Phil Schempf ointed to "A discussion on beetles here:

http://tinyurl.com/yd333pl3

from the New York State Agricultural Society of 1858."


I found the discussion on beetles so clear and detailed that I explored a bit
further, and found that it is part of a long detailed treatise on the tools for
digging post holes and setting posts (all by hand of course), which in turn is
apparently a part of a fine work on farm tools. Just a few pages before the
beetle section, for instance, there  are pages and pages and pages on the proper
shape, care, and use of spades; with a separate section just as long on shovels;
as well as similar on spuds, on the posthole auger, on the dirt spoon, and other
tools I have never come across. It insists on having a light rack for leaning
your posthole tools against, since the labor of bending down for them and
scraping the mud off rapidly uses enough time to dig another couple of holes
(shades of Frank Gilbreth's adjustable bricklaying stand,thirty years or so
later!). I hope someone remember this source the next time the topic of "shade"
vs. "spovel" comes up.
Tom Conroy