GARDEN TOOLS 241 



inches apart ; and a full-sized rake cannot get in between the 

 rows for cultivating. 



The cultivating tool that I find altogether the best is the 

 so called weeding-hoe, which is a combination of rake and 

 hoe. It is not so entirely convenient for digging out a deep 

 furrow as is a real hoe, since the earth falls through its open- 

 ings and back into the furrow. But it will open a shallow 

 furrow very satisfactorily, is perfect for covering seeds or for 

 raking, and if when raking one comes across an obstinate 

 weed, the rake is turned upside down, a stroke of the hoe- 

 blade cuts the weed, and then one can go to raking again. 

 If I could have but one cultivating tool in my garden, it 

 should be a weeding-hoe. 



For marking out the garden, and for planting, one needs a 

 line and stakes and labels. The line may be any piece of 

 strong string of sufficient length. If you wish it to last long, 

 dip it in melted wax. Extra strong, non-kinking line may be 

 bought at the seedsman's. The line may be wound on a 

 stick, kite 1 string fashion ; I never do anything else. Or you 

 can buy or make a kind of reel on a stick that is very satis- 

 factory, although I think it clumsy for anything except a 

 very long line. You need two sticks, of course, the second 

 for the end of the row ; over it is looped the string. Labels 

 may be only short sticks to mark the ends of planted rows 

 in gardens so small that the owner can easily remember the 

 kind of plant and the date of planting. But for larger gar- 

 dens it is not well to rely. on the memory. Make the labels 

 flat and smooth at the ends, and dip these in white paint. 

 Then you can write on them the variety planted, and the 

 date. Labels had best be an eighth of an inch thick, in order 

 to come safely through accidents. The very thin ones that 

 one buys at the seedsman's will, if stepped on when hidden by 

 leaves, snap in an instant. 



