THE KINSHIP OF COMMON TOOLS 125 



could scarcely be described ; just as in riding, for 

 instance, any one not accustomed to teach, could 

 hardly say how the horse is made to do certain 

 things. I could not say myself ; I could only say I 

 wish him to do it and he does it. 



The stroke of axe and scythe have much in 

 common ; in both the tool is swung far back to give 

 it the chance of gathering the greatest amount of 

 momentum ; in both the tall man with long arms 

 has the advantage ; in both he throws his strength 

 at exactly the right point into the tool, relaxing his 

 hold to a slight guidance at precisely the right 

 moment. In both the whole man is in strenuous 

 action, man and tool one living thing. The English 

 scythe is much longer than the continental tool, and 

 has a slower, longer, lighter stroke ; the foreign one 

 has a quick, short cut. In some foreign countries 

 the scythe is not whetted with a stone, but the blade 

 is drawn out to a keen cutting edge by being lightly 

 hammered on a rounded stone, just as the blacksmith 

 at home draws out the blunted points and edges of 

 pick and mattock. 



A sight worth seeing is the felling of a tree by a 

 man who is a thorough master of his axe; full of 

 instruction in the use of a noble tool, of interesting 

 incident, and of pictorial value ; the movements, 

 though of full action, having a certain deliberation that 

 stops short of violence. And it is good to see how he 

 will make the tree fall exactly where he wishes. But 



