466 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
jury 11,-1908. 
Garden Tools. 
BY AN EXPERT. 
Horticultural Cutlery. 
In addition to the larger tools used in 
the garden, there are many little instru¬ 
ments which are found very valuable to 
Horticulturists, and especially growers of 
plants for show purposes. Some of them 
are delicate and curiously formed, made 
just to suit the plant for which they are 
required. For instance, in the prepara¬ 
tion of Chrysanthemums for show, .special 
tools are used, such as tweezers and little 
steel tools for the proper curling and 
shaping of the petals. The makers of 
scissors seem to know how essential it is 
to have just the right size and shape, for 
they have provided many different kinds, 
varying from the large scissors for hedge 
trimming and the clipping of grass, to the 
small scissors used for cutting small 
flowers and making-up button-holes. 
Grape scissors, with long handles and 
short, narrow, pointed blades, are used 
by gardeners for trimming the bunches. 
Besides these, there are the ornamental 
scissors for the table. Florists making up 
bouquets use a small, light pair of 
scissors for separating the thin stems, as 
well as larger ones for cutting stout stems. 
The edges of these scissors need not be 
very sharp, but they must be well tem¬ 
pered and of good quality. 
Then again, there are flower-cutting 
scissors and flower-gathering scissors, 
which will cut and hold the most delicate 
flower, gathering it without injury. 
There are many accessories used by fruit 
growers, as well as the numerous pruning 
shears which have already been referred 
to in a previous article. Budding knives 
are made of the best Sheffield steel, and 
their blades are of peculiar shape. The 
professional gardener knows the value of 
a good budding knife, and selects it with 
care. 
Pruning knives are made in many varie¬ 
ties of size and shape. Some are small 
and handy for carrying in the pocket, but 
the gardener needs a pruner with buck- 
horn handle of sufficient strength to cut 
large branches; such knives are almost 
the most useful tool in the garden. 
Then there are knives for the kitchen gar¬ 
den, all very useful; but for cutting 
.Asparagus, the blades must be saw-like. 
Be sure and keep horticultural tools 
clean, free from rust, and sharp, for a 
clean cut is essential in every horticul¬ 
tural operation. In budding, pruning 
everything in fact, this is desirable, as 
onlv knives of good quality will carry a 
keen edge ; it is well to pay a little more 
and buy a tool that will last and give 
satisfaction. In no branch of the tool 
trade is quality more essential than in 
horticultural work. 
A New Garden Stake. 
A garden stake for training wood bor¬ 
dering has been brought out recently. It 
is a light and handy contrivance, the use 
of w T hich saves much time and labour, and 
gives a very neat appearance in the gar¬ 
den. 
- M-4 - 
English Muscat Grapes are being ex¬ 
ported to America. 
WRITE FOR 
ILLUSTRATED 
CATALOGUE 
OF TOOL$. 
Post Free. 
SEASONABLE GOODS. 
SPRAYING 
APPARATUS. 
LAWN SPRINKLERS 
HOSE PIPES. 
SETS OF TOOLS. 
CALL AND INSPECT OUR LARCE SHOWROOMS. 
RD- MELHU8SH, LTD., 
FETTER LANE, LONDON. 
HAWS ’8 PATENT 
IMPROVED 
WATERING 
CAN.-— 
The Original and 
Genuine Make. 
J. HAWS, 
10 & 25a, Lea Bridge Rd 
Clapton, London, N E. 
The Dutch Government intend to 
establish a school for gardening in the 
bulb district, and with this view the So¬ 
ciety of Bulb-Growers has been ap¬ 
proached to ascertain what locality is 
best suited for the purpose. 
A New Sprinkler. 
Under the name of Jones’ Patent ,f Dew- 
Drop ” Sprinkler, a handy contrivance is 
being put into commerce by Messrs. 
