32 



ONION-RA ISING. 



short steps, and making the hoe cut in both the forward and 

 backward slides. The great aim of the hoeing being to save 



all hand-weed- 

 ing possible, 

 the hoe should 

 be slid as near 

 as possible to 

 the side of one 

 of the rows, 

 and then, hav- 

 ing been drawn 

 back, should next be slid as near as practicable to the 

 other row. 



All the various weeding-hoes can be divided into those 

 whose blades are parallel with the ground, and those whose 

 blades are vertical to it. In a test I made a couple of years 

 ago with twelve different hoes, I found that those whose 



blades worked hori- 

 zontally were de- 

 cidedly the better 

 when the onions 

 were young, they 

 being less liable to 

 throw dirt over the 

 plants. The Ruhl- 

 man Hoe (see en- 

 graving) is a good 

 variety of the Wheel Hoe, to be used with profit when the 

 weeds are large, or the ground is hard. 



Within comparatively a few years, there has been invented 

 a new class of weed-hoes called " Straddlers," from the fact 

 that they straddle the rows, and so weed both sides at the 



