Con- 
necticut 
About Seed-drills and Wheel-hoes— b v f. f. Rockwell, 
WHAT UP-TO-DATE TOOLS MEAN IN INCREASED GARDEN EFFI- 
CIENCY-SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THEIR SELECTION, USE, AND CARE 
T HE returns from garden operations 
are not determined by the size 
of the garden; but rather bv 
the amount of work done in 
it. Even a very small garden, managed 
so as to produce the maximum of which it 
is capable, will show astonishing results. 
High-pressure gardening of this kind, how- 
ever, necessitates more time — and time is 
just the thing on which the average home 
gardener is short. Usually he is limited 
to a definite period each day, and as there 
is no known method of stretching time, 
the only solution to the problem is to use 
tools which will increase the amount of 
work which can be done in a given time. 
The money you spend for a good tool is 
really only the buying of extra time for 
work in your garden. 
Even in a small garden a combination 
seed-drill and wheel-hoe will pay for itself 
handsomely. A combined seed-drill and 
single wheel-hoe, with plow, hoes, culti- 
vator teeth, rakes, guards, and marker, can 
be bought for ten or eleven dollars. That 
may seem at first glance like a lot to spend 
on a single tool for a small garden; but 
such a machine will last ten years or longer; 
the first seed-drill I ever owned had been 
in use ten years when I got it, and after 
using it three years myself I sold it for 
three dollars, and the last I knew it was still 
doing good work. Although this is “one 
implement” here are the things it will do: 
open a furrow; drop seed of any kind, at 
any depth desired, in a continuous row or 
in hills; cover the seed with fresh soil; 
roll the soil, leaving a neat, narrow, plainly 
marked row; and mark out the next row 
— all in going once over the ground and 
as fast as you would usually walk. Think 
of the amount of time wasted in doing this 
same work by half a dozen laborious hand 
operations, and then not nearly as well! 
By changing the tool to a wheel-hoe, it 
will hoe the ground between the rows, 
working close up to them and killing 
all small weeds; or cul (*^ tivate it, 
breaking up the crust if one 
has formed, and leaving the x soil 
loose and fine; or rake it, 
creating a dustmulch on the 
surface to conserve soil moisture; 
or plow shallow furrows, in which 
to put fertilizer or manure, or large 
seeds; and hill such things as are benefited 
by having the soil thrown up toward them 
during their growth. All of these things 
done more quickly, and in most cases 
better, than they could be done by hand. 
The double wheel-hoes cost two or three 
dollars more than the single wheel type, 
and have several advantages, particularly 
in working crops during the earlier stages 
of growth; and personally I would always 
spend the small amount additional re- 
quired to get this type. The double wheel 
machine can be used as a single wheel when 
desired. I never yet met a gardener, large 
or small, who regretted the money he 
had spent on a good double wheel-hoe. 
In selecting implements of this kind, 
there are a number of things to be borne 
in mind. I have used at various times five 
different types of seed-drills, and some eight 
or ten of wheel-hoes, and I have never yet 
found any one of either which was best in 
every respect. The kind of work to be done 
and the condition of the soil, make a differ- 
ence; and the personal factor must also be 
taken into consideration, as I have often 
found that two men working side by side 
will prefer different types of tools for doing 
the same work. Of the things to think of 
in buying any tool, however, first in im- 
portance is the material and the way in 
which the parts are finished up. A ma- 
chine that is poorly made and roughly 
finished will not only wear out sooner, but 
will not do equally satisfactory work while 
it does last. Another requirement is that 
the changes may be made quickly and 
easily. One of the great advantages of an 
implement of this kind is its great adapta- 
bility, and a machine that will rust or get 
stuck, and be such a nusiance to change 
that you are apt to leave it in one form 
from the beginning to the end of the season, 
will be a poor investment. There will be 
work for each different attachment, and 
it is highly important that all changes can 
be made with ease and dispatch. 
The machine should be easy to work. 
The type you will find preferable will de- 
pend to a large extent upon the character 
of your soil. Some people prefer the high- 
wheel type, and others the low. In light, 
soft soil, where the wheels are likely to sink 
in, the higher wheels work easier. On the 
other hand, in rough or stony soil, it is 
more difficult to work very close to small 
plants without cutting into the row. Hav- 
ing both types of machines on hand, I 
use either one or the other according to the 
work to be done; but if I had to select a 
single machine, which is ample for a small 
garden, my choice would largely depend on 
the character of the soil. A third type has a 
frame that fits against the body to make 
one’s weight available in pushing it, but 
except for plowing, or use in very heavy clay 
soil, this is of negative advantage, as it adds 
to the weight and interferes with the 
backward and forward stroke of the 
machine which is used in most kinds 
of work. 
NX 
— — ^ — : ; 
With the cultivator teeth and the vine-lifters the double- 
wheel hoe rapidly breaks up the crust without injury to 
young plants 
Above all things, have a proper 
place for your tools 
While in the use of the wheel-hoe, as in 
other arts, practice only can make perfect, 
there are a few suggestions which can be 
given which will help the beginner to 
become proficient. First of all, find a place 
to keep the machine and all its attachments 
where it is perfectly dry, and safe from 
promiscuous borrowers. Keep the axles 
and working parts of the seed-drill well 
supplied with oil, and occasionally put 
a few drops of kerosene on the bolt and nut 
threads to keep them bright and working 
easily. Take pains to select the attach- 
ments best suited to the particular job you 
are going to do. Take time, after you have 
the right attachment, to get it adjusted just 
right: this is of the greatest importance 
and many people are not careful in this 
respect. 
Unless the ground is so wet that it should 
not be worked, or you have allowed the 
weeds to grow so big that they clog things 
up, you may be pretty sure that it is your 
fault, and not the machine’s, if it does not 
do satisfactory work. In learning to use 
the machine, train yourself as soon as 
possible to keep your eye on the wheels 
rather than on the hoes or cultivator teeth 
that follow them. At first you will find 
yourself inclined to do just the opposite, 
with the result that while you are watching 
the blades, the wheels will veer off to the 
right or the left, and you will cut into the 
row. If you hold the wheels steady, the 
rest of the machine has got to follow. Do 
not push the machine along steadily, but 
work it in long, steady strokes, drawing it 
back a few inches each time. 
A number of the attachments mentioned 
in the following paragraphs are to be had 
as “extras,” or in some cases, in place of the 
815 
