Book IV. 



IMPLEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



71 



^fe ^^ ^^^ 



has been recommended as adapted to thin either at a greater or less distance, according to the depth it is 



thrust into the soil. Lord Somerville recommends the forked tool {Jig. 215. a.) or heavy hoe, used in the 



vineyards on the Continent ; but it is an implement more ^^ , 



oppressive to the cultivator than a spade, as it requires hira ffa () n -'^" f f 



to stoop very low. Ducket, jun. recommends a treble hoe n ii i 



(b) for thinning ; another of a different description (c) for 



making drills by drawing ; one for making them by striking 



in a line, in order to form a trench for dung and potatoes A;:?:^^^--^ C //^^^ 



(/) ; one for forming a drill in the common way (e) ; and, ^\^ -^^====^^^7^^ ^ 



lastly, one for hoeing both sides of a drill at once {d). It is \ \ "''"' i^^ ^T^~" 



said that by this last tool two acres of barley may be hoed \t^ ^^^ \1 



in a day, and that it makes good work among oats or wheat : \ v:^ ^J 



but such hoeing, even on the slightest soils, can be little ^ 



more than a mere scraping of the surface ; and though the weeds may be cut, yet this is only one object 



of hoeing. 



217 A 2460. The Dutch hoe is more frequently used in gardening than in 

 agriculture ; but, as it may sometimes be found preferable to the spade or 

 dew-hoe, in cutting the weeds at the roots of young hedges and trees, 

 where it is not desirable to stir the soil more than an inch deep, we shall 

 introduce a figure of the most improved form [Jig. 217.) 



2461. The thrust hoe (Jig. 218.) is an improvement on 

 the Dutch hoe. (Gard. Mag. vol. i. p. 343.) 

 2462. The Spa7iish hoe (Jig. 219.) may be usefully employed on some 

 occasions in stirring the soil among potatoes, where roots and weeds are 

 abundant. To render stooping unnecessary, 

 it should have a long handle. ( Gard. Mag. 

 vol. ii. p. 65.) 



2463. The hoe-Jork may be used as the 

 Spanish hoe, and is most valuable where the roots of couch- 

 grass abound. (Gard. Mag. vol. ii.) 



2464. The scraper may be described as a broad hoe, of 

 treble the usual size and strength, used in cleaning roads 

 or court-yards, and sometimes in cleaning grassy surfaces. 

 One with the ends of the blade turned inwards an inch or 

 two is found more effective in scraping the mud or dust 

 from roads. 



2465. Of weeding-tools used in agriculture there are three or four kinds ; one with a 

 long handle and fulcrum to the blade, for digging docks and other tap-rooted plants from 

 pastures ; a common spud or spadelet for cutting smaller weeds in hedges or standing 

 corn ; a thistle-spud for cutting and rooting out thistles in pastures ; besides short-handled 

 weeders of different kinds, to be used in hand-weeding young and delicate broad-cast 

 crops, as onions, &c. in stiff soils. 



2466. Bakers thistle extirpator (Jig. 220. ) is an effective implement where that weed 



220 



219 



^ 



abounds. It consists of a handle about four feet six inches long (a), claws between 

 which the thistle is received (b), a fulcrum over which the purchase is obtained for 

 extracting the root (c), and an iron rod or bar upon which the foot is placed to thrust the 

 claws into the ground (d). In case the root of the thistle breaks while the operator is 

 endeavouring to extract it, there is a curved blade, which has a sharp end like a chisel (e), 

 which is thrust into the ground, in order to cut off the underground stem, some inches 

 below the surface, and thus prevent or retard the re- 

 appearance of the weed. 



2467. Weediiig-pincers, or thistle-drawers (Jig. 221 . 

 o, b) are sometimes used for pulling thistles out of 

 hedges and from among standing com : the handles 

 are about two feet six inches long, and the blades 

 faced with plate iron made rough by cross channels 

 or indentations. There is a variety of this implement 

 called the Havre pincers (6), which is used in France 

 both for pulling thistles and other weeds, and for 

 taking tench and eels from the ponds. (Thouin.) 



2468. The besoms used in farming are commonly 

 small faggots with handles, formed of birch spray, for 

 the stables and cattle-houses, and of broom, heath, straw, &c. for the barns. 



2469. The straw-rope-twister, or twisting-crook (Jig. 222.) is used for twisting straw 

 ropes, and consists of a stick or rod from two to three feet long, and from one inch to 



B b 2 



