Company streamlines mattock

It's hard to improve on a dirt-digging design that's been around for two or three thousand years, but that doesn't mean you can't try.

An Arkansas company has come out with a streamlined version of the mattock - a tool something like a pickax - with a lighter head and a shorter handle, specifically designed for less heavy-duty jobs.

"They are made the lighter weight so people can pick them up more easily," said Frank Burgmeier, spokesman for V & B Manufacturing Co. of Walnut Ridge, Ark. "They are for one-hand operation or for raised-bed gardening or for reaching into tight…