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A hoe is an ancient and versatile agricultural tool used to move small amounts of soil. Common goals include weed control by agitating the surface of the soil around plants, piling soil around the base of plants (hilling), creating narrow furrows (drills) and shallow trenches for planting seeds and bulbs, to chop weeds, roots and crop residues, and even to dig or move soil, such as when harvesting root crops like potatoes. Classes Cultivating tool pull or draw hoe Cultivating tool push or thrust hoe There are two classes of hoe: pull or draw hoes; and push or thrust hoes, also called Dutch hoes. A pull hoe has the blade set at approximately a right angle to the axis of the rod used as a handle. The user forces the blade into the ground with a downward chopping action and then pulls (draws) the blade towards them. Altering the angle of the handle can cause the hoe to dig deeper or more shallowly as the hoe is pulled. A pull hoe can easily be used manually to cultivate soil to a depth of several inches. It is not easy to use a pull hoe to cultivate and remove weeds etc. from only the surface layer of the soil. A push hoe has the blade set in a plane slightly inclined to the axis of the rod used as a handle. The user uses the handle to push the blade forward, forcing it below the surface of the ground and maintaining it at a shallow depth in the surface layer of soil by altering the angle of the handle whilst pushing. A push hoe can easily cultivate and remove weeds etc. from the surface layer of the soil. It is not easy to use a push hoe to manually to cultivate soil to a depth of more than a fraction of an inch. Types A Dutch hoe or push hoe; usually attached to a long hilt and handle Hoedad (tree-planting tool) Kaibab National Forest, Arizona, USA There are many types of blades of quite different appearances and purposes. Some can perform multiple functions. Others are intended for a specific use. Types of hoes include: The collinear hoe has a narrow, razor-sharp blade which is used to slice weeds by skimming it just above the surface of the soil with a sweeping motion; it is unsuitable for tasks like soil moving and chopping. The typical farming and gardening hoe with a heavy, broad delta-shaped blade and a flat edge is the Dego hoe. The Dutch hoe (scuffle, action, oscillating, swivel, or Hula-Ho) is a design that is pushed or pulled through the soil to cut weeds just under the surface. Its tool-head is a loop of flat, sharpened strap metal. It is not as efficient as a chopping hoe for pulling or pushing soil. Hoedads (also, "hoedags") are hoe-like tools used for planting trees.[1] According to Hartzell (1987, p. 29), "The hoedag [was] originally called skindvic hoe... Hans Rasmussen, legendary contractor and timber farm owner, is credited with having invented the curved, convex, round-nosed hoedag blade which is widely used today" (emphasis added).[2] Stirrup hoes are designed with a double edge blade that bends around to form a stirrup like rectangle attached to the handle. Weeds are cut just below the soil surface as the blade is pushed & pulled through the area. The back and forth motion is highly effective with cutting weeds in loose or breakable soil. Widths of the stirrup blade typically range between three to seven inches. Wheel hoes are, as the name suggests, a hoe or pair of hoes attached to one or more wheels. The hoes are frequently interchangeable with other tools.[3] History Hoes are an ancient technology, predating the plough and perhaps preceded only by the digging stick. In Sumerian mythology, the invention of the hoe was credited to Enlil, the chief of the council of gods.[4] The hand-plough (mr) was depicted in predynastic Egyptian art, and hoes are also mentioned in ancient documents like the Code of Hammurabi (ca. 18th century BC) and the Book of Isaiah (c. 8th century BC). The human damage caused by long-term use of short-handled hoes, which required the user to bend over from the waist to reach the ground, and caused permanent, crippling lower back pain to farm workers, resulted in the California Supreme Court declaring the short-handled hoe to be an unsafe hand tool that was banned under California law in 1975.[5] The short-handled hoe that Governor Jerry Brown gave to César Chávez in 1975 was displayed in the California Hall of Fame in 2006.[citation needed] |
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