Winter has passed the middle, and very soon (after all, a couple of months before spring will fly by unnoticed) it will be time to get out again to their country lands. It’s time to check if you are ready for the upcoming season. We continue to carry out inventory of the country shed with tools. And at the same time to get acquainted with the history and varieties of the usual country assistants in the “labor rest”.
Scientists believe that the most ancient agricultural tool is a hoe. Now let’s look at a tool like a shovel.
Summer residents can adhere to a variety of agricultural technologies. However, even those who for ideological and other reasons categorically refuse to dig their beds, there is at least one of the options for this tool in the Arsenal.
Another branch of the stick-digger evolution
Starting to modify the stick-digger, our primitive ancestor quickly realized that the handle can be attached not only a pointed bone, stick or narrow stone to get a hoe, but also a wider part. For example, part of an elk’s horn or the spatula of a large animal. Bingo! The man got a shovel.
Now the process of digging up something or, conversely, burying it went faster: the ancient gardeners began to have surpluses that could be turned into goods. Here is a new round of development of human civilization — the birth of trade. The bone shovel was not only a convenient tool for extracting edible roots. It was widely used by our ancestors for construction and exploration purposes.
So the ancient tool earned itself funds for modernization. The ancestors scrapped the bone blades to the delight of archaeologists and replaced them with more advanced iron models. And since at first there was little iron, and it was expensive, then the metal did not make the entire bayonet, but only the working part that is experiencing the greatest load.
A shovel is simple
When they want to say that something is very simple, they compare it to a shovel. Indeed, there is nothing superfluous in this tool, only 3 parts: the blade, the sleeve and the stalk.
Shovels are divided into 3 types:
- building;
- gardening;
- loading and unloading.
By the way, there are more construction and loading varieties of shovels: 5 construction and as many as 9 loading and unloading ones.
Most uses in the horticultural Affairs of the shovel construction. Most often, the shovel is pointed. Although it is the location of the cuttings at an angle relative to the canvas that makes it easier to dig the ground in the soil plane, which is usually required by gardeners.
There is no limit to perfection
Although the basic device of the shovel is simple, there is always a field for activity where you can “reinvent the wheel”. Today, a number of shovels have appeared on sale, the creators of which seek to increase the ergonomics of the tool, to minimize the physical costs of the employee. Many developments do not even look like the usual tools.
If you have osteochondrosis, a herniated disc, ankylosing hyperostosis, stenosis of the spinal canal or any other disease of the spine, knee and other joints listed in the orthopedist’s Handbook, then you are not recommended to dig the ground with any product. Or banned altogether.
Miracle shovel
Under these names, the unit is offered, from a distance similar to a hybrid of forks and backs from a metal bed. The name shovel for this mechanism is not quite correct: it is impossible to dig with it, it only loosens the soil. But he will be happy for those who consider digging up the earth with a coup of the reservoir inappropriate.
Archimedean shovel
From other options for improving the usual shovel, we can note the Archimedean shovel, where an additional lever is used to turn out the earth ball. The inventor shifted the stalk relative to the blade.
And although the authors created prototypes of such miracle shovels with their own hands, today all the varieties described above, if you set a goal, can be bought in stores.
Traditional view of the subject
The other extreme is traditionalists who do not accept innovations. For example, in the Netherlands, the family firm Sneeboer, founded in 1913, still produces the same models of shovels that the company’s founder produced more than 100 years ago.
Note to summer residents: in my opinion, the garden tool Sneeboer is really worthy of attention. The manufacturer gives a lifetime warranty on metal parts: all tools today are made of stainless steel, forged by hand and hardened. By the way, Sneeboer produces not only vintage, time-tested models. The range includes various versions of shovels.
Among the models of this tool, companies that produce premium garden tools (which include Sneeboer), in addition to the classic ones, have all sorts of varieties, including special-purpose ones. For example, a shovel with a narrow bayonet, convenient for working with bulbous plants. With it, daffodils and tulips can be carefully planted or dug up without ruining the entire flowerbed. Or a shovel with teeth on the cutting edge — for digging stony soil and cutting roots.
Other option
In addition to digging, the cottager, most likely, at least occasionally may need other types of shovels. For example, shovel for loading bulk materials-sawdust, peat, sand. Or snow, if you come to your country house in the winter.
Spades can be attributed to all kinds of garden shovels to work with flowers on the beds and in the rooms. Also, in some cases, a fork can act as a shovel — it is more convenient to dig clay soil or dig potatoes with a tool with a lightweight plane. Among the forks there are special ones — digging ones. In contrast to the usual ones intended for agitating and laying hay, these varieties have flat and more powerful teeth.
In General, a shovel is a tool that is necessary for any summer resident. Without it, you can not do either in decorative gardening, or even more so when growing a rich crop. Show off your Arsenal.
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