208 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



TRIANGULAR DRAW-HOE. 



DRAW-HOE AND RAKE 

 COMBINED. 



angle of 68°, which is the best suited for enter- 

 ing the ground. From the smallest to the 

 largest there are intermediate ones, differing in 

 size, in general, to the extent of half an inch in 

 length of face, and denominated 2^-inch, 3-inch, 

 3|-inch, and so on upwards to 9-inch hoes. 

 Hoes in form and proportion to that of our fig. 

 80 are the most common in use. There are, 

 however, other 

 Fig. 81. forms, such as fig. 



81, which is trian- 

 gular in shape, hav- 

 ing each of its sides 

 calculated for cut- 

 ting up weeds and 

 slightly loosening 

 the surface. It is used also for drawing drills, 

 the corner points being well adapted for the 

 purpose. The Vernon hoe and the Spanish 

 hoe have been already described, page 38. 



The compound 

 Fig. 82. hoe, or draw-hoe 



and rake combined, 

 is a useless affair. 

 We notice and figure 

 it (fig. 82) to give us 

 an opportunity of 

 stating how much 

 better it would be 

 to have each as a 

 separate implement. Nearly twenty varieties 

 of draw-hoes are figured in the " Encyclopaedia 

 of Gardening," all, with three or four exceptions, 

 examples of those used in the rudest state of 

 cultivation, and in- 

 Fig- 83. ferior to those of 



the present day. 

 Savage's surface- 

 stirrer, fig 83, is a 

 useful implement 

 belonging to the 

 hoe class. It may be described as a common 

 hay-fork, of rather more than double the length 

 of prongs, which are bent over about the middle, 

 thus forming a two-pronged scarifier of consider- 

 able power and utility. The prongs are 3 

 inches apart, and 4 inches long from the bend 

 to the points, but there is no reason why they 

 should not be double that length. The opera- 

 tor, as in all cases with similar tools, walks 

 backwards, while he presses the points of the 

 implement into the soil, and draws it after him, 

 stirring the ground as deep as the prongs will 

 reach between rows of potatoes and other culi- 

 nary crops. Such stirring implements are far 

 more useful than the common draw-hoes, which, 

 from their construction, cannot enter the ground 

 to a sufficient depth. 

 Fig. 84 is an excel- 

 lent implement in 

 the section of hoes, 

 and is known in the 

 south of England as 

 the Guernsey prong, 

 being much used in 

 that island. It is 

 thus delineated and described in " The Garden- 

 ers' Chronicle" for 1851: " It is something in 

 the shape of a hammer, the head flattened into 



SAVAGE S SURFACE-STIRRER. 



GUERNSEY PRONG. 



GLENDINNING S PICK-FORK. 



Fig. 86. 



BLOOM FIELD HOE. 



a chisel an inch wide, and the fork the same. 

 The whole length of this prong is 9 inches, and 

 it is attached to a staff 5 feet long. Such an 

 implement is light and easy to use ; it requires 

 no stooping, and will tear up the deepest-rooted 

 weeds." Its great utility, however, is to deeply 

 stir and pulverise the 

 Fig. 85. soil. Glendinning's 



pick-fork, fig. 85, is a 

 somewhat similar im- 

 plement, and used by 

 its inventor upon his 

 strong and stubborn 

 soil with great eco- 

 nomy of time and ad- 

 vantage to the soil. 

 The Bloomfield hoe, 

 fig. 86, is much used 

 in Norfolk. It is 

 somewhat like the common draw-hoe, but hav- 

 ing the advantage of keeping itself clear of 

 mould at the neck, 

 which the common 

 hoe has not in conse- 

 quence of the short- 

 ness of the neck, or 

 that part which con- 

 nects the blade with 

 the handle. The spe- 

 cimen we have given, fig. 80, is, however, 

 less objectionable on this account, as will be 

 seen by the manner the blade is attached to the 

 handle. 



Gidney's improved Prussian hoe, fig. 87. This 

 is an excellent instrument, when cutting down 

 weeds only is the 

 Fig. 87. object, and where the 



^\ soil is not to be deep- 



ly stirred. The blade 

 is set at such an angle 

 that it shaves down 

 the weeds just below 

 >^ the surface, and leaves 



\\ them uncovered ; 



whereas the old hoe 

 gidnev's Prussian hoe. covers up the fallen 

 weeds, and this aids 

 them to root afresh. It is well calculated for 

 hoeing flower-borders, and can be usefully em- 

 ployed in the kitchen-garden for hoeing foot- 

 paths between beds, or amongst young crops 

 where seed-weeds are appearing. The face of 

 the blade of the specimen our figure is taken 

 from is 5 inches long, quite straight, the back 

 rounding off towards the point, which is acute. 

 The breadth of the blade is 1^ inches. They 

 may, however, be made both larger and smaller, 

 according to circumstances. 



Dr Newington's hand-cultivator, fig. 88, is of 

 the hoe-stirring section. The frame or head- 

 piece is 1 6 inches wide, of iron or heavy wood, 

 to press the tines into the ground without 

 much pressure being applied by the operator. 

 It is fitted with three strong curved tines very- 

 sharp at the points, and which, when the imple- 

 ment is drawn forward, stir up the ground 

 from 6 to 9 inches in depth. It is also fitted up 

 with three shares for drawing drills for seed- 

 sowing. It is the type of fig. 89, which Dr 



