April 3 ,1886. THE GARDENING WORLD. 
485 
THE SPADE. 
The spade as known to us is a far different imple¬ 
ment to the rude devices of tlie remote ancestors of 
civilised man. In all probability, the first contrivance 
for breaking up the crust of the earth with a view 
to its cultivation more nearly resembled our picks 
or mattocks, and which being attached to long 
handles, were elevated above the shoulder and brought 
down by their own weight ; by this rude con¬ 
trivance the soil was scarcely more than scratched 
over. Experience gradually taught man that the 
deeper he could break up the surface the better returns 
he got for his labour, and it is no mere figure of 
to remember that there are still spades to be found that 
are not worthy of the name, and dear at almost any 
price. There was formerly a custom of allowing each 
workman to select his own tool, which had its ad¬ 
vantages, for a number of spades of the same pattern 
when seen together will prevent no difference to a 
casual observer, but a good workman will find some 
difference in the one he selects for himself by which he 
will always distinguish it, and will take better care of 
a tool which is set apart for his own use than if it is 
used promiscuously by anyone. Some of the points he 
sees may be mere fancy, if so, it is one which it will 
pay very well to indulge him in. There is a vast 
Stock for Exhibition. 
speech to declare that the spade as we have it, is as 
good an attestation to the truth of the doctrine of 
evolution as any thing we see in nature, being the 
gradual outcome of centuries of human thought and 
toil. It is of all tools used in the garden the most 
important, for without it there w T ould be little use for 
some of the others ; we depend on its use for breaking 
up the soil so that its crude particles may be subjected 
to the ameliorating influence of the atmosphere, and 
and rendered friable, and in good tilth for the reception 
of seeds and plants. 
Very much will often depend on the kind of tool 
put into a workman’s hands, both as to the quality 
and quantity of the work done ; and while we are 
told to call a spade a spade, it is worth while sometimes 
difference'between the old fashioned iron spades which 
were all that could be obtained in our early boyhood, 
and the many improved makes now made, some steel¬ 
faced, and others entirely of steel. I fail to see any 
distinct gain in the all steel blades, for the steel pointed 
ones of Parks, Lyndon, and other makers, are steel quite 
as far up as they can be used with advantage. Com¬ 
mon iron spades may still be obtained, but no good 
economist would ever think of using them, for in 
comparison to the steel ones they are dear at any 
price. 
I well remember that among the first lot of steel¬ 
faced spades there were some which, from some defect 
in the making, parted at the junction of the iron and 
steel, a defect which was soon remedied, and it is 
now many years since I saw a casualty of that kind. 
The blades wear with a good edge up to the last bit of 
steel ; and unless all steel spades can be procured at 
the same prices they present no special advantages. 
In the American steel spades there is a new method of 
fastening the straps to the blades introduced, the straps 
being made quite distinct from the blades and attached 
to it by means of a heart-shaped flange ; the blade is 
strongly clasped to these with rivets. This is a very 
good and strong tool, and being hollowed out more in 
the centre of the blades than our English patterns 
might, I think, be used in the strong clay soils, instead 
of the ordinary grafting tools. They are more pro¬ 
portionately narrower than ours, and wear more 
pointed, when they make a useful tool among flower- 
borders ; there is not the same amount of wear in them 
as in the makes of Parks, Lyndon, and some others ; 
and for some purpose, they are, as compared to our 
English makes, at a disadvantage. For digging in strong 
clay soils, what is called the Essex step spade, with a 
treadle attached to the handle, a few inches above the 
blade, will often do good service ; but most workman 
will prefer an ordinary graft or drawing tool. For 
tree-lifting a few extra strong spades with straight 
handles, well strapped up almost to the eye, should 
be provided. 
I have found the digging out of rabbit-holes very 
destructive to spade handles, till finding some especially 
strong made in the way described, got them especially 
for this purpose, and have not been troubled with broken- 
handled spades for years ; they are practically un¬ 
breakable. Ordinary digging spades are not equal to 
the strain often put upon them in the removal of shrubs, 
and frequently give way under the strains put upon 
them. There is much in the way of using a tool ; a 
careful workman will seldom break the handle of his 
spade, whilst a novice will be continually doing so ; 
this commonly arises from thrusting it into the solid 
earth and levering it up at a right-angle. A strong 
man can break almost any spade put into his hands 
by doing this ; what is wanted to ensure the safety of 
the tool, is to give it a kind of side twist in levering it 
up. I think that crutch-handles should be avoided ; 
the workman has not the same ready grasp of them 
which the eye-handles give. The eyes of all the spades 
should be rivited both above and below the eye ; this 
renders them as secure against breakages, as they can 
well be made. 
The centre strap spades, with solid blades, are 
strong tools, but not popular with workmen, the com¬ 
plaint being that they do not handle so well. Shovels 
are so closely allied to spades that a few words will 
sultice about them. There are still many of the old- 
fashioned iron ones used. The bright steel American 
ones, which have the straps fastened to the handles in 
the same way as the spades, are good strong tools when 
heavy material has to be shifted ; for lighter purposes 
the best tools are the dark steel ones, the blade and 
strap being formed out of one sheet of metal. These are, 
perhaps, the lightest and best shovels we shall ever see; 
they are very light, and quite rigid enough for all 
ordinary purposes. One of them will out wear two of 
the common old-fashioned ones.— IF. B. G. 
-->X<-- 
THE SPRING. 
That there has not hitherto been evidenced that 
great rebound from snow and frost looked for in plant 
life, may, it is feared, be taken as proof that the genuine 
spring is not yet come. When the vernal equinox was 
passed, the weatherwise assured that the wind on that 
day was not in the east—felt that there was nothing 
more to fear, and that henceforth in the coming season, 
at least, all would be rosy. On the eventful March 21st, 
eventful at least to those who claim to be weatherwise, 
and not less so to all concerned in gardening if the 
maxims of the weatherwise be correct, the wind was in 
the south-west, and there lately it has remained. 
Mow the wiseacres hold that where the wind is on 
March 21st, there will it remain for the next three 
months, almost an appaling prediction, because the 
wind sticking in one particular quarter for so long a 
period can hardly be other than a disaster. Still 
almost any quarter is better than that terrible one of 
the east quarter, which seems to give us both imperially 
and domestically more troubles than does any other 
quaiter of the globe. 
However, we may almost even meteorologically jump 
out of the frying-pan into the fire by a change of wind, 
