58 TREATISE ON 



They're usually fourteen to fifteen lignes [see translator's note. p. 0053] wide by nine or 

 ten thick. In several community gardens, that offer some lessons in economy, I've seen 

 trellises made of props eighteen lignes wide by fifteen lignes thick. 



If the props had been made up a long time before they're put to use & are very 

 dry, they're soaked in water for several days. They're then made ready, i.e. uneven spots 

 are planed, the warped ones are straightened out, and the ends of the shoots that need to 

 be joined or assembled are chamfered or beveled. To straighten a bent portion of a prop, 

 the concave side is laid upon a sawhorse or on a block. The convex side is struck 

 obliquely with a billhook, penetrating about a third of the width of the prop. It's turned on 

 the cut convex side & passed under a brace or an iron pivot fastened on the edge of the 

 block or sawhorse. It's positioned so that the notch is between the brace & the hand 

 moving it. One presses down carefully on the prop to the point where a small sound made 

 by the breaking wood fibers is heard & the bent part straightens out. But the cost is a prop 

 that to a large degree is broken & considerably weakened by this operation that has to be 

 performed everywhere that the prop is bent. For this reason, at the time that the laths are 

 being soaked, it's much better to warm the bent portions over a fire of wood shavings & 

 to cramp them under an iron support. This straightens them easily & almost without any 

 break. 



The wall to be covered with a trellis should have iron hooks on it. Two kinds of 

 hooks are used. One type is about six inches long, four to five lignes [see translator's 

 note, p. 0053] wide, a %we-&-a»half thick, and split at the end to form a fixture where it 

 will be inserted into the wall. The other end is bent into a right angle where it forms a 

 hook an inch or an inch-&-a-half long. 



