472 The Journal of Forestry. 



off shoots, &c. The muscles of the thumb and forefinger are not 

 unduly distended in grasping this part of the bill, and its freer play 

 in the hand aids the flexibility of the wrist. Grasping a bill thus 

 is termed " holding short," or " home," and is quite distinct from the 

 full-handed grasp of the handle close to the clutch-knob for the 

 swinging stroke from the shoulder. 



The handle is preferably of ash, which, of course, must be of 

 seasoned timber ; it is shouldered at its insertion in the socket, so as 

 to form a smooth hand-piece, level with the surface of the socket and 

 face of the blade : a small clout-headed nail, as shown in No. 1, 

 keeps the handle securely in the socket. The spur at the back of 

 the bill serves for gathering up, or drawing towards the woodward's 

 left-hand grasp, any branch that may have to be reached for cutting 

 or moving aside. The notch at the end of the bill, formed by the 

 angular projection of the cutting point of the bill, and the spur, serves 

 for thrusting aside a branch, or aiding the force of the left hand in its 

 movements. 



A bill for hedging and ditching work is of the same shape, but two 

 inches longer, and heavier; this is of iron, with a steel edge "laid on;" 

 being of iron, it is made nearly one-eighth of an inch thicker at the 

 back edge, not only for strength, but for use, in driving the forked 

 stakes into the banks for tying down the " plashings " and shoots. 



For hedging, the angle notch at the end of the bill is constantly in 

 use for thrusting down shoots, or small tie-stakes, and for forcing 

 branches aside, or into position. A dexterous woodward often 

 uses the butt-end, or clutch-knob of the bill, for driving a tie 

 into a bank. The human hand is admirably formed for using a bill 

 without injury by jar or fatigue; in cutting, the stroke may either 

 be directly downward, or upwards, this is called a back-handed stroke, 

 the back of the hand being towards the user ; in either case the 

 stroke has the effect of contracting the thumb and finger muscles, 

 by the pressure of the bill-handle between the thumb and finger ; 

 in like manner, the pressure on the hand between the wrist and 

 little finger contracts those muscles, aiding the grasp of the handle 

 of the bill : the strain upon these muscles is very great ; when ex- 

 cessive, often causing a permanent contraction of the muscles of the 

 little finger and next, in workers who have to grasp tightly the tools 

 they use. A flexible arm will deliver strokes with the greatest exactness. 



Writers of fiction, and some who think they write facts, speak of 

 the " iwrn of the wrist" — it is accepted as a fact by readers in general ; 

 but it is not so ; the wrist admits of but slight power of turning ; it 

 bends pliantly backwards and forwards, but it is the fore-arm that 

 twists, between the wrist and elbow. 



The axe is associated with the woodman's craft, and is regarded as 



