THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



best hoe I ever used for hoeing corn looked a good 

 deal like a rake, but the teeth were thin and half 

 an inch broad. 



One trouble with all these hoes is that the oper- 

 ator walks over the ground he has already worked, 

 and treads the weeds which have just been cut 

 off back into the earth, where they take root again. 

 With a scuffle-hoe it is different. The best way to 

 use this is for the operator to walk backward, so 

 that the newly stirred ground shall not be walked 

 on. Most of these scuffle-hoes have straight edges 

 and are pushed, but there are V-shaped ones which 

 are made to pull, the ends of which are turned up, 

 so that the possibility of cutting off a plant is re- 

 moved. When using an ordinary hoe, one invari- 

 ably bends his back. There is no necessity for doing 

 so, but, somehow, nearly every one does it. With 

 a scuffle-hoe this tendency is entirely obviated. You 

 can pull or push a scuffle-hoe all day without get- 

 ting a backache. 



There is a scuffle-hoe made mounted on a wheel 

 which is pushed " steady by jerks," as is the ordi- 

 nary wheel-hoe. Although I have never used it, I 

 like its appearance very much. 



The spade is a necessary tool in the garden, for 

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