Book IV. IMPLEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 365 



as is the case where tlie point is of the cutting kind, by which means fewer drop and are 

 lost. With sickles reapers invariably make cleaner work than with the hooks for the 

 above reason ; with hooks the straws are cut with less labor. {Trans. Soc. Arts. vol. 28.) 



2408. Tke hay knife consists of a straight blade set at right angles to a short wooden 

 handle ; both of considerable strength. It is used for cutting hay or straw when con- 

 solidated in the rick or stack. An improvement of this instrument has been proposed, 

 which consists in forming the blade like that of a common spade, sharp at the edges, by 

 which the operator will cut downwards instead of obliquely, and not being obliged to 

 stoop, will effect the same work with far less trouble. 



2409. The wool shears are formed wholly of iron or steel, and worked with one hand. 



2410. The hedge shears are of different kinds ; that called the averuncator is to be 

 preferred for cutting off large shoots, as it makes a clean draw cut like a knife. Shears, 

 however, are. not used in dressing hedges by the best agriculturists. 



2411. The thatching knife consists of a blade similar to that of a scythe, inserted in a 

 wooden handle like that of a reaping hook. For thatching with reeds, heath, or any 

 rough and rigid thatch, the blade has a handle affixed to each end to enable the operator 

 to work it with both hands. 



2412. The stack-borer consists of a species, of auger, the cutting part of which is of 

 very sharp steel, and the stem eight or ten feet long, with a moveable cross handle for 

 working it. There is also a screw similar to a common bottle screw, which works on or 

 round the stem of the augur, and is applied at intervals to draw out the cut hay. This 

 instrument is used by extensive growers of meadow or natural hay to bore holes through 

 hay ricks when they heat, or to try the quality of the article. The hole made by tihe 

 augur is about one foot in diameter. 



2413. The hedge bill is of various kinds; most of them have long handles, but what 

 are called bill-hooks, are a sort of axe with a hooked point and a short handle. 



2414. The axe, saw, wedges and hammers, of different kinds and sizes, are used in 

 agriculture, in felling trees, cutting them up, preparing fuel, driving nails, &c., but 

 these and other instruments common to various arts need not be described. 



2415. Blacklegs improved hatchet and bill-hooks for cutting underwood, faggoting, and 

 gapstopping, are superior instruments for these purposes. The long handled Berwickshire 

 hedge-bill for dressing hedges, and the long handled saw for cutting off large branches 

 of trees, are preferred for cutting over old hedges and undergrowths by the collar. 



2416. The line and reel is occasionally wanted for the manual operations of agriculture^ 

 and should be procured rather stronger and with a longer line than those used in gardens, 



2417. The potatoe setscoop is of two kinds ; ^_ 

 one a hollow semiglobe, (Jig. 257 a. ), and 

 the other (6) a section of that figure. 

 They are only used when potatoes are very 

 scarce, as in ordinary cases the larger the set 

 the more strength and rapidity of growth in 

 the young plant. 



2418. Tke Edinburgh potatoe scoop {fig- 258.) is by far the best, and indeed the only one deserving of 

 use. The handle (a) has a round stem 2^ 



which passes through a piece of metal 

 (d) and has there a semicircular knife 

 or cutter {e) fixed to it. This cutter is 

 sharp on both edges and turns on a 

 pivot fitted in a ;piece of brass formed 

 out of a piece of plate {b, c). This 

 plate forms a shield to hold this instru- 

 ment firm upon the potatoe, by placing 

 the thumb of the left hand upon it, and 

 pressing the points in which the cutter 

 13 fixed, into the tuber. Then by turning the handle half round with the right hand, the semicircular knife 

 cuts out a set which is a segment of a small sphere {e,f, g). The only attention necessary in the use of this 

 instrument is, that it is placed upon the potatoe, with the eye or bud in the centre of the diameter of the 

 semicircle of the knife when laid flat on the tuber. The advantages of this scoop, besides that it is very quick 

 in its operation, is that the pieces being aU exactly of one size, that is about an inch in diameter, may be 

 planted by a bean barrow or drill machine, with much less labor and more accuracy than by the hand. 



2419. The essential instruments of labor are the scythe, reaping hook, hay-knife,, 

 wool-shears, hedge-bill, axe, saw, hammer, and line and reel. 



SuBSECT. 2. Instruments of Science. 



2420. Scientific instrumeiits are not much required in agriculture, the principal are 

 for levelling, boring, and measuring. 



2421. 2'/ie ;^?;ens frequently required in agriculture, for arranging surfaces for irri- 

 gation ; tracing strata in order to cut off springs, well making, and a variety of other 

 purposes. The simplest form is the common road or mason's level, and the most com- 

 plete the spirit level, with a telescope and compass, such as is used by land surveyors ; but 

 when operations of only moderate extent are to be performed, very convenient and 

 economical substitutes, and if used with care, equally accurate instruments, may be 



