Garden Tools that Really Help, I.—By J. L. Kayan, »x: 
THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF CRITICAL STUDIES BY AN AMATEUR WHO HAS TRIED ALL PATTERNS OF TOOLS, NOT MERE 
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTIONS, BUT A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT OF THE TOOLS THAT EXCEL, AND WHY THEY,DO so 
[Epiror’s Nore—Mr. Kayan is the author of two other remarkably interesting articles already published in THE GarpeN Magazine, viz: “A Vest-pocket Sysar of Garden 
Records,” in February, 1907, and “ How to Plan a Perfect Vegetable Garden,” last month. He carefully analyzes the problem before him and the conclusions reached have the special merit 
of being matured, logical deductions of some years, not snap judgments based on fancy or partial trials.| 
(poe tools only, a hoe a rake and a 
spade, are considered by many people 
to be an adequate equipment of gardening 
tools. But the progressive gardener finds 
that to perform each gardening operation 
quickly and thoroughly a larger assortment 
is a necessity. To meet the argument of 
those who claim they cannot be bothered 
with special tools for special purposes, I 
say that a competent workman in any line 
never attempts to perform all his work with 
one tool—he knows it would be impossible. 
1. Trowels and weeders showing the forms of 
blades and, above, the angle at which they should 
be set to do the most effectual work 
No mechanic would attempt to do a piece 
of cabinet work with just a hatchet, one 
saw and one plane, and equally so no gar- 
dener can perform all garden operations 
with one hoe, one rake, and a spade. 
The saving of time, 7. e., labor, is the first 
ess2ntial in all mechanical operations and 
a tool that will save one-half to nine-tenths 
of the time usually necessary, while also 
doing the work as well, or even better, is cer- 
tainly worth attention. I have tested various 
shapes, depths of blade, and angles of hoes 
and other tools by use in the garden to 
ascertain which of the various designs would 
produce the best results from the least 
expenditure of time and labor. The tools now 
illustrated and described are what J have 
found to give the greatest saving of time 
and labor. 
SHORT-HANDLED WEEDERS AND DIGGERS 
This includes those used in transplanting, 
thinning and weeding. Two views of each 
are given in figure 1. 
Bricklaver’s pointing trowel (No.1). This 
is, of course, not even listed as a garden tool, 
but Ihave found it indispensable as it 
answers the purpose of both knife and 
trowel for cutting apart and lifting tomato, 
pepper, and other plants from the flats when 
setting them out; for gathering and trimming 
lettuce, cabbage, etc., it is just the tool. 
The blade is five inches long and two and 
one-half inches at its widest part, thin and 
sharp on both edges. The full length is 
nine and one-half inches. 
Planting trowel (No. 2). A very useful, 
in fact indispensable, tool for making holes, 
for setting out all kinds of vegetables and 
flowering plants. It can be had with various 
lengths of blade from five to eight inches, 
but the best for general use is the size illus- 
trated, having the blade seven inches long, 
three and three-quarters wide and bent to 
form a segment of a circle; the full length 
is twelve and one-half inches. 
Iron dibber (No. 3). Is a necessity for 
setting out cabbage, celery, lettuce, etc. 
Those who have always done the work with 
a home-made tool such as an old spade 
handle, sharpened, do not know the luxury 
of setting out plants with a tool like this, nor 
the rapidity with which the work can be done. 
The polished tapered planting end of this 
tool is five inches long and one and one- 
quarter inches in diameter: from the point to 
the top of pistol handle it is nine and three- 
quarters inches long. Also made in all brass, 
and wood handle with brass or iron point. 
The Lang weeder (No. 4). It is a very 
handy tool for thinning and weeding onions, 
beets, carrots, celery, etc. Try one and 
you will wonder how you did without it 
before. The handle is cast malleable iron 
and has a soft 
leather loop at- 
tached, which is 
slipped over the 
Blvwioloy,| Ans 
leaves the fingers 
free to thin plants 
or pull weedswith- 
out dropping the 
tool. The blade, 
which sets at an 
obtuse angle to the 
handle, is made of 
a piece of sheet 
steel seven-eighths 
of an inch wide 
and about 16 
gauge in thick- 
ness, is sharp on 
the end and both 
edges and bent to 
shape shown. The 
end blade is one 
inch long, the dis- 
tance across the 
loop two inches 
Rees 
8. The shaft or handle is 
of a different length for the 
different tools 
150 
and the distance from bottom of loop to 
handle is two and one-half inches. The 
full length is seven inches. 
Weeder (No. 5). A very handy tool used 
for the same purpose as the Lang, but is 
2. These five hoes will answer all requirements 
if the blades are set as shown. This must usually 
be done at home however 
adapted for heavier work. The handle 
is of wood, the blade is one inch wide, heavier 
and set straight with the handle; the end 
blade is two and one-half inches long, dis- 
tance across loop four and one-half inches 
and from the bottom of the loop to handle is 
two inches. ‘he total length is ten inches. 
Onion weeder (No. 6). ‘This is the name 
given by the maker, but its uses are varied. 
It is most handy for weeding and stirring 
the soil between plants in the garden or 
flower beds, wherever close, careful work 
is necessary. The blade is four inches wide, 
one and three-quarters inches deep, and 
sets at an angle of thirty-three degrees to 
the handle. The full length is eleven inches. 
This tool works very rapidly and should be in 
every garden kit. 
Garden line reel. A light-weight line wound 
around one of the two galvanized iron stakes 
three-eights of an inch in diameter and 
twelve inches long is shown in No. 7. As 
illustrated, one end of the stake is bent over 
and the other pointed; as usually made 
they have a loop on one end. These were 
made from an old galvanized iron awning 
frame, and for rows up to seventy-five feet 
I find this form better than the cumbersome 
garden line reel sold by dealers. 
The tools numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, are, 
to my mind, actual necessities in the smallest 
garden. The whole collection of small 
tools should be in the possession of every 
gardener, however, as each one has a special 
use and will do its particular work better 
than any substitute. 
LONG-HANDLED HOES, RAKES, ETC. 
Of all the tools of the garden the hoe is 
used the most frequently; at planting time, 
during the growth of the crop and at harvest 
