COST OF EQUIPMENT 



which it is well to mark off by painted lines into 

 feet of which the first shall be divided into halves 

 and quarters.* A longer handle in unskilful 

 hands is likely to ram one's neighbor. Children's 

 tools, except for very little children (and then 

 only if of good make), are valueless. Nor is the 

 combination rake and hoe to be recommended 

 except in handling very light soils. It is too 

 liable to bend or break. Hoes of the heel shape 

 or "half-moon" type are better because they lack 

 sharp, straight edges; with them children are less 

 likely to cut outlying roots or sprawling vines. 

 Rakes should not be over a foot wide; better ten 

 inches with eight or ten teeth so as to move easily 

 between rows planted but a foot apart. 



There is one rule which should be vigilantly 

 and eternally and omnipresently enforced: No 

 child should be allowed to lay down hoe or rake 

 except with its edges or teeth resting on the ground. 

 A first lesson in the handling of tools should en- 

 force this rule. It should be shown how easily 

 the handle of either, if accidentally stepped upon, 

 when the tool is not face down to earth, springs 

 up to strike any one nearby — and not always the 

 careless person. It should also be drilled into 

 the children that to step on the sharp edge of the 

 hoe or teeth of the rake is often a painful thing 

 if one wears shoes ; that it is a dangerous and some- 



♦ It is better to burn in the marks, which may be done by ringing 

 them with several strands of string soaked in kerosene and setting 

 them afire. 



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