HOE (through Fr. _houe_ from O.H.G. _houwa_, mod. Ger. _Haue_; the root
is seen in "hew," to cut, cleave; the word must be distinguished from
"hoe," promontory, tongue of land, seen in place names, e.g. Morthoe,
Luton Hoo, the Hoe at Plymouth, &c.; this is the same as Northern
English "heugh" and is connected with "hang"), an agricultural and
gardening implement used for extirpating weeds, for stirring the
surface-soil in order to break the capillary channels and so prevent the
evaporation of moisture, for singling out turnips and other root-crops
and similar purposes. Among common forms of hoe are the ordinary
garden-hoe (numbered _1_ in fig. 1), which consists of a flat blade set
transversely in a long wooden handle; the Dutch or thrust-hoe (_2_),
which has the blade set into the handle after the fashion of a spade;
and the swan-neck hoe (_3_), the best manual hoe for agricultural
purposes, which has a long curved neck to attach the blade to the
handle; the soil falls back over this, blocking is thus avoided and a
longer stroke obtained. Several types of horse-drawn hoe capable of
working one or more rows at a time are used among root and grain crops.
The illustrations show two forms of the implement, the blades of which
differ in shape from those of the garden-hoe. Fig. 2 is in ordinary use
for hoeing between two lines of beans or turnips or other "roots." Fig.
3 is adapted for the narrow rows of grain crops and is also convertible
into a root-hoe. In the lever-hoe, which is largely used in grain crops,
the blades may be raised and lowered by means of a lever. The
horse-drawn hoe is steered by means of handles in the rear, but its
successful working depends on accurate drilling of the seed, because
unless the rows are parallel the roots of the plants are liable to be
cut and the foliage injured. Thus Jethro Tull (17th century), with whose
name the beginning of the practice of horse-hoeing is principally
connected, used the drill which he invented as an essential adjunct in
the so-called "Horse-hoeing Husbandry" (see AGRICULTURE).
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Three Forms of Manual Hoe.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Martin's One-Row Horse Hoe.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Martin's General Purpose Steerage Horse Hoe.]
HOEFNAGEL, JORIS (1545-1601), Dutch painter and engraver, the son of a
diamond merchant, was born at Antwerp. He travelled abroad, making
drawings from archaeological subjects, and was a pupil of Jan Bol at
Mechlin. He was afterwards patronized by the elector of Bavaria at
Munich, where he stayed eight years, and by the Emperor Rudolph at
Prague. He died at Vienna in 1601. He is famous for his miniature work,
especially on a missal in the imperial library at Vienna; he painted
animals and plants to illustrate works on natural history; and his
engravings (especially for Braun's _Civitates orbis terrarum_, 1572, and
Ortelius's _Theatrum orbis terrarum_, 1570) give him an interesting
place among early topographical draughtsmen.
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