 by the height at which the handle is held. No 

 other implement works so satisfactorily along 

 rows of roots, rendering the texture of the soil 



