January, 1910 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



277 



can only be proved by use; first class tools 

 are always well finished and equipped with 

 the best of handles; poor ones, while not 

 always deficient in finish, generally have 

 poor quality handles. 



HEDGE SHEARS 



To secure privacy in the home grounds 

 requires that these grounds be fenced, as 

 my experience has proved that those 

 who occupy unfenced land have no rights 

 that the public are bound to respect; and 

 one way to largely prevent trespassing and 

 the accompanying evils of mutilation, destruc- 

 tion and theft is the erection of a substantial, 

 line or road fence. There is nothing more 

 attractive or effective than a living one; all 

 wood or iron fences are expensive to erect 

 and maintain; more or less an eyesore no 

 matter how neat. A fence of living green is 

 an ornament to any place and has but one 

 expense; that is the first cost, which is small 

 compared to the cost of any other. 



While many plants, including evergreens, 

 are used to some extent for fence purposes, 

 there is one that is more largely used than 

 any other, the misnamed California privet 

 (Ligustrum ovalifolium) . It has many 

 excellent qualities to recommend it: the 

 beautiful green of its foliage and freedom 

 from insect pests; it thrives under conditions 

 that many other hedge plants will not; will 

 stand any amount of pruning and can 

 be kept at any height up to the limit of 

 its growth. 



The large quantities of this shrub used 

 for fence purposes has caused the hedge 

 shear to ' be very extensively used. Two 

 forms of this tool are illustrated. In the first 

 one the blades are made of sheet steel; are 

 broad and pivoted to one side; on the opposite 

 side is a bolt working in a slot; this serves 

 to keep the blades in contact; both pivot 

 and contact bolts are held in place by bind- 

 ing nuts on the back. A pin in the lower 

 blade acts as a bumper and prevents the 

 blades from closing too far. This form has 

 proved a serviceable, clean cutting, easy 

 working shear, but is not nearly as well 

 known or as extensively used as the forged 

 shear to the right. 



A first class shear of this pattern is all 

 forged steel, has but one bolt and the shank 

 just back of the pivot bolt forms a bumper; 

 contact to the points is secured by a slight 

 bend or spring in the blades, the same as 

 in shears used for the cutting of cloth, etc. 



There are some shears with a notch in the 

 lower portion of the blade for the cutting of 

 thick branches ; one has teeth on the blade 

 to assist them to cut. If the hedge is main- 

 tained as it should be, and pruned at the 

 proper times, there will be no need of either 

 notches or teeth ; in fact, it is a waste of growth 

 to allow the branches to grow thick and 

 woody before trimming; it also makes the 

 hedge unsightly until new growth can hide 

 such unnecessary mutilation that can only 

 be occasioned by the lack of care. 



PRUNING SHEARS 



While the hedge shear is a much used tool, 

 there are more pruning shears in use than 



any other form of pruning tool. With it 

 all kinds of shrubs, berry bushes, grape 

 vines and small branches of trees can 

 be quickly trimmed. A good one will 

 cut branches up to about one inch in 

 diameter. 



Less attention appears to be paid to 

 quality in the purchase of this tool than in 

 any other. This is partly occasioned by 

 hardware and implement dealers making 

 special efforts to call attention to those shears 

 that sell for from 35 to 60 cents, while the 

 high grade ones, costing from $1.50 to $2.25, 

 are kept in boxes on their shelves and not 

 offered unless asked for. This is a mistake, 

 at least for the purchaser; a cheap shear 

 is dear at any price, although the dealer 

 may reap more profit from selling you several 

 poor ones than if he sold you one pair of 

 good ones. A good pruning shear will 

 outwear several cheap ones and do better 

 work all along; new blades can also be 

 purchased to fit the high grade shear. 



An explanation of the difference between 

 the two grades of shear may serve to explain 

 why the cheaper one does poor work. The 

 high grade one is forged of tool steel and the 

 clutching blade is hardened as well as the 

 detachable cutting blade, and preserves a 

 straight, smooth, sharp edge that assists in 

 preserving a keen edge on the cutting blade. 

 The low quality or cheap shears are cast, 

 except the cutting blade, are not hardened 

 and the clutching blade gets nicked and 

 rough and bent out of shape; this in turn 

 nicks and dulls the cutting blade and will not 

 produce a smooth surface on the branch cut. 



THE BERRY PRUNER 



A berry hook greatly facilitates the cutting 

 out of old rapsberry and blackberry canes, 

 which is a necessary operation, as the old 

 canes should be cut out as soon as they are 

 through fruiting, to make room for a strong 



' 



Three tools that do their work better than any sub- 

 stitutes: lopping shears, berry hook and pruning saw 



Hedge shears will keep growth under control. Sheet 

 steel to the left ; forged steel to the right 



growth of new canes for fruiting next year. 

 When the pruning shears are used for this 

 purpose is necessitates stooping directly 

 among, the bushes and makes the work very 

 unpleasant on account of the uncomfortable 

 position and the danger of having your face 

 scratched by the thorns. With this hook 

 the operator stands erect and placing the 

 blade in the rear of the cane to be cut gives a 

 quick pull forward and upward and the cane 

 is severed. A trial will convince any one 

 of the greater ease of manipulation than 

 when using the pruning shear. The blade is 

 riveted into the handle so it will not pull out. 



THE LOPPING SHEAR 



For lopping off branches too large for the 

 pruning shear this special tool is really 

 valuable, also for thinning shrubbery or 

 cutting back an overgrown hedge. The 

 long handles allow the operator to cut 

 branches in positions that would render 

 the use of the pruning shears awkward. 

 The length of the handles also gives sufficient 

 leverage to make such cutting easy. The 

 cutting and gripping blades are similar in 

 shape to those of the pruning shear but 

 heavier. There is now on the market a new 

 lopping shear with two concave sharp blades; 

 this construction is intended to do away 

 with the bruising of the bark of heavy 

 branches by the clutching blade of the 

 ordinary shear. 



THE PRUNING SAW 



For the cutting of branches too large for 

 the pruning shear, the pruning saw will 

 make a better job than the lopping shear, as 

 the gripping blade of the latter tool bruises 

 the bark. For this the pruning saw has 

 fairly fine teeth to produce a smooth cut, and 

 a narrow blade that enables it to be used in 

 positions in which the ordinary hand saw 

 could not; this is practically its only advan- 

 tage over the ordinary hand saw. It is 

 also furnished so that a pole of any desired 

 length can be attached for the cutting of 

 high branches; but it is a difficult matter 

 to make a first class job of long range 

 pruning. 



