INSTRUMENTS USED IN HORTICULTURE. 



141 



scythes, where the ground is rough, the plane of the blade may be very 

 nearly in the same plane as that of the handle ; by which means the inequa- 

 lities of the ground's surface will chiefly be struck by the back of the blade, 

 and never by its edge. The daisy -knife or daisy-scythe, fig. 50, rf, is a two- 

 edged blade, lancet-pomted, and is used for mowing off the heads of 

 daisies, clover, and other exogenous plants in lawns, which renders less fre- 

 quent the necessity of mowing with the scythe. In using this instrument, 

 the handle, which ought to be angular, is held firmly with both hands, and 

 the blade, which ought to be at least four feet from the operator, is moved 

 rapidly to the right and left parallel to the plane of the surface, the operator 

 advancing as in mowing. 



418. Other Instruments. — There are several other instruments which are 

 occasionally used by amateurs ; such as the averruncator, m hich may be 

 described as a cutting-shears fixed to the extremity of a long handle, and 

 operated on by means of a cord and pulley. Its use is to enable a person 

 standing on the ground to thin out branches in standard fruit trees, which it 

 readily does, though frequently with a considerable loss of time. An amateur 

 however, who prunes his own orchard, will find this a useful instrument ; 

 though, if he has an attendant, the hooked pruning- chisel, fig. 45, /, is prefer- 

 able. The grape-gatherer, or flower-gatherer, consists of a shears fixed at 

 the extremity of a long handle, and which clips and holds fast at the same 

 time. It is occasionally useful for gathering flowers from the upper parts of 

 stages in green-houses, or from plants against walls, or on poles, that cannot 

 be conveniently reached by hand ; it is also used for gathering grapes which 

 cannot be otherwise conveniently reached. There is also an instrument of 

 this kind without a long handle, called a flower-gatherer, which clips off" a 

 flower and holds it at the same time, and is used by ladies in gathering 

 roses. Scissars with long handles, for thinning grapes, are required where that 

 fruit is cultivated to the highest degree of perfection. The fruit-gatherer is 

 an amateur's instrument, of which there are several varieties ; but they are 

 very little used. Instruments for scraping the moss or bark off" trees, gouges 

 for hollowing out wounds in their trunk or branches, climbing-spurs, and 

 some other instruments belonging to this section, and perhaps more fanciful 

 than useful, will be found described in the Encyclopaedia of Gardening, 

 edition 1831. 



419. Chests of Tools and Instruments^ for amateurs, are made up by the 

 ironmongers ; and one sold by Messrs. Cottam and Hallen, Winsley-street, 

 Oxford-street, for three guineas, contains the following articles : — Tools, 1 

 draw-hoe (fig. 20), 1 triangular draw-hoe (fig. 20, a), 1 thrust-hoe (fig. 23, 

 a), 1 rake (fig. 86), 1 trowel (fig. 20, 6), 1 hammer, (fig. 38, &), 1 pruning- 

 chisel (fig. 45), 1 pruning-shears, 20 inches long, 1 ditto, a foot long (fig. 

 47), 1 clipping-shears for hedges and box-edgings (fig. 46), 1 shears for 

 clipping and holding flowers, 1 shears for thinning grapes, 1 pruning-knife 

 (fig. 40, a), 1 budding-knife (fig. 40, c), 1 draw-saw (fig. 44, a), and 1 han- 

 dle in two parts, which, when joined, form a length of four feet, for screwing 

 into those tools and instruments which require a handle of that length. The 

 box which contains these articles is 1 ft. 10 in. long, 10 in. wide, and 6 in. 

 deep. Among the disadvantages attending the use of these implements are : 

 the loss of time that is incurred in screwing on and unscrewing the han- 

 dle, the liability of the screws to become rusty and unfit for use, and the 

 lightness of the implements, with the exception of the shears, by which they 



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