KNIVES USED IN GARDENING. 284 



KOHL RABI. 



as to be closed when out of use, and 

 it is not amiss if the spring at the back 

 be so constructed as to prevent any chance 

 of the knife closing when the operator is 

 using it. The edge of the blade should be 

 straight, or all- but straight, from haft to 

 point. The blade, moreover, should be of 

 the best steel, and kept scrupulously keen. 

 It may be asked why one knife will not 

 serve for all purposes. The reply lies in 

 the fact that in pruning it is necessary to 

 make a clean cut across the bough or 

 branchlet that is severed from the tree, 

 and that the bark should be cut all round 

 as cleanly as the wood that it incloses, 

 without leaving any shreds or stripping 

 when the cut is made, which shows that 

 the knife is blunt or not so sharp as it 

 ought to be, or that the operator is unskil- 

 ful in the use of his tool, or has not made 

 the cut at the proper angle, which is an 

 angle ranging from 30 to 45 to the axis of 

 the branch that is cut. The greater the 

 angle, the less the chance of making a clean 

 cut and of leaving a little flap of bark at 

 the upper end of it stripped from the 

 portion that is cut away. It is undesirable 

 to use a knife for which sharpness is indis- 

 pensable for any other purpose than pruning, 

 and hence an ordinary garden knife should 

 be kept for rougher work. The blade of 

 the pruning knife is not so large, broad, 

 and heavy as that of the garden knife. 

 Good garden knives and pruning knives 

 may be bought at prices ranging from is. 

 to 35. 



Knives > Hone for Sharpening. As it is 

 always desirable to have the means of put- 

 ting an edge to a knife at any time and at 

 any place, the gardener should carry in his 

 pocket a "slip," as it is called, for this 

 purpose, if his work be such that the knife 

 is called into frequent use. A piece of good 

 Turkey stone, to be procured from any 

 ironmonger, is generally used ; but no one 

 will do amiss in furnishing himself with one 



of the " Tarn O'Shanter Hones, prepared 

 by Mr. John C. Montgomerie, Dalmore 

 Hone Works, Stair, Ayrshire. This hone 

 is accounted to be as good as, if not better 

 than, any other for sharpening all kinds of 

 edge tools. It needs no oil, and requires 

 to be moistened with saliva only, or a little 

 water, with which simple lubricant it puts 

 on a keen, sharp edge. It can be had in 

 small pieces, expressly cut for the pocket, 

 when desired. Every hone or slip bears 

 the name "Tarn O'Shanter," which is a 

 mark of its genuineness. It is, or ought to 

 be, sold by every ironmonger ; but any one 

 who rinds a difficulty in getting it through 

 the ordinary channel should write direct to 

 the works. 



Kohl Rabi. 



A hardy vegetable partaking of the 

 nature of the cabbage and turnip, having 

 a bulbous-shaped stem like the latter, 

 with broad leaves growing here and 

 there from the top of the stem. It 



KOHL RABI. 



does not suffer from drought or frost, and 

 when the ste-m is eaten young it is tender 

 and palatable. The sorts best suited for 

 garden use are the Early White Vienna 

 and Early Purple Vienna, so named from 

 the colour of the skin of the stem. Sow 

 seed at any time from April to June. If 

 in permanent quarters sow in drills 15 

 inches apart, and thin out to 12 inches 



