142 



[August, 1912. 



SCYTHES, STAFF-HOOKS, SICKLES, HOOKS, 

 MALLETS, SAWS 



of different kinds, hatchets and bill- 

 hooks. Tusser (1575) notes among other 

 tools, the trowel and the dibble. In an 

 early engraving of garden tools there is 

 a composite tool of wonderful ingenuity, 

 of which the head is a hammer, the shaft 

 a file, and the end a gimlet ! The knives 

 of this period did not shut, but were 

 made like other small tools, with an eye 

 for hanging on the workman's belt. 



At one time knives were imported 

 from Liege, and were knowrin the north 

 as " joetelegs," or "joclegs." 



An ancient forefather of the 



GARDEN ENGINE > 



is shown in one of the gardens in Gar- 

 deners' Labyrinth; a labourer i9 repre- 

 sented watering a flower-bed by means 

 of this engine, which is merely a movable 

 force pump. In another engraving 

 water is being drawn from a well by 

 means of a pail. For watering small 

 seeds a primitive and yet highly scienti- 

 fic method was employed. An earthen- 

 ware pot, with perforated bottom and a 

 very narrow opening was dipped into 

 a cistern or pool ; when full the hole at 

 the top was stopped with the thumb. 

 This prevented the esrress of the water 

 until the spot was reached at which it 

 was intended to be used, when, the 

 thumb being withdrawn, the water 

 descended like rain. 



THE TRAINING OF FRUIT TREES 



to wall9 and espaliers did not become 

 customary until the reign of Elizabeth, 

 and the first ligatures were made of the 

 inner bark of Elm, or the small twigs of 

 Willows, the material of which the 

 espalier was made being wood. Long 

 before this period, however, a practical 

 knowledge of outdoor gardening was 

 quite common. The garden was, in the 

 main, the care of the housewife , but 

 we read of trenching and other oper- 

 ations, which show that the benefit of 

 deep cultivation was well understood, 

 and this work must have been perform- 

 ed by male labourers, 



It is interesting to note, in connection 

 with the subject of 



DIGGING, 



that the old name for spade was "spit- 

 ter," a word now obsolete. From this 

 word we derive the expression "a pit of 

 turf," the word used in Scotland being 

 ''spading." 



Forcing used to be carried out in a 

 very primitive manner. Melons were 

 planted on hot-beds composed of manure 

 or other suitable material, and were pro- 

 tected by covering of glazed paper. 

 The next step was the forcing of wall 

 fruit and grapes by banking the 

 heated manure against the opposite 

 side of the wall— wood was used, hence 

 "pales," the better word — to that on 

 which the trees were trained. Next we 

 have 



THE IDEA OF A FLUE 



carried beneath the floor of a green- 

 house (roofed with slate!); and Evelyn, 

 who described the method with enthu- 

 siastic admiration, thought it so vast an 

 improvement on the old open, charcoal 

 fire, that he took the trouble to have the 

 whole system illustrated with engrav- 

 ings, A few years later the flues 

 which heated the vine wall at Belvoir 

 were supplemented with glazed sashes 

 placed against the walls. There we 

 have at once the germ of the modern 

 greenhouse, all later developments being 

 merely improvements on the original 

 idea. It was not long before Pineapples 

 and tender exotics began to be cultiv- 

 ated, and the flues were arranged to 

 meet the varying demands of horticul- 

 turists. The flue-heated structures were 

 extremely satisfactory in many ways. 

 The structures were adapted in 1788 (at 

 first) 



TO STEAM HEATING, 



but when, about 1827, hotwater heating 

 became more usual, they served this 

 purpose equally well, and even now one 

 may find, here and there, a flue-heated 

 hot-house. 



The proper form of a boiler has always 

 been a serious question. The saddle 

 was early introduced, then there was a 



