HOUSE AND GARDEN 
May, iqio 
i 8i 
has almost entirely supplanted the regular pattern. Then there 
is the “Warren” hoe, made especially for planting. Its heart- 
shaped blade will open up and cover furrows more rapidly, but 
not much better, than the ordinary hoe. The “scuffle” hoe is used 
for crops grown in narrow rows, especially during the latter part 
of their growth, but since the advent of the wheel-hoe, there is little 
use for it. 
For some crops, such as onions, beets, carrots, and many others, 
you will find it necessary to use, while they are small, one of the 
various hand weeders on the market. This work is the most 
tedious connected with gardening, and will require the use of the 
fingers as well as the weeder, and much of the work must be done 
on hands and knees. But when one becomes accustomed to it, 
and, particularly in a small garden, it may be very pleasant work. 
Of the many hand weeders, personally 1 prefer Lang’s, which 
has a bent solid blade, and most of our men seem to like it best 
too, but the individual must suit himself. They all assist in the 
work, and only practice can teach which may be best adapted to 
any one person. But whatever tool is used, the work of hand 
weeding must he taken in time and done thoroughly. Weeds must 
be pulled or cut out below the surface, or they will soon sprout 
again, more vigorously than ever. Every inch of the soil must 
be broken or stirred, or the hundreds of little weed seedlings, 
many of them not yet above ground, will not be destroyed, and 
they will mean work increased manifold a few weeks later, besides 
injuring the crop. 
Both hoeing and hand weeding will be reduced to a minimum 
by the use of the wheel hoe. An attachment for hilling, or throw¬ 
ing the earth from the center of the row to and about the stem of 
the plants, may be had to go with it. The catalogues sent out by 
houses making these machines give many valuable points as to their 
With beans, the ground maybe worked over more deeply than with some 
of the other vegetables. Hoe the earth up about them a little each time 
The labor of both hoeing and hand weeding will be reduced to a min¬ 
imum if you will spend a few dollars for a wheel hoe 
various uses that lack of space prevents my describing in detail 
here. 
Only actual work in the garden can teach the beginner the 
“knack” in using these various tools and machines, but hewill find 
such practice to be absorbingly interesting. 
In the remainder of this article 1 give a few “first aid” sugges¬ 
tions about the special cultural needs of various crops. But let me 
emphasize once more, in capitals, the need of all crops for 
thorough cultivation, during their entire growing season. And 
if, when they have matured and you can no longer “work” them, 
a few big weeds appear, cut these off to prevent their going to seed. 
As many of the vegetables in the small garden will require about 
the same treatment, we will consider them in groups. 
Asparagus and Rhubarb plants, though they are simply making 
growth for future service, should be kept carefully cleaned and 
cultivated to assist their development. If you have a few estab¬ 
lished plants of Rhubarb, a small dressing of nitrate of soda, not 
more than a handful, sprinkled about each plant and worked into 
the soil, will produce astonishing results. 
Beans, Corn, Eggplants, Okra, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, and 
Tomatoes, will stand being worked about more deeply than small 
seedlings like Carrots and Onions, and will want the earth drawn 
up about them a little at each hoeing, especially corn and pota¬ 
toes. See to it that poles for pole beans and tomatoes are put 
firmly in the ground before these make much of a growth. 
Don’t make an excavation and “ plant ” the poles; take a crow¬ 
bar and make a hole just large enough to force them into. Pea¬ 
brush may be put in in the same W'ay; then with a knife or 
pruning shears trim off the tops and all straggling branches, and 
stick them into the ground where the little plants can get at 
them easily, and thus be led to higher things. Watch Toma¬ 
toes, and particularly Eggplants, for Potato bugs and other pests. 
Beats, Carrots, Kohlrabi, Onions, Parsnips, Salsify, Spinach 
and Turnips, will need attention as soon as the rows can be 
seen. Go through them with the hoe or the wheel hoe, work¬ 
ing at a shallow depth and as close to the rows as possible with¬ 
out throwing dirt on the small plants. Then get your hand- 
weeder, and go over them on hands and knees (it really isn’t as 
hard as it sounds). Even if they seem a little too thick in the 
rows, better leave the thinning until next weeding, After you 
have killed every weed, remember that you must keep the soil 
cultivated just the same! 
(Continued on page xvi) 
