Beeton's gardening book : containing full and practical instructions concerning general garden operations, the flower garden, the fruit garden, the kitchen garden, pests of the month, with a monthly calendar of work to be done in the garden throughout the year.

  • Beeton, Samuel Orchart, 1831-1877
Date:
[between 1870 and 1879?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Beeton's gardening book : containing full and practical instructions concerning general garden operations, the flower garden, the fruit garden, the kitchen garden, pests of the month, with a monthly calendar of work to be done in the garden throughout the year. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The Chisel.—There are two sorts in use,—the garden and the forest chisel: the first is chiefly used in grafting, and differs from the carpenter’s chisel in being wedge-shaped, or bevelled on the edge on both sides ; thus tapering to a central point. It is used with a mallet, to slit stocks for grafting when they are too largo for the grafting-knife, and to smooth branches cut with the saw. Is. to Is. 6d. each. The Bill-hook : a hooked blade sharpened on both sides, with a handle about a foot long: a useful instrument for cutting away branches too thick for the knife. With a long handle and sharpened on the hooked side, it is used to cut hedges, in place of clipping them. 2s. 3cl. to 4s. each. The Axe is a steel wedge, attached at right angles to a strong handle of ash timber, about two feet and a half long. The axe varies much in form : the long and narrow one, known as the American axe, is the most useful. It is used for cutting roots of trees which cannot be conveniently reached with the saw. 6d. to 6s. 6d. each. The Scythe : a long blade of steel, attached to the end of a crooked wooden handle. Boyd’s scythe is much used in gardens where the grass is kept under by mowing. Lawn scythes complete, 6s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. each. Shears of various kinds aro in use in the garden, both for clipping hedges and dressing the edgings of the beds. The turf edges are kopt smooth by using those with long handles, moving upon a single wheel: shorter shears are used for cutting box-edgings and quickset hedges. Shears, 2s. 9c?. to 7s. 6c?. per pair; with wheels, 7s. 6c?. to 8s. 6c?. The Garden-engino is of essential service where water cannot be distributed from a tank to all tho garden by means of a hose. These vary in price according to contents—from 12 gallons to 30 gallons, price from £3 10s. to £5 15s. With the Syringe, which is essential in the greenlit)use, the garden-engine may be made to produce the nearest possible approach to a natural shower of rain, preceded by a misty dew. Price of syringes, 6s. to 13s. 6c?. each. The Garden-line consists of an iron reel turning on a spindle, terminating in a peg and a cord. The cord is wound round the reel, and, having a peg at the other end, the beds are trimmed and the rows directed by the line. Price 2s. 6c?. to 3s. 6c?. Tho Level, as its name implies, is to guide the workman in all Operations where either a porfect level, or, as in draining, a regulated fall, is required. Tho most useful is half a square, with an iron index, marked out with ninety degrees or divisions. Where a slope is to be laid out at a perfect level, the plummet will hang in the centre, or 45°, and on a slope it may hang at any lessor number, in ascending at any higher number, according to the steepness of the slope. The Measuring-rod is made of wood, generally 10 feet long and an inch square, on which tho feet are marked, the last foot having the inches also. The Wheelbarrow, though last is not least; indeed, it is the most indispen- sable implement in the garden next to the spade, hoe, and rake, and is too well Known to require description. The Ladder, of various sizes, will bo required in the garden. 9