258 THE beginner's garden book 



leaves the whole garden a perfect seed bed. But mastery 

 of the rake is not easy. One must learn to rake deeper or 

 shallower, according to need, by lowering or raising the 

 handle. One must learn how to fill hollows by pushing or 

 pulling, and even by using the back of the rake. One must 

 train one's eye to know when the surface is evenly graded. 

 And, finally, one must not be satisfied with anything short of 

 a "good job." 



One more thing every gardener should know, and that is how 

 to use the hoe. I speak now of preparing a large surface" 

 which has already been spaded, or plowed, but in which 

 weeds have sprouted. Since spading is here not needed, the 

 hoe is the weapon to be used, and it is used in a particular 

 manner. With the rake one works backward, leaving behind 

 a perfectly smooth surface. But with the hoe one must work 

 forward, and tramp on the ground that has been worked on. 

 This is because of the nature of the tool, and there is no es- 

 cape from it. We begin, as with spading, by imagining the 

 garden cut into strips, and we hoe them one by one. Advanc- 

 ing from the very edge of the bed, we slice the whole surface 

 with short, sharp strokes. This action moves the earth 

 toward us, so that when we have finished with a strip, its 

 whole surface has moved a little in the direction from which 

 we have come. We cut to the depth of two inches or more ; 

 a skillful and determined worker will slice to the full depth of 

 his blade. As we go we take pains to cut every weed at or 

 below the surface of the ground, so that when severed from its 

 root it will die. The work is easier, we soon shall find, if 

 we strike, not with the whole edge of the blade, but with one 

 of the corners. We shall be wise, also, to sharpen the edge, 

 from time to time, with a coarse file. We shall discover that 

 much of the work can be done by the weight of the hoe in 

 falling, and that we shall not have to lift it very high. But 



