TOOLS USED IN HORTICULTURE. 



89 



Garden-rakes. 



the edge so as to form a sort of comb, and riveted between two strips 

 of wood, as shown in the figure. It serves for raking off cut grass, 



and also, to a cer- Fi 36> 



tain extent, as a 



daisy-rake. 



Besoms are used 



in horticulture for 



sweeping up mown 



grass, fallen leaves, 



and for a variety of 



purposes. The head 



or sweeping part is 



formed of a bundle 



of the spray of birch, broom, or heath, 



and lately the suckers of the snow- 

 berry, fibres of the cocoa-nut, strips of 



gutta-percha, &c., have come into use 

 Da ti y and gra* rale,. ^ ^p,^ ^ handle ; 3 formed 



of any light wood, such as willow, poplar, or deal. A number of 

 besoms are essential to every garden, though the general use of mow- 

 ing machines has reduced their number and importance. For lifting 

 matters collected together by the broom or grass-rake, two pieces of 

 board are used by the operator, one in each hand, by which the 

 smallest heap of leaves or grass can be quickly and neatly lifted 

 up, and dropped into a basket or wheelbarrow. The pieces of 

 board may be about 18 in. long, from 6 in. to 9 in. broad, and f in. 

 thick. 



Beetles and rammers, fig. 37, are useful tools even in small gardens, 

 for beating down newly-laid turf-edgings ; for ramming and consoli 

 dating the soil about posts and foundations, Fi g< 37. 



and for a variety of other purposes. For 

 example, where part of a gravel-walk is 

 taken up and relaid, unless the newly- 

 moved soil and gravel are consolidated, or 

 rammed down, to the same degree as the 

 old part, there will be a depression in that 

 part of the walk, which will increase after 

 the sinking in of rain, and thus require 

 continual additions. In fig. 37, a is the 

 common turf beater or beetle, the head or 



beating part of which is commonly made of a block of wood, though it 

 would be better if it were a plate of cast iron, because that would be 

 heavier ; b is the common wooden beater, which is also used as a 

 rammer, the whole of which is formed of wood ; c and d are two ram- 

 mers, in which the heads are formed of cast iron, and which are very 

 superior tools, invented by Anthony Strutt, Esq. To retain the 

 handle in the socket, a slit is made in the handle, and a small wedge en- 

 tered in it, and afterwards it is driven home till it assumes the appear- 

 ance shown in the section at e. The great art in consolidating turf or 



