38 Home Vegetable Gardening 



Always have a piece of cloth or old bag on hand 

 where the garden tools are kept, and never put them 

 away soiled and wet. Keep the cutting edges sharp. 

 There is as much pleasure in trying to run a dull 

 lawnmower as in working wth a rusty, battered hoe. 

 Have an extra handle in stock in case of accident; 

 they are not expensive. In selecting hand tools, 

 always pick out those with handles in which the 

 grain does not run out at the point where there will 

 be much strain in using the tool. In rakes, hoes, 

 etc., get the types with ferrule and shank one con- 

 tinuous piece, so as not to be annoyed with loose 

 heads. 



Spend a few cents to send for some implement 

 catalogues. They will well repay careful perusal, 

 even if you do not order this year. In these days 

 of intensive advertising, the commercial catalogue 

 often contains matter of great worth, in the gath- 

 ering and presentation of which no expense has been 

 spared. 



FOR FIGHTING PLANT ENEMIES 



The devices and implements used for fighting 

 plant enemies are of two sorts: — (i) those used to 

 afiford mechanical protection to the plants ; (2) those 

 used to apply insecticides and fungicides. Of the 

 first the most useful is the covered frame. It con- 

 sists usually of a wooden box, some eighteen inches 



