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Principles of Landscajje- Gardening 



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Fig. 45. Dwmcraft, or Screw Lever, in use in the Musselburgh Burying-Ground. 



wings having knobs are attached to facilitate working, and with the other 

 end pointed and pierced about 3 in. from the point, so as to receive a spear 

 nail. Every pair of boards requires a pair of dumcrafts ; and one end of each 

 board requires to have a hole about three quarters of an inch in diameter, 

 guarded by a shield, for one end of the instrument; and, within a few inches of 

 the other end, a plate of iron fixed on to receive the centre point of the screw, 

 and allow it to work. By a mere inspection of the instrument, any workman 

 will understand the manner in which it is to be used. The object of allowing 

 one end of the rod to go through the boards is to allow the other end to 

 come freely out when the grave is being filled up ; for, although the dum- 

 craft is slackened by unscrewing one end by means of the knobs which 

 project from the wings, yet, by the pressure of the earth from the sides of the 

 grave, it would take much longer time to loosen it sufficiently to get it out ; 

 whereas by turning the movable open part of the screw end a little, and 

 then taking out the spear and allowing the iron rod to go through the boards, 

 the centre point at the other end is freed at once, and this without any noise, 

 which is not the case in taking out the strut pieces commonly employed. By 

 having two or three holes for the spear, and two or three plates with centre 

 holes for the screw to work in, a difference in length and breadth of grave 

 may be obtained within certain limits. For an account of this instrument we 

 are indebted to Mr. William Ballery, the superintendant of the Warriston 

 Cemetery, Edinburgh. 



Fig. 46. is a cemetery plank hook, 

 for dragging out loose planks used in 

 the common mode of supporting the 

 sides of graves, and for moving boards Fig. 46. Cemetenj Plank Hook. 



generally, when they are in a wet and dirty state. 



The g7-ave-box (Vol. for 1842, fig. 16.) consists of a bottom and sides, the 

 latter readily separating from the former ; and its use is to hold the soil dug 

 out of the grave, till the grave is ready to have the soil returned to it. From 

 one to four boxes are required for a grave, according to its dimensions. Their 

 use is two-fold : to preserve the soil from mixing with the grass, from which 

 it is difficult afterwards to separate it so entirely as not to leave a quantity of 

 it entangled among its leaves ; and to return the earth in the most rapid 

 manner to the grave. The box, before receiving the earth from the grave, is 

 placed alongside, and raised up in a sloping position ; the earth is thrown into 

 it; and as soon as the coffin is lowered the grave-diggers loosen and take out 

 the side of the box next the grave, when the soil immediately begins to drop 

 out, while, by raising the other side of the box, the whole is returned to the 

 grave, and not a particle of earth is to be seen on the surface of the grass. 

 This box was first used by Mr. Lamb, an undertaker in Leith, and is now in 

 general use in the burial-grounds about Edinburgh. There ought to be a 

 number of such boxes for every cemetery; and it would be an improvement 

 to place them on low wheels, say those on the side which is to be next the 

 grave of 6 inches in diameter, and those on the opposite side of double that 

 height. This, while it would save the trouble of propping up the boxes, 



