Horticultural Implements, Appliances, etc. 273 



without any trouble. At the base is a moveable spring which 

 serves to open the branches. Thus we see that this instrument is 

 very complete, but its value is augmented by its not being com- 

 plicated, and especially by its being of a reasonable price — 

 ten francs." 



The Secateur. — Of garden cutlery I will only mention the 

 secateur, and this is an instrument that every gardener should 

 possess himself of at once. I know well the prejudice that exists 

 in England among horticulturists against things of this kind, and 

 their almost superstitious regard for a good knife — a state of things 

 quite justified by the nature of most inventions brought out for 

 the amelioration of gardening. I also believed in a good knife 

 above all, but when I saw how useful is the secateur to the fruit- 

 growers of France, and how much more easily and effectively they 

 cut with tliem exactly as desired, I became at once converted. 

 A secateur is seen in the hands of every French fruit-grower, and 

 by its means he cuts as clean as the best knife-man with the best 

 knife ever whetted. They cut stakes with them almost as fast as 

 one could count them ; they have recently made some large ones 

 for cutting stronger plants — such as the strong awkward roots of the 

 briars collected by the rose-growers. Of tliese secateurs there are 

 many forms, several of the best being figured here. First we have 

 the Secateur Vauthier (Fig. 87), a strong and handy instrument. Its 

 sloping semi-cylindrical handles have their outer side rough, which 

 gives a firm hold ; the springs, tliough strong, resist the action of 

 the hand gently ; the curvature of the blade and the adjustment 

 are perfect ; and lastly, the principal tiling, the action is so easy as 

 never to hurt the hand. 



"During the many yearsof myexperience,"observesM.Lacliaume, 

 a fruit-grower who describes this implement in the Revue Horticole, 

 " I have used tools of all kinds, and the tools have also used me a 

 little ; but I have never met with anything which gave me so much 

 satisfaction as the Secateur Vauthier. Every desirable quality is 

 combined in it, and I recommend it with perfect confidence. The 



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