Jury, 1908 
this tool are struck 
from one piece 
of sheet metal and 
consequently lack 
strength. A blade 
made of sheet metal 
riveted to a cast 
malleable iron 
shank is shown 
at fj, and while 
it has more strength 
than the former 
type, it is still struc- 
turally weak, for 
the blade is necessa- 
rily of one thickness 
all over and is weak 
at the centre and 1. All forks or spades 
Bei chose con. aes Sey ae 
nection. It iS alsO the strap ferrule, / 
likely to tear out the 
rivets. These trowels are not made for 
_hard use. 
At g a first-class trowel is shown, the 
shank and blade being forged of one piece 
of steel. The blade is thin at the edge, 
gradually thickening toward the centre 
where is has decided solidity and is also 
heavy at its junction to the shank. This 
tool will outlast a great number of sheet 
metal ones and costs very little more. 
In connecting the wooden handle to the 
blade, there are two styles. These are 
shown at 7 (shank connection) and at k 
(socket connection). 
The plain shank and ferrule are shown 
at 7; a hole is bored in the end of the handle 
' and the shank driven in, the ferrule being 
placed on the end of the handle to prevent 
splitting under the strain of use. In the 
other method the shank is formed into a 
hollow cone or socket, into which the handle 
is fitted, being driven in firmly and a screw 
or nail is put through a hole in the socket, 
and into the handle to hold it in place. 
The socket connection prevents the possi- 
bility of the handle splitting at its junction 
with the shank; and moreover, should the 
handle break by accident, anyone can fit 
a new handle to the socket, especially if 
the old handle is used as a guide, while it 
is quite a hard task to fit a ferrule on a new 
handle so it will stay. 
The cheapest and poorest forms of connect- 
2. The way of joining the tool to the handle 
greatly affects its strength. The best forms are 
shown at g, j, and k. Well made tools are worth 
their extra cost 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
ing the shank to the blade are illustrated at h. 
The shank is usually cast malleable iron and 
is made with either socket or shank connect- 
tion; the blade is a piece of sheet metal 
riveted to the shank, which extends down 
on the back of the blade. ‘This has several 
faults: the shank must be heavier than if 
forged; the blade is one unifcrm thickness, 
so is weak unless made too heavy for use; 
it is able to tear out at the rivets; when 
in use the soil lodges around the rivet heads 
and shank, making it hard to keep clean. 
The shank should extend down the back 
of the blade in the form of a rib, to stiffen 
the blade which is heavier at its junction 
to the rib and tapers to the thinner edges. 
The shank and blade of the hoe at 7 are 
forged of one piece and can be had with 
either socket or shank connection. All the 
hoes described in ‘THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
for last April can be purchased with socket 
connection excepting scuffle hoe No. ro. 
A first quality spading fork or fork or shovel 
of any kind is made with a strap ferrule 
as shown at / in Fig. 1. The ferrule is 
continued in one piece part way up the 
handle in the form of two straps, which are 
riveted through it. As can be readily seen, 
this adds much strength to the handle. If 
constructed with a short ferrule as at m 
the handle is very liable to break at the top 
of the ferrule. 
There is little to be said about rakes as 
they are not designed for very heavy work. 
The cheapest forms of straight shank and 
bow brace rakes are made of cast malleable 
iron, but all full bow garden rakes are made 
of forged steel only, and are connected to the 
handle with shank and ferrule. 
Tool handles should be straight grained 
white ash; other woods are often used, but I 
urge the reader not to buy anything but ash. 
See that they are straight grained and elastic, 
but stout enough to have very little spring. 
White ash is a hard, not spongy wood. 
THE CARE OF TOOLS 
I have seen so many people trying to 
work with rusty tools that I want to emphas- 
ize the fact that the ease of handling and the 
perfection of work done by bright tools 
more than repays the slight attention nec- 
essary to keep them bright. A new tool 
is quite bright— keep it so! If the other 
tools are rusty, scrape and grind them or 
polish with emery. Of course, the soil will 
grind the rust off the hoe when it is used; 
but this polish will extend but an inch or 
more up the blade and the labor consumed 
in doing this polishing should have been 
expended in pulverising the soil. The entire 
blade of a hoe and all tools used for working 
the soil should have a bright polish. The 
soil sticks to the rusty portion of the blade, 
preventing the proper working of the tool, 
and moreover, the scil in falling off is thrown 
over the plants, smothering the small ones. 
If the parts of a wheel hoe are rusty, the 
soil piles up on the hoes or cultivator teeth 
instead of sliding over them, and, falling on 
small plants, smothers them. That is 
the explanation of the complaint that the 
325 
wheel hoe could not be used for small plants. 
With bright tools and short strokes it will 
do the work properly. 
Keep your tools bright by never allowing 
them to accumulate rust. Do not lay aside 
any tool for even a few minutes unless you 
first wipe it dry with the fingers and palm 
of the hand. If you fail to do this the sur- 
face will oxidize, showing dark spots — the 
first stage of rust—on the bright surface. 
When through with a tool wipe the blade 
of the hoe or tines of the fork dry, oil, and 
put away under cover. Any heavy oil, 
tallow or cosmoline will do for this purpose, 
provided it does not have salt in it. A 
convenient way is to put a small quantity 
in a tin box (a baking powder tin will do), 
place a brush or piece of waste in the box 
and keep it at hand in the tool house, and 
use it every time that a tool is put away. 
Every gardener ought to have a tool house 
or closet, devoted only to the tools. 
All metal parts that do not come in con- 
83. Keep your tool outfit in a protected place; clean 
everything after use and oil all bright parts 
tact with the scil need a coat of good paint 
—this refers to shanks, ferrules, rake and 
fork, heads, etc. The paint will prevent 
rusting and save time in cleaning. 
The handles need attention as well as 
the blades. Give a coat of linseed oil 
about once a year. Allow this to dry 
in befere the tool is used. This treatment 
will make the handles moisture proof, 
they will wear smooth, and will not splinter. 
Cutting tools need sharpening; they work 
better and easier then. ‘This applies espe- 
cially to hoes, which are sharpened on the 
underside or back of the blade with a 
rounding bevel. The wear comes on this 
side and tools sharpened this way will keep 
in good condition with very little attention. 
Do not give a straight bevel as to a chisel, 
for the fine edge thus produced soon dulls, 
and, moreover, the tool will not work any 
easier in the first place. 
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