.)(; 



AMERICAN HOME GAEDEX. 



I^ 



TF 



the manufactm-ers ; in hea-vy Avork they are apt to become loose. 

 Besides their common iise as potato-diggers, they ai'e also val- 

 uable for loosening the earth among young crops, ai'omid plants, 

 and in narrow borders ivhere it is desirable to avoid treading 

 upon the newly-loosened soil ; for removing grass that has be- 

 come sodded among edging or near the roots of plants ; also for 

 " chopping over" ground that has become dry, Ijefore sowing 

 It ; for covering seeds sown in drills, and for many of the gen- 

 eral purposes of a small rake. 



KAKES. 



The wood-headed rake (Figm-es 54, .55) is a flimiliar garden 

 Fif. 51. 1 ig. 55. tool. The head of a rake is 



■•'■'••••"•"■ -^ '/;/"y//'i///p^ the bar, into which the teeth 

 I'fKflr'^' are fastened, or to which 

 they ai-e attached. "When 

 this is of wood, the end of 

 the handle is taperetl and 

 inserted at the centre of the 

 , „ , , , , bar. having t vo or more 



Smaller wood-hoadecl ' f i i 



Hake. side-braces ot tough wood or 



pretty strong wire. They have eight, or 

 ten, or twelve teeth, at about an inch apart, 

 which are either clinched, or, .iiore neatly, 

 riveted in with small bmTs. Such rakes are 

 to ))e found, of excellent make, in almost every cuntrj- store, 

 their single general defect being that the handles are from six 

 inches to a foot too short. It is not force, but reach, that is 

 required in a rake ; anl the handle of a garden-rake should be 

 Ijut little, if any, shorter than that of the ordinary hay-rake. 

 Cast-steel rakes of various sizes (Fig. 56), with heads to 

 1 ig. K. which the teeth ai-e welded, not ri'-eted, having 



either shank or socket for the handle, though, 

 in general, the former is preferable, are also 

 <n.,i-stceii;ake, M-ith fouiul ill compaiiy with the former, the handles 

 suniik. having the same defect ; but in On.er respects 



they are all that can be desired, except where, for special rea- 

 sons, the wood head may be preferred. 



Largr-r wood-headed Rake. 



