Home Vegetable Gardening tools AND THEIR USES.

Vegetable Gardening tools
and uses.

It may feel to the reader that it's all veritably well to make a garden with a pencil, but that the work of transferring it to the soil must be relatively another problem and one containing so important work that he'll leave it to the professional request gardener.

He conceivably pictures to himself some fraudulent-kneed and design-shouldered man with the hoe and decides that later each there's too important work in the garden plan. 

What a disclosure would be in store for him if he could witness one day's operations in an ultramodern request garden! veritably likely indeed not a home would be seen during the entire visit. 

ultramodern tools, within lower than a generation, have revolutionized gardening. 

This is true of the small vegetable garden as clearly as of the large garden in fact, in proportion I'm not sure but that it's more so-- because of the alternate awful thing about ultramodern garden tools, that is, the low prices at which they can be bought, considering the enormous chance of labor saved in negotiating results. 

There's nothing in the way of expenditure to help indeed the most modest gardener acquiring, during many times, by the judicious expenditure of but many gardens annually, a veritably complete outfit of tools that will free-heartedly repay their cost. 

While some garden tools have been bettered and developed out of all resemblance to their original forms, others have changed little in generations, and in probability will remain ever with us. 

There's a thing or two to say about indeed the simplest of them, still,-- especially to anyone not familiar with their uses. 

There are tools for use in every phase of horticultural operations; for preparing the ground, for planting the seed, for civilization, for guarding crops against insects and complaints, and for harvesting. 

First of all, comes the ancient and honorable spade, which, for small gardens plots, borders, beds, etc., must still be reckoned upon for the original operation of gardening-- breaking up the soil. 

There are several types, but any will answer the purpose. 

In buying a spade look out for two effects and see that it's well strapped up the handle in front and back and that it hangs well. 

In burrowing up ground, especially soil that is turfy or hard, the work may be made easier by taking a strip not relatively doubly as wide as the spade, and making slant cuts so that one perpendicular edge of the spade at each thrust cuts cleanout to where the soil has formerly been dug. 

The wide-tined spading- chopstick is constantly used rather than the spade, as it's lighter and can be more advantageously used to break up lumps and position off shells. 

In utmost soils, it'll do this work as well, if not better, than the spade and has the farther good quality of being serviceable as a chopstick too, therefore combining two tools in one. 

It should be more generally known and used. 

With the ordinary chopstick, used for handling ordure and gathering up trash, weeds, etc., every gardener is familiar. 

The type with round, slightly up-twisted snags, five or six in number, and a D handle, is the utmost accessible and comfortable for theater use. 

For areas large enough for a steed to turn around in, use a plow. 

There are numerous good makes. 

The swivel type has the advantage of turning all the furrows one way and is stylish for small plots and learning grounds. 

It should turn a clean, deep crinkle. 

In deep soil that has long been cultivated, furrowing should, with many exceptions, be down at least to the topsoil; and if the soil is shallow it'll be judicious to turn up a little of the topsoil, at each furrowing-- no further than an inch-- so that the soil may gradually be strengthened. 

In furrowing sod it will be well to have the plow fitted with a colter, which turns an atomic furrow ahead of the plowshare, therefore covering under all sods and lawn and getting them out of the way of harrows and other tools to be used latterly. 

In furrowing under altitudinous-growing green coprolites, like rye, a heavy chain is hung from the evener to the handle, therefore pulling the crop down into the crinkle so that it'll each be covered under. 

Where drainage is poor it'll be well to break up the topsoil with a topsoil plow, which follows in the wake of the regular plow but doesn't lift the topsoil to the face. 

TOOLS FOR PREPARING THE SEED-BED: 

The spade or spading- chopstick will be followed by the hoe or hook, the iron rake; and the plow by one or further of the colorful types of harrow. 

The stylish type of hoe for use after the spade is the wide, deep-bladed type. 

In utmost soils, still, this work may be done more expeditiously with the hook or point-hoe ( see illustration). 

With this, the soil can be completely pulverized to a depth of several elevations. 

In using either, be careful not to pull up ordure or trash turned under by the spade, as all similar material if left covered will snappily rot down in the soil and furnish the stylish kind of factory food. 

I should suppose that our energetic manufacturers would make a point- hoe with heavy wide blades, like those of the spading- chopstick, but I've no way seen such an application, either in use or announced. 

What the point- hoe is to the spade, the harrow is to the plow. 

For general purposes, the Acme is an excellent harrow.