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Garden Tools That Really Help, II.—by J. L. Kayan, 2 
Pennsyl- 
THIS ARTICLE CONTINUES THE CRITICAL STUDIES OF TOOLS FOR THE GARDENER WHICH WAS BEGUN IN THE APRIL 
“GARDEN MAGAZINE” —IN THAT ISSUE DIFFERENT HOES AND SMALL WEEDING TOOLS, TROWELS, ETC., WERE DISCUSSED 
ji ANY machine that will perform in 
one hour work which has previously 
occupied ten is to be regarded as a really 
great invention, then I claim that the wheel 
hoe deserves to rank among the great in- 
ventions of the age. It not only reduces 
the actual time in cultivation by nine-tenths, 
put it entirely eliminates the drudgery inci- 
dent to the use of the hand hoe in its seem- 
ingly almost hopeless task of destroying 
the weeds, and the particularly trying con- 
ditions when done in the glare of the 
midsummer sun. 
The importance of cultivation can hardly 
be over-estimated, but the trouble of doing 
it under the old-fashioned style is so great 
that the gardener is often tempted to do as 
little of it as possible. On the other hand, 
persistent cultivation makes weeds an 
unknown quantity and promotes the growth 
of the crops because ‘‘cultivation is ma- 
nure” to a larger extent than most people 
suppose. 
Persistent and early cultivation, provided 
it can be done easily, means a great deal, 
because it takes four times as much labor 
to kill weeds four inches high as it does when 
they are just starting. Under really clean 
cultivation they are never allowed to more 
than show. After each rainfall the soil in 
every part of the garden is thoroughly stirred, 
which not only destroys the germinating 
seeds, but helps to retain soil moisture by 
making the dust mulch. In dry weather 
the soil must be thoroughly stirred at least 
once a week to maintain this mulch; under 
such weather conditions, the hoe is of much 
more service than a watering-pot, and the 
garden can often be carried safely through 
a protracted drought by constant stirring 
of the surface. Cutting off weeds or scrap- 
ing the surface half an inch deep is not cul- 
tivation. The soil must be stirred and 
pulverized to a depth of two inches. 
It is primarily in relieving the labor of this 
cultivation that the wheel hoe can be of 
much service to the amateur. Yet it has 
a wide range of other possibilities. Besides 
giving tooth or hoe cultivation to growing 
crops it can be used to mark rows, to open 
furrows, cover seed, rake, earth-up or 
hill, to edge flower beds, even to clean 
paths, and in the form of a combined tool, 
can be used to sow seed in hills or 
drills. There are two main types of this 
4. Rakes with teeth for- 
ward; light cultivation 
3. Reverse rakes to 
break crusted soil 
double 
I prefer the latter as being the higher 
tool — the single wheel and the 
wheel. 
development which, with its attachments, is 
shown in Fig. 1, the attachments being 
arranged in the order of their importance. 
Front views of the separate attachments 
1. The double wheel hoe and its most important 
attachments, arranged in order of the general use- 
fulmess. Front views of attachments, in reversed 
order, shown above. (References in text) 
being shown in the top of the illustration, 
but in reversed order. These can be bought 
separately and added one at a time to the 
equipment. 
My experience with the tools recommends 
this outfit: Double wheel hoe with one pair 
of leaf lifters (c); one set of four cultivator 
teeth (21); one pair of 6-inch hoes (18); 
one pair of plows (20); and if the soil is a 
2. For cultivating with hoes between wide planted 
rows, set the wheels inside the frame (@). Set the 
fenders towards the plants (b) for working rows of 
seedlings 
5. To throw up soil be- 6. Reversed plows for filling 
fore handling celery furrows. Only one wheel used 
clay that crusts after rains, a pair of weeders 
(Fig. 10). The double-wheeled pattern 
will do all the work of a single-wheeled 
tool besides much that cannot be done with 
the latter. 
CLOSELY PLANTED VEGETABLES 
The crops that require most attention are 
beets, carrots, onions, lettuce, etc., and in 
this connection the advantage of the double- 
wheel hoe is most marked. It straddles the 
row, the frame (d. in Fig. 1) allowing it to 
be used over plants until they are eighteen 
inches or even a little more in height. With 
the tools properly set, closely planted rows 
can be cultivated so that very little hand 
work becomes necessary. With wider- 
planted vegetables cultivation can be done 
on each side of the row. As all crops do 
not grow with the same spread, the rows 
can be placed at different distances apart, 
and the wheels of the machine are adjustable 
to accommodate anything up to twelve inches 
between the centres. The wheels may be 
adjusted to regulate the depth of the cut 
of the tools when cultivating and in some 
patterns the handles are adjustable to suit 
the height of the operator. The different 
tools are attached or loosened by means of 
a clamping nut. With the exception of the 
cultivator teeth all tools are made in pairs, 
rights and lefts. 
HOW TO USE THE WHEEL HOE 
This tool does its work best when it is 
pushed forward with a series of quick 
steady strokes, with a distinct pause between. 
Do not attempt to push the machine steadily. 
When cultivating very small plants with the 
hoes, make the strokes but a few inches 
long, lengthening according to the work 
that is being done up to the distance of a 
full -step when working among widely- 
planted vegetables and using the cullti- 
-vator teeth. A few trials will soon indicate 
the proper and most economical way of 
using the tool. 
For working astride the rows of seedling 
plants, set the hoes with the sides or fenders 
toward the plants (Fig. 2, b.), but of course 
far enough apart to clear them, and in using 
the tool in this way keep the row of 
plants mid-way between the wheels, walking 
with one foot on each side of the row. 
7. Ready to edge flower beds 8. Plows and one wheei 
or cultivate young hedge for opening furrows 
SETTING THE WHEEL HOE ATTACHMENTS FOR DIFFERENT SPECIAL PURPOSES 
22h 
