THE HANDLING OF THE LAND 97 
suit any taste and almost any kind of tillage. For the best 
results, it is essential that the wheel should be large and with a 
broad tire, that it may override obstacles. Figure 90 shows an 
excellent type of wheel-hoe with five blades, and Fig. 91 shows 
one with a single blade and that may be used in very narrow 
rows. ‘Two-wheeled hoes (Fig. 92) are often used, particularly 
when it is necessary to have the implement very steady, and 
the wheels may straddle the rows of low plants. Many of these 
wheel-hoes are provided with various shapes of blades, so that 
the implement may be adjusted to many kinds of work. Nearly 
all the weeding of beds of onions and like plants can be done 
by means of these wheel-hoes, if the ground is well prepared in 
the beginning; but it must be remembered that they are of 
comparatively small use on very hard and cloddy and stony 
lands. 
The saving of morsture. 
The garden must have a liberal supply of moisture. The 
first effort toward securing this supply should be the saving 
of the rainfall water. 
Proper preparation and tillage put the land in such condition 
that it holds the water of rainfall. Land that is very hard and 
compact may shed the rainfall, particularly if it is sloping and 
if the surface is bare of vegetation. If the hard-pan is near the 
surface, the land cannot hold much water, and any ordinary 
rainfall may fill it so full that it overflows, or puddles stand on 
the surface. On land in good tilth, the water of rainfall sinks 
away, and is not visible as free water. 
As soon as the moisture begins to pass from the superin- 
cumbent atmosphere, evaporation begins from the surface of 
the land. Any body interposed between the land and the air 
checks this evaporation; this is why there is moisture under- 
neath a board. It is impracticable, however, to floor over the 
garden with boards, but any covering will have similar effect, 
H 
