IxNSTRUMENTS USED IN HORTICULTURE. 



137 



Strutt, Esq. To retain tlie handle in the socket, a slit is made in the han- 

 dle, and a small wedge entered in it, and afterwards it is driven home till it 

 assumes the appearance shown in the section at e. The great art in conso- 

 lidating turf or gravel with the beetle or rammer, is to bring down the tool in 

 such a manner as that the face of the head may be perfectly parallel to the 

 surface to be acted upon. When the operator does not succeed in this, he 

 will be warned of it by the jar which the tool will transmit through his hands. 



406. The mallet,, fig, 88, a, is formed of a piece of any tough wood, such as 

 elm or oak, or of fir, though in the latter case it should have a ring at each 



end to prevent its splitting. It is used for driving 

 posts, and there is a smaller or hand mallet for 

 using with the pruning chisel, and as a substitute 

 i/lP fo^' ^ hammer in driving in short stakes. In using 



Fig. 38. iFoodeii mallet and a mallet, as in using the beetles, the centre of the 

 garden hammer. striking part of the head should always be brought 



down on the centre of the stake or other object to be struck ; otherwise 

 the full power of the tool will not be obtained, and a jar on the hands of 

 the operator will be produced. 



407. The garden hamme7\ fig. 38, &, is used for nailing wall-trees, and for a 

 great variety of purposes, and it differs from the common carpenter's hammer 

 in having a projecting knob, c, in the head, to serve as a fulcrum in drawing 

 out nails from walls, without injuring the young shoots. Considered by itself, 

 the common hammer may seem an insignificant tool ; but viewing it as in- 

 cluding all the different kinds of hammers used in rendering metals malleable, 

 and in joining constructions and machines of various kinds together, by means 

 of nails and pins, it appears one of the most important of all implements. 

 See Moseley's Illustrations of Mechanics, p. 238. 



408, The garden pincers, fig. 39, besides the piucing part, 

 have a clawed handle for wrenching out nails, and are useful 

 Fig, 39. Garden gardens for this and a variety of other purposes. Some 

 have a knob, which enables them to be used also as a hammer. 



Sect. III. — Instruments used in Horticulture. 



Instruments are distinguished from tools by having sharp cuttmg eages, 



and being adapted for operating on plants rather than on the soil ; and they 



are also generally smaller than tools, and have for the most part handles 



adapted for grasping. Those used in horticulture are chiefly knives, bills, 



shears, and scythes. 



409. Garden Knives. — Three kinds of knives are required in every garden, 



the cabbage-knife, a large rough handled instrument, with a hooked blade, 



for cutting and trimming Cabbages, Cauliflowers, Turnips, and other large 



succulent vegetables, when gathered for the kitchen ; the pruning -knife, 



c c^^^^=Tr=-v fig^ a, for cutting the branches and twigs off trees and 



shrubs, forming cuttings, &c. ; the budding-knife, &, and 



the grafting-knife, c, used in performing the operations 



V- An~ ^ ~T ■ of budding and grafting, and also in making smaller 

 Fig. 4.0. Garden knives. . ° ° °' n i -, 



cuttmgs. \Vhere heaths and other small-leaved plants 



are propagated by cuttings of the points of the shoots, a common pen-knife 



is requisite, as well as a pair of small scissors for clipping off the leaves ; but 



these instruments are so familiar to every one that it is unnecessary to describe 



