USEFUL TOOLS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31783, 13 September 1968, Page 6

USEFUL TOOLS

Two useful tools, for those gardeners who are primarily keen vegetable growers, are illustrated in the accompanying diagram. They are: (1) row marker: and (2) a ridger or moulder. Both these items of equipment are available from leading hardware dealers but could be constructed by a handyman out of various materials. A row marker is always handy to have where numerous rows of seeds or even plants are put in, the more so if the tines or pegs used for

marking the rows are readily adjustable to any desired width, whether it is, say, three rows at one foot apart and another at 15in or all at the same spacing. Once the first row has been carefully marked out by running the marker down the line the line can be dispensed with. It will be found that accuracy of marking can often vary, depending on the state of the soil and the weight of the marker. With very long rows additional weight on the draw bar will help to maintain a steady course when pulling. Where more than one set of rows is to be marked out the outer peg of the marker must be redrawn along the last row of the previous row. A ridger or moulder has several uses for not only can it serve to ridge up crops such as potatoes but it can be used to form mounds for raised strawberry beds and such like. It can also be used to form channels for irrigation or perhaps furrows for celery or asparagus planting. One brand of ridger on the market is available with a number of different bodies and attachments including widening blades, spare cutter and additional handles to enable bigger mounds, or deeper furrows to be made by two people instead of one. Ease of operation will of course he dictated by the nature of the soil and good results cannot really be expected In heavy clay land.