IMPLEMENTS AND TOOL& 209 



left on the tree must be smoothed with the chisel or pruning-knife, and the 

 wounds covered with some composition which will exclude the air. 



536. The Chisel. — There are two sorts in use, — the garden and the forest 

 • chisel : the first is chiefly used in grafting, and diflfers from the carpenter's 

 chisel in being wedge-shaped, or bevelled on the edge on both sides ; thus 

 tapering to a central point. It is used with a mallet, to slit stocks for grafting 

 when they are too large for the grafting-knife, and to smooth branches cut 

 with the saw. 



537. The Bill-hook : a hooked blade sharpened on both sides, with a handle 

 about a foot long ; a useful instrument for cutting away branches too thick for 

 the knife. With a long handle and sharpened on the hooked side, it is used 

 to cut hedges, in place of clipping them. 



538. The Axe is a steel wedge, attached at right angles to a strong handle 

 of ash timber, about two feet and a half long. The axe varies much in form : 

 the long and narrow one, known as the American axe, is the most useful. It is 

 used for cutting roots of trees which cannot be conveniently reached with 

 the saw. 



539. The Sc3rthe : a long blade of steel, attached to the end of a crooked 

 wooden handle. Boyd's scythe is much used in gardens where the grass is 

 kept under by mowing. 



540. Shears of various kinds are in use in the garden, both for clipping 

 hedges and dressing the edgings of the beds. The turf edges are kept smooth 

 by using those with long handles, moving upon a single wheel : shorter shears 

 are used for cutting box-edgings and quickset hedges. 



541. The Garden-engine is of essential service in a garden where water 

 cannot be distributed to all the garden by means of a hose. 



542. "With the Syi-inge, which is essential in the greenhouse, the garden- 

 engine may be made to produce the nearest possible approach to a natural 

 shower of rain, preceded by a misty dew. 



543. The Garden-Une consists of an iron reel turning on a spindle, ter- 

 minating in a peg and a cord. The cord is wound round the reel, and, having 

 a peg at the other end, the beds are trimmed and the rows directed b}' the line. 



544. The Level, as its name implies, is to guide the workman in all opera- 

 tions where either a perfect level, or, as in draining, a regulated fall is required. 

 The most useful is half a square, with an iron index, marked out with ninety 

 degrees or divisions. Where a slope is to be laid out at a perfect level, the 

 plummet will hang in the centi-e, or 45°, and on a slope it may hang at any 

 lesser number, in ascending at any higher numbei', according to the steepness 

 of the slope. 



545. The Measuring-rod is made of wood, generally 10 feet long and an inch 

 square, on which the feet are marked, the last foot having the inches also. 



546. The Wheelbarrow, though last is not least ; indeed, it is the most indis- 

 pensable implement in the garden next to the spade, hoe, and rake, and is 

 too well known to require description. 



547. The Ladder, of various sizes, will be required in the garden. 



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