Book IV. 



GARDEN-LABORS WITH PLANTS. 



367 



1878. Wieeling is a mode of carrying materials in which the weight is divided between 

 the axle of the wheel and the arms of the operator. Tlie ai-ms or shafts of the barfow 

 thus become levers of the second kind, in which the power is at one end, and the fulcrum 

 at the other, and the weight bet\veen them. The weight is carried or moved on by the 

 continual change of the fulcrum with the turning of the wheel ; and this turning is pro- 

 duced by the operator throwing forward liis centre of gravity so as to pusli against the 

 wheel by means of the moveable axle, &c. The chief obstacles to wheeling are the 

 roughness or softness of the surface to be wheeled on. Where this is firm, there wheel- 

 ing will be best performed with the greater part of the load resting on the axle ; but 

 when soft and deep, the centre of gravity should be nearest the operator, who will find 

 it easier to caiTy than to overcome excessive friction. Dry weather is obviously prefer- 

 able for this operation. " With wheelbarrows," Dr. Young observes, "men will do half 

 as much more work as with hods." 



1879. Beating is the application of pressure to surfaces or to materials, with a view to 

 render them more fit for pai-ticular uses. Thus, in new-laid turf verges, or gravel alleys, 

 compactness and adhesion are required and obtained by beating ; in working clay for 

 puddling or claying the bottom of ponds or cisterns, intimate mixture, exclusion of air, 

 and of hard particles, are effected by the same means. 



1 880. Rolling is the application of pressure to surfaces on a large scale, and chiefly to 

 turf and gravel. The roller, mechanically considered, is the second mechanical power, or 

 wheel and axle, to which the handle becomes a lever of the second kind, as in the wheel- 

 barrow. The amount of its action is as the breadth of the wheel and joint weight of it 

 and of the axle ; it is drawn over the surface, and produces by far the greatest effect when 

 the ground is saturated with moisture below, but dry on the immediate surface. 



1881. Sifting or screening are operations for separating the coai'ser from the finer par- 

 ticles of earth, gravel, tanners' bark, &c. The materials require to be dry, well broken, 

 and then tlu-own on the screen (Jig. 1392.), which being a grated inclined plane, in slid- 

 ing down it, the smaller materials drop through while the larger pass on. In sifting, the 

 same process is effected by motion wdth a sieve or circular and flat grating of limited ex- 

 tent. The screen is calculated for coarser operations, as with gravel and bark on a large 

 scale, and the sieve for finer operations with plant-moulds and composts. 



Sect. III. Garden-labors with Plants. 



1882. The simple operations performed on vegetables are sawing, cutting, clipping, 

 splitting, mowing, and weeding. 



1883. Sawing. The saw is a conjoined series of uniform wedges, which, when drawn 

 or thrust in succession across a branch or ti'unk gradually wear it through. In perform- 

 ing the operation, the regularity of the pressure and motion are chiefly to be attended to. 

 In green or live shoots, the double-toothed saw produces less friction on the sides of the 

 plate, by opening a larger channel for its motion. Where parts are detached from living 

 trees, the living section ought generally to be smoothed over with a knife, chisel, or file ; 

 and a previous precaution in large trees is to cut a notch in the lower part of the branch 

 immediately under and in the line of the section, in order to prevent any accident to the 

 bark, when the amputated part falls off. Sawing is a coarser mode of cutting, mowing, 

 or shaving ; or a finer mode of raking, in w^hich the teeth follow all in one line. 



1884. Cutting is performed by means of a very sharp wedge, and either by di-awing 

 this through obliquely or across the body to be cut, as in using the knife ; or by pressing 

 or striking the axe or hedge-bill obliquely into the body, first, on one side of an imagi- 

 nary line of section, and then on the other, so as to work out a trench across the branch 

 or trunk, and so effect its separation. The axe, in gardening, is chiefly used in felling 

 trees, and for separating their trunks, branches, and roots into parts. The knife is ex- 

 tensively used for small trees, and the hedge-bill and chisel for those of larger size. In 

 amputating with the knife, one operation or draw-cut ought generally to be suflicient 

 to separate the parts ; and this ought to be made with the knife sufliciently sharp, 

 and the motion so quick as to produce a clean, smooth section, with the bark un- 

 injured. 



1885. Every draw-cut produces a smooth section, and a fractured or bruised section ; 

 and one essential part of cutting li\ing vegetables, is to take care that the fractured sec- 

 tion be on the part amputated. Another desirable object is, that the section of the Kving 

 or remaining part should be so inclined (a, Jig. 347.) as not to lodge water or overflowing 

 sap, and so far turned to the ground {d) or to the north, as not to be struck by the direct 

 rays of the sun. To accomplish both these purposes, as well as to make sure of having 

 the fractured section on the part amputated, the general practice is to cut from below or 

 from the under edge of the branch or shoot, unless the position of the leading bud occa- 

 sions a deviation from the rule (b). The cut should also be made in all shoots of not 

 more than three or four years old, within from one fourth to half an inch, or a little more 

 of the bud intended to take the lead ; when this is not done, and half an inch or more of 