Jones and Attwood, Stourbridge. This will 
readily recall quite a variety of grass 
sprinklers, but it is quite different from 
those already in use. It is capable of 
being adjusted so as to throw sprays of 
two quite different forms according to the 
object in view. A very small stand acts 
like a fountain, and to this a piece of 
hose is attached to bring the supply of 
water. For lawn or garden watering, a 
fountain effect with water rising to a 
height of 12 ft. and falling all round is 
produced by the removal of a nut which 
is screwed into the jet. In this form the 
water falls around in large drops. If, 
for any reason, that should be unsuitable, 
it can be altered by screwing down tightly 
an adjustable nut. The water then 
spreads to a great radius in a lateral 
direction like a very low fountain, water¬ 
ing not merely in a circle, but all over 
the area covered by the spray. In this 
latter case the spray is made very fine, 
almost resembling mist. The same 
amount of water would fall, but being so 
fine, it does not batter down the soil when 
watering the garden. The sprinkler may 
also be varied into a strong spray for 
syringing plants by reversing the adjust¬ 
able nut. By removing the nut, a power¬ 
ful jet is made. These appliances are of 
brass, and do not, therefore, rust. No 
part of the apparatus revolves, so that 
it is not likely to get out of order. The 
“Dew-Drop” Sprinkler may also be 
utilised for ornamental effect in the form 
of fountains, 1 either singly or in combina¬ 
tion. 
(Continued from page 464.) 
this season of the year to avoid spoiling the 
fruits. Another somewhat ingenious device 
is to find the nests of the ants, stop up the 
hole, and then thoroughly water the ground 
all round and over the nests, so that the 
water will soak into the latter. Then get a 
flower pot, put some moss loosely in it and 
stand these on the ground over the nests in 
an inverted position. The moss should, of 
course, be dry, and the ants will find their 
way out and soon discover the dry shelter 
thus put within their reach, and then pro¬ 
ceed to collect their eggs or young from the 
wet nests and put them into the flower pots. 
You can then carry away the flower pots and 
thus get rid of the ants. Still another 
method would be to get jars or other vessels 
in which you can place a small quantity of 
some sweet liquid in the bottom so as to at¬ 
tract the ants. If placed on a level with 
the surface of the ground the ants will find 
their way into it in large numbers and thus 
be unable to get out of the liquid. You have 
thus several remedies at command. 
3023. The Onion Maggot. 
Would you be kind enough to answer my 
question in your valuable ‘‘ Enquire With¬ 
in ”.? Why does the young maggot attack 
the Onion more in the seed bed than when 
they have been transplanted ? Also, will you 
kindly name- this herbaceous plant, both the 
blue and the white? I think this plant goes 
under the nickname of Vetch. (E. J. 
Adams, Surrey.) 
Look under Names of Plants for the name 
of specimen sent. With regard to Onions 
those sown in spring are the most likely to 
be attacked, because the flies reach the 
winged state about that time after having 
lain in the ground all the winter in the form 
of a chrysalis. Onions sown in autumn ger¬ 
minate at a time when there are no flies 
about to lay eggs, and by spring the seed¬ 
lings have attained such a size that an attack 
does not damage them so much as in the case 
of quite young Onions. If you refer to 
Onions that have been transplanted from 
the spring sowing the explanation would be 
the fresh ground in which you put the seed¬ 
lings. The flies probably finished laying 
eggs by the time you transplanted the Onions, 
but in any case ground that has once been 
infested is likely to be infested again, per¬ 
haps, in the following year. Fresh ground 
thus'escapes the pest for a while. Another 
reason, and probably the most likely one, 
is that in transplanting you bury the seed¬ 
lings much more deeply than they were in 
the seed bed, and thus the bulks escape hav¬ 
ing eggs laid upon them for a time, and the 
young plants, so to speak, have some weeks’ 
grace before they are subjected to a fresh 
attack. When seedlings are transplanted it 
may also be that the mother fly cannot get tc 
the particular place she desires for laying 
eggs. In order to escape the trouble as far 
as possible it would be well to use some 
stimulant to make the Onions grow rapidly 
in their early stages, because it is chiefly at 
that time that they suffer so much by being 
attacked while they have little reserve mat¬ 
ter. The fertiliser we should advise you to 
use is guano in water, dry blood manure in 
water, or nitrate of soda at the rate of ^ oz. 
to a gallon of water. All of these might be 
used alternately when watering the beds. 
The earlier this is done in the season so 
much the better. 
NAMES OF PLANTS. 
(F. Cowley and Co.) Campanula persicifolia 
alba coronata. .(See under “ Flower Gar¬ 
den,” “ Enquire Within,” for other infor¬ 
mation.) 
(E. J. Adams). The plant you sent was 
Goat’s Rue, and not correctly named Vetch. 
The blue form is Galega officinalis, and the 
white one G. officinalis alba. 
