134 



TOOLS USED IN HORTICULTURE. 



layers of turf from old pastures, for forming or repairing lawns or pleasure- 

 grounds, laying grass edgings, collecting turf' for forming composts for plants, 

 and for other purposes. One form, s-. <\ 



ft, frequently called a breast-plough, 

 from the handle being pressed on by 

 the breast, has the edge of the blade 

 turned up so as to separate the strip 

 of turf to be raised, from the firm 



turf : another form, i, is used after Fig. 25. Turf-spades. 



the turf has been cut or lined off into ribbons or bands, by the tool called 

 a turf-racer. 



399. Turf-racers, or verge -cutters, fig. 26, are tools used either for 

 cutting grassy surfaces into narrow strips to be afterwards raised up by the 

 turf spade, or for cutting the grass edgings or verges of walks. The com- 

 mon verge-cutter, /r, 

 has a sharp reniform, 

 or crescent - shaped 

 blade; and the wheel 

 verge-cutter, /, is a 

 thin circular plate of 

 steel, with a sharp- 

 Fig. 26. Verge-cutters or turf-racers. edged circumference, 



fixed to a handle by an axle, and operating by being pushed along before 

 the operator. It is well adapted for cutting off the spreading shoots or 

 leaves of grass edgings which extend over the gravel, without paring away 

 any part of the soil. As the edges of these tools are very easily blunted, 

 they require to be made of steel, and frequently sharpened. M'Intosh's 

 wheel verge-cutter, fig. 27, is designed for cutting grass verges on the sides 



of walks. With this instrument a man 

 may cut as much in one day as he would cut 

 in four or five days with the common verge- 

 cutter without wheels. Bell's verge-cutter, 

 instead of a wheel, has a broad bent plate of 

 iron, through the middle of which the 

 cutting coulters are inserted, and fixed and 



Fig. 27. M'Intosh's wheel verge-cutter, adjusted by screws. It is described and 

 figured in Gard. Mag. vol. xiv. p. 177. In cutting turves from a piece of 

 grass land, the line is first stretched in order that the cutting may be per- 

 formed in a perfectly straight direction. This is also the case in cutting the 

 verges of straight walks, but in cutting those of curved walks the eye alone 

 serves as a guide. In gardens and pleasure-grounds of moderate extent, a 

 sharp-edged common spade may be used as a substitute for the turf-spade, 

 and also for the turf-racer and verge-cutter. 



400. The trowel and the spud, the latter of which is also used 

 as a spade cleaner, belong to this group of tools. Though the 

 spud, fig. 28, can hardly be considered as a fit tool for a pro- 

 fessional gardener, yet, with a suitable handle, it forms a most 

 convenient walking-stick for the amateur gardener ; because by 



it he may root out a weed, or thin out a plant, wherever he sees Fig> 2 s. 

 it necessary. The transplanting trowel, fig. 29, o, is a very Garden spud. 

 useful tool wherever careful and neat gardening is practised; because 



