FERTILIZATION. CULTIVATION. IRRIGATION 49 



.the roots, and therefore a light working of the soil 

 in spring followed by a heavy mulch of stable 

 manure, etc., is an excellent plan to follow ; in the 

 fall a mulch of strawy manure, etc., protects and 

 fertilizes the roots of vines, plants, bushes, etc., dur- 

 ing cold weather, and prevents the alternate freezing 

 and thawing which causes plants to "heave" out of 

 the ground more or less. 



IMPLEMENTS FOR CULTIVATION. For a small gar- 

 den I should choose a medium-sized, ordinary-shaped 

 hand hoe; a single-wheel hoe and its various attach- 

 ments of tiny rakes, cultivator teeth, plows, etc. ; 

 one wide, iron hand rake (say about sixteen teeth), 

 and a narrow one with not more than eight teeth; 

 and one or two of the claw-like hand weeders here 

 illustrated. In addition I should buy an extra hand 

 hoe and cut it with a file into the shape shown by 



HAND WEEDERS A REMODELED HOE SCUFFLE HOES 



the dotted lines in the accompanying picture ; this 

 kind of a hoe is very useful at times, especially in the 

 strawberry patch. The narrow rake mentioned, can, 

 in mellow ground, often be used easier and to better 

 advantage than any hoe. 



Some gardeners prefer one style of wheel hoe, 

 some another; there are several good makes on the 

 market and the amateur can not go far astray if he 

 buys any one of them. But I should not advise the 

 purchase of the combinations of seeder and wheel 



