408 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



162, is in very universal use. That of Saynor 

 of Sheffield is deservedly popular. 



The London peach-pruner, b, of Barns of Shef- 

 field, is also an excellent implement, tapering to 

 a narrower point than the former, and there- 

 Fig. 162. 



PRUNING-KNIVE9. 



fore, for the purpose of pruning, either when 

 the shoots are close together or when they have 

 not been disengaged from the wall, superior to 

 it. They are the two best in use for the pur- 

 pose. Either of these is well adapted for graft- 

 ing purposes, the blades being thin. 



The strong primer, c. of Saynor of Sheffield, is 

 well adapted for all ordinary pruning where the 

 branches to be removed are pretty strong. 

 Some prefer the blade when more curved to- 

 wards the point; this, however, makes little 

 difference in the working of the implement in 

 proper hands. This may be considered the 

 common garden-knife, and is a vast improve- 

 ment over that of former times, which con- 

 sisted of a blade fixed to the handle with- 

 out a joint, enclosed in a sheath of leather 

 or pasteboard (most generally the latter), and 

 carried in a side pocket o.n the thigh of the 

 operator. The present is a clasp or folding 

 knife, and may be carried with much greater 

 safety to the person. The former is now nearly out 

 of use. The blade of a knife cuts on the same 

 principle as a saw ; a hooked-pointed blade, 

 therefore, is injurious when used in cutting 

 woody shoots, and can never leave so clean a 

 section as a blade with a straight edge. 



d and e are small peach-pruners, the one 



having a horn handle nearly cylindrical, but 

 slightly curved, the other a bone or ivory handle 

 somewhat ovate, tapering in a. wedge form, 

 much in the way of the common budding- 

 knife, but less thin at the point. In cases 

 of emergency it may, however, be used for bud- 

 ding also. They are both well adapted for 

 peach-pruning, particularly when operating upon 

 the young wood. Those wo use are also of Say- 

 nor's manufacture. 



/is a small pocket-pruner having two blades, 

 the one larger than the other. Its merits con- 

 sist in its lightness and small bulk, as well as 

 being useful for pruning, making cuttings, or 

 cutting flowers. 



g is a, convenient pruner when soft or small 

 branches are to be operated upon. It is fur- 

 nished at one end of the handle with a small 

 botanical glass, useful in searching out insects 

 or other minute objects. It is known also as 

 Saynor's botanical-knife. A useful knife for 

 amateurs, being small and readily carried in the 

 waistcoat pocket. 



h, Saynor's new budding-knife. This is not 

 only a convenient pruner, but is well adapted 

 for the purpose for which it is intended, having 

 a folding gouge-like blade at one end of the 

 handle for lifting the bud or bark after the ne- 

 cessary incisious have been made. 



Pruning-chisels are nearly as various as prun- 

 ing-knives. The best, however, are in shape of 

 a carpenter's chisel, but with a handle of greater 

 or less length and strength, according to the 

 height and size of the branch to be amputated. 

 They vary in breadth of cutting face from 1 to 

 3 inches, and are wrought by placing the face of 

 the chisel upon the part of the branch where 

 the cut is to be made, and being held there 

 (when the handle exceeds 2 feet in length) by 

 one man, while another, with a wooden mallet, 

 striking upwards, drives the chisel through the 

 branch. Thus branches of almost any size may 

 be cut off at from 7 to 20 feet from the ground. 

 Branches nearer the ground may be cut off with 

 chisels with shorter handles, but in 

 Fig. 163. most such cases it will be better to 

 sever them with the saw and smooth 

 the wound afterwards with the knife. 

 Fig. 163 shows this chisel without 

 its handle. Another modification 

 of it is sometimes used in orchard 

 and ornamental tree-pruning, differ- 

 ing only from the former in having 

 a guard or plate placed behind the 

 blade to prevent its entering too far 

 into the trunk from which the branch 

 is to be removed. Careful work- 

 men need no such precaution. The 

 advantage of the pruning-chisel in 

 all cases over the pruning-saw, is 

 its saving the trouble of ascending 

 the tree, and the damage that may 

 be done to the branches by a man 

 puuNiNG- going up to cut off the branch. An 

 oHisEi,. excellent substitute for all pruning- 

 chisels is found in the American or 

 Indian pole-saw, fig. 164 a, which has a blade 

 about i inches broad and from 18 inches to 

 2 feet in length, fixed to a pole-handle of any 



m 



