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THE MORAL QUALITIES OF THE HOE
help so near at hand. Figuratively speaking such a man ought to soak
his head in printer's ink, or if that be too strenuous a method, in some
more gentle manner infuse a little printer's ink into his system (we
refer of course, to his business system.) With the present desultory
method of marketing this hoe, think of the many precious years that
many a gardener must yet waste before he finds this gem of tools.
Surely the blame of it must fall upon someone's head. Advertising
would help. It would bring the hoe to the attention of those who
need it most and just compensation into the hands of the manufac-
turer. However, a man who produces such a good hoe and then fails
to advertise it, is nobody's friend, not even his own. He does not
deserve to be a millionaire.
     THE MORAL QUALITIES OF THE HOE
 HARLES DUDLEY WARNER was wont to dwell long and
       thoughtfully on the romance of the hoe even though he knew
       it in its primeval state of incompleteness. He said: "To
 own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and
 watch their renewal of life,-is the commonest delight of the race,
 the most satisfactory thing a man can do. One gets strength out of
 the ground," he reflected, "as often as one touches it with a
hoe."
    Mr. Warner hoped that Horace did a little hoeing and that his
 verse was not all fraudulent sentiment. "Hoe while it is spring and
 enjoy the best anticipations. It is not much matter if things do
 not turn out well."
    During the summer that Mr. Warner spent in his garden, the
 garden he turned into literature, he came to the conclusion that weeds
 had hateful moral qualities: "To cut down a weed is to do a moral
 action."
    The pith of his argument however is that, "in a garden man
 needs a cast-iron back with a hinge in it. The hoe is an ingenious
 instrument, calculated to call out a great deal of strength at a great
 disadvantage."
    This observation of Mr. Warner's recalls to many nature lovers
 the insects with scale-covered backs showing a conformation that
 answers somewhat to his desired hinge in the back. In fact, these
 smug creatures are able to approach a hole, sniff about it, and then,
 should they feel a slight tremble of the earth beneath them, to
 swiftly enter, apparently unhinging the scaly portions of their backs
 and taking whatever form enables them to slip out of sight most
 quickly. The future may reap suggestions from such insects that
 will perchance evolve the hoe of the gardener's dreams.
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