DIGGING COMPETITIONS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3194, 20 May 1909, Page 7

DIGGING COMPETITIONS.

5t seems to be taken for granted that every able> bodied man can dig, and while it is customary to have competitions for ploughing, thatch ing, hedging, ditching, etc., the idea of a digging match baa an air cf novelty about it, remarks a contemporary. Experience shows, however, that amongst men who wield the spade as a means of earn ing a living or in the cultivation of the home garden or allotment there I are some who do it in a workmanlike j manner, moving the ground to a Igood depth and leaving the surface even and level. These are good diggers, but there are slovenly and [efficient operators who keep their | sondes decidedly near to the sui- | face, which is left, all hills and ! hollows. A comparison of the work j ot the two classed of'diggers proves \ that there are good and bad ways of I using the spade, and in this work I opportunities are presented for the : display ot iikill. A' society in Eug- ! land, in a district were a good deal • of digging is done, has inaugurated a i competition in which the labourers ! are given s-o much ground each, and prizes are awarded to those who diar i it in the quickest time and the most workmanlike manner. Considering that the success of spade cultivation hinges very much on the digging, | there is every reason why these comi petition:; should be encouraged.