Stirring the soil

Gardening for ladies, and, Companion to the flower-garden (1851)

Author: Loudon, Mrs. (Jane), 1807-1858; Downing, A. J. (Andrew Jackson), 1815-1852

Volume: 1851

Subject: Gardening; Flower gardening; Plants, Ornamental

Publisher: New York : John Wiley

The first point to be attended to, in order to render the operation
of digging less laborious, is to provide a suitable spade ; that is, one which shall be as light as is consistent with strength, and whichpenetrate the ground with the least possible trouble. For this purpose, the blade of what is called a lady's spade is made of not more than half the usual breadth, say not wider than five or six inches, and of smooth polished iron, and it is surmounted, at the part where it joins the handle, by a piece of iron rather broader than itself, which IS called the tread, to serve as a rest for the foot of the operator while digging. The handle is about the usual length, but quite smooth and sufficiently slender for a lady's hand to grasp, and it is made of willow, a close, smooth, and elastic wood, which is tough and tolerably strong, though much lighter than ash, the wood generally used for the handles to gardeners' spades.

 The lady should also be provided with clogs, the soles of which are not jointed, to put over her shoes ; or if she should dislike these, and prefer strong shoes, she should be provided with what gardeners call a tramp, that is, a small plate of iron to go under the sole of the shoe, and which is fastened round the foot with a leathern strap and buckle. She should also have a pair of stiff thick leathern glove, or gauntlets, to protect her hands, not only from the handle of the spade, but from the stones, weeds, &c., which she may turn over with the earth, and which ought to be picked out and thrown into a small, light wheel' barrow, which may easily be moved from place to place.
  

   [A Lady's Gauntlet of strong leather, invented by Misa Perry of Stroud, near Hazleraere. ]   

Lady's Wheel-barrow.
 A wheel-barrow is a lever of the second kind, in which the weight
is carried between the operator, who is the moving power, and the
fulcrum, which is represented by the lower part of the wheel. If it
be so contrived that the wheel may roll on a plank, or on firm ground, a very slight pov/er (?) is sufficient to move the load contained in the bar- row ; particularly if the handles be long, curved, and thrown up as high as possible, in order to let the weight rest principally upon the wheel, without obliging the operator to bend forward. When, on the contrary, the handles are short and straight, the weight is thrown principally on the arms of the operator, and much more strength is required to move the load, besides the inconvenience of stooping.
 All the necessary implements for digging being provided, the next
thing to be considered is the easiest manner of performing the opera-
tion. The usual way is for the gardener to thrust his spade perpen-
dicularly into the gi'ound, and then using the handle as a lever, to
draw it back so as to raise the whole mass of earth in front of the
spade at once. This requires great strength ; but by inserting the
spade in a slanting direction, and throwing the body slightly forward
at the same time, the mass of earth to be raised will not only be much less, but the body of the operator will be in a much more convenient position for raising and turning it ; which may thus be done with perfect ease.