446 



Journal des Jardiniers et Amateurs. 



eight to twenty years' growth, are cut and trimmed, and the bark is separated 

 from them, from one end to the other. This is easily done by simply drawing 

 the edge of a knife along the whole length of the tree or branch, so as to cut 

 the bark to the soft wood. It then rises on each side of the wound, and 

 almost separates of itself. If mats are to be made immediately, the bark is next 

 beaten with mallets on a block of wood, and children are employed to separate 

 the inner bark, which comes off in strands or ribands, while the outer bark 

 detaches itself in scales. If mats are not to be made for some time, the bark 

 is dried in a barn or shed, and either kept there, or stacked, till it is wanted. ' 

 It is then steeped twenty-four hours in water, beaten as before, and put into a 

 heap, where it remains till it undergoes a slight fermentation. When this 

 takes place, the inner bark separates in ribands and shreds as before. With 

 the shreds, cords of different kinds are twisted in the usual manner ; and mats 

 are formed with the ribands in the same way as rush mats. The ribands 

 which are to be used in forming mats for gardens undergo a sort of bleaching, 

 for the purpose of depriving them of part of their mucilage, which woidd 



otherwise render them too liable to in- 

 crease and diminish in bulk by atmo- 

 spheric changes. The great advantage 

 of lime-tree or bast mats over all others, 

 in gardens, is, that they do not so 

 easily rot from being exposed to moist- 

 ure. 



A Fruit-Gatherer (fig. 11 ,~) isdescribed, 

 which (it being somewhat different 

 from those given in our Encyclopedia 

 of Gardening) we shall here make 

 known to our readers. It consists of 

 two branches (a, b). The branch a is 

 the support of the instrument ; it is 

 furnished in its upper part with a cutting 

 blade of steel (c), which is fixed there by 

 three screws. Its lower part (d) is in 

 the form of a socket, in order to receive 

 a long wooden handle. The second 

 branch (b) is fixed on that marked a, by 

 means of a turning joint or hinge at e, 

 which traverses a screw on which the 

 branch b works. There is a steel spring 

 (/) fixed on the branch a, by the screw 

 g; the object of which is, to cause the 

 branch b to shut on a. There is a 

 copper stopper (Ji) to keep the branch 

 b open, when the instrument is about 

 to be used ; it is fixed on the branch a, 

 by a screw marked i, on which it works. 

 There is a small steel spring (k) which 

 presses the stopper against the lower 

 end of the branch b. In order to gather 

 a fruit, its footstalk is introduced be- 

 tween the branches (a, b), by present- 

 ing them open to it, as represented in 

 the figure ; the cord (7), which is fixed 

 into the stopper (h), is then drawn down- 

 wards, so as to liberate b, which closes 

 on a, while the blade (c) cuts the stalk 

 of the fruit, the latter being retained 

 between the two branches, or nippers 

 (a,b),_ . 



