96 



IMPLEMENTS. 



Fig. 51. 



Small shoots are removed by the hooked part, shown in fig. 50. 

 The budding-knife, fig. 51, should have a broad, flat blade, 



the edge of which is to be 

 rounded outwards, for the 

 more ready incision of the 

 bark. The thin ivory blade 

 or haft at the extremity of 

 the handle, as the budding-knife is commonly made, may 

 be dispensed with in nearly all cases, the bud when set in, 

 lifting the bark as it slides downwards, more perfectly than 

 by any other mode, after the corners of the bark are lifted 

 with the point of the blade. 



The grafting-tool (fig. 52) is useful in cleft-grafting 



large apple trees. It 

 may be made of iron, 

 the edge set with steel.- 

 Fig. 52. It is used for splitting 



the stock, after it is sawed off and pared. The part a should 

 be two inches broad with a sharp edge, which should curve 

 inwards, that the bark, in splitting, may be cut first, to give 

 it a smooth flat face. The wedge b opens the stock to 

 receive the graft. By the hook c it is hung on a twig 

 close at hand, when not in use. Grafting wedges for common 

 use, may be made by grinding down large cut nails. 



The graf ting-shears i a recent invention, have effected a 

 great improvement in cleft-grafting, rendering the work 

 much more expeditious and perfect. They consist of a 



short thin blade of 

 the best steel, a, fig; 

 53, two or three 

 inches long, set at 

 an angle of about a 

 hundred and twenty 

 degrees with the 

 handle b, which 

 moves it against a 

 concave bed in the wooden piece, c. The angle which the 

 blade and its bed form with the handles, imparts a sawing 

 motion to the knife, which renders it more effective. It 

 may be used on stocks an inch or an inch and a half in 

 diameter. Pressing the top of the stock from the operator 

 with one hand, it is cut off with remarkable ease by a single 



5a 



