UNKNOWN

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3602, 25 November 1905, Page 4

UNKNOWN

He Huh Disappeared from the Averago American Farm to an Vb» Jn»tiflHble Extent.

The man with the hoe is largely a memory. There ia nothing that the average fanner so much dislikes as the hoe. Hoeing he regards as too hard work, and besides it is slow work. We have become so accustomed to rapid working and riding implements that we have no patience with the hoe. We do not desire to'be understood as trying to convey the idea that handling the hoe is altogether a pleasure. We are not particularly in love with the work, but there is lots o work on the farm that is not particularly inviting. Writers, ana especially the editors of the city agricultural papers, may talk eloquently of the beauty of the flowers on the farm, the fragrance of new-mown hay and the delightful shady retreat, but if these fellows would spend a hot day in getting that sweet, new-mown hay into the barn—even with modern tools and machinery—or should spend a day in carting out manure, or even riding on a cultivator, to say nothing about walking after one, they would conclude that there were other “smells” on the farm besides the fragrance of new-mown hay and roses, and that the shady retreats were a mockery to a man who must spend 12 hours in the scorching heat. Farming is not fun by a long ways. It is hard work and some of the work is very disagreeable. The farmer’s consolation, however, is tiat there is hard work in any calling. No, the hoe is not a fascinating tool. It is about on the level in that respect with the obsolete flail, but while it has been discarded to an unjustifiable extent it is an excedingly useful tool. We keep the hoe going somewhere on the farm almost constantly, and are satisfied that it is the most profitable tool we use. It can be profitably used by cheap help, which cannot be said of most, implements. A boy can hoe as well as a man, if ne will, and some boys will. We have a boy who we are satisfied makes the hoe pay 1 . The modern hoe suffers because of the bad reputation of its old clumsy predecessor, which was a backaching, handblistering, dull and heavy tool. The modern hoe is light and graceful and should be sharp. It is easily handled and efficient. Let us use it more.— Agricultural Epitomist.