The Family Kitchen Gardener (1856)/Implements

by Robert Buist

Layout 2

ON IMPLEMENTS.

It is not our intention to go into a detail of all the useful articles connected with the culture of the garden, which would take us beyond our limits. Our object will be only to point out those most useful and essential to carry on the cultivation of the soil. The materials of which they are composed are chiefly of iron and wood; the best quality of both should be used, nothing purchased merely for its being cheap. The cheapest is the best and most durable to accomplish the end.

The spade is a very common tool, and should be of steel, with a hickory or ash handle, having two rivets through its head. No. 2, of the manufactory, is the most convenient size. Some American spades are equal to any of British manufacture.

Fig. 1. The Rake (Fig. 1) should be of the best wrought iron, with teeth about 2½ inches long and 1½ apart. The head is of any size, from six to twenty inches. There are also rakes of malleable iron, and wooden rakes with stock teeth: the latter sort are very convenient for rough ground. The handle should be round, made of pine, or any other light wood, and from six to eight feet long.

Fig. 2. Beet Rake (Fig. 2). This very useful implement is composed of hard wood, with steel teeth, obtusely pointed, about two inches wide, five inches bong, and from nine to twelve inches apart. It is exceedingly useful for drawing drills in which to sow Beets, Carrots, Onions, and all small seeds or roots. In using it, strain the line, and draw with some strength; when three drills will be made at once, saving the labor of moving the line so frequently as when the work is accomplished by the hoe.

Fig. 3. Hoes are of many and varied descriptions, sizes and shapes. Fig. 3 gives an idea of the most useful. They should be of the very best of steel, with rather strong, round handles, five feet long. They are in sizes from three to ten inches. Those of three, five, seven and nine inches are generally used.

Fig. 4. Pronged Hoes, Fig. 4, are very useful, indeed indispensable, for stirring the soil and destroying weeds. They are of steel or malleable iron; the latter generally used, though the former is preferable; handles four and a half feet long.

Fig. 5. The Dutch, or Scuffle Hoe, Fig. 5, is very useful for cleaning walks and cutting weeds where the ground is of a light nature. It is also called a Thrust Hoe (being used by pushing from you) in contradistinction to the Draw Hoe, Fig. 3., which is best adapted for all heavy work.

Fig. 6. The Reel and Line, Fig 6. The reel is of wood or iron; the latter is preferable. It consists of two parts, the shank and the head. The head turns round on the shank and winds up the line or cord, which can be of any length.

Fig. 7. The Trowel, Fig. 7, is very useful for removing plants and lifting them with balls of earth for transplanting. It should be of the best iron or steel, with a square socket into the handle, and from five to nine inches long, exclusive of the handle.

The Dibber is a short piece of round wood, generally made from an old spade or shovel handle, about one and a half feet long, obtusely pointed, frequently shod with iron on the one end, and conveniently formed for the hand on the other. It should be well made, as it is of very general use, and if iron-shod, will last half a century.

Garden Watering-pot.—Of this utensil there are several sizes; those that hold from three to four gallons are of the proper dimensions; they should be made of the best double tin, having two roses—the one pierced with holes the twentieth, the other the fortieth part of an inch. Keep them well painted, and when not in use, the mouth downwards.

Fig. 8. The Grass-edging Iron or Knife, Fig. 8, is for cutting the turf of grass borders or walks. It should be of the very best steel, with a round, strong handle, about three and a half feet long.

Fig. 9. Garden Hook, Fig. 9, for dressing hedges, made of the very best steel, having a handle of an oval form, of strong wood, 3½ feet long, and of a small size, that the hand may conveniently grasp it

Fig. 10. Garden Shears, Fig. 10, are of various sizes, from six to twelve inch blades, and used for cutting edgings of Box, clipping hedges, and many other purposes. They are of great variety and quality. The seven and nine-inch sizes are most convenient.

Fig. 11. Ladies’ Shears, Fig. 11. These are of the very best material, neatly made, for the use of ladies who take a delight in gardening operations.

Fig. 12. Grass-edging Shears, Fig. 12. These are made expressly for cutting grass-edgings, and have a wheel that rests on the walk while the shears trim off the grass. It is a very convenient and expeditious implement.

Fig. 13. Hand-Glass, Fig. 13. These are made of red cedar, or cast iron. The latter is most neat and durable. It consists of two parts, the bottom and top. A useful utensil for growing seeds of early Celery, Tomato, Egg-plant, or any other article of early culture; also well adapted for covering Cauliflower plants where the winters are not very severe. When air is to be given to the plants enclosed, it is done by lifting up the top and replacing it diagonally; by this means air is freely admitted. A glass case may be made of any height with these hand-glasses, by merely placing the bottom frames one upon the other. Those we use are of cast iron, and cost $3.50 each.

Fig. 14. A Sunk Pit, Fig. 14, is in part in the earth and partly above it, by forming sides of brick, stone, locust, chestnut, or cedar boards. On these, glass frames are sometimes placed, and at other times only mats or shutters. Such pits answer for the preservation of vegetables, such as Endive, Celery, Lettuce, Cauliflower, Broccoli, &c. Air is given on all occasions when it can be done with safety, by propping up the sash or shutters.

Fig. 15. The Walled Pit, Fig. 15, is also partly sunk in the ground and partly out. The walls are formed of brick or stone, finished with a wooden or stone coping, the width of the wall, into which cross rafters are mortised (but moveable) to support the sashes. Our object in having them moveable is to admit of their being raised as the growth of Cauliflowers or any other plants require. This is readily done by having a strong two-inch plank made to fit the back and front of the pit, and to rest on the coping; the rafters to rest on these planks either by mortising holes for their reception, or to have them to rest on clets. This is a great convenience, and overcomes the difficulty every grower feels when his Cauliflowers touch the glass.

There is no appendage to the garden of greater utility than this pit. It is two feet under ground, one foot above it in front, and two feet above it at the back, and six or seven feet wide in the clear. It is an excellent winter apartment for plants when covered with sash and mats. When filled with very rich earth it grows fine Cauliflowers, that will be in use from March to May. If filled with warm manure early in February, it will grow Cucumbers that will be in use from April to July, or grow Radishes and small sallading in quantity. In summer the sashes can be used for growing fine varieties of Grapes. See our article on Fruits.

Fig. 16. Sash Light, Fig. 16. Made of yellow or the best seasoned white pine, 1½ to 2 inches thick. The sash should be 3 feet 8 inches wide, and 6 or more feet long; the glass we prefer is 6 by 6, or 6 by 8, and of the best quality. The wood must have two coats of oil paint before glazing, and at least one coat afterwards. All the glass must be bedded in soft putty; the laps of the glass should not exceed half an inch: one-fourth of an inch, if well done, is quite sufficient. A sash well painted and protected when not in use, will last from thirty to forty years. The smaller the panes of glass the less will be the damage from breakage.

The Common Hot-Bed Frame is a box of wood, bottomless, of any length or breadth to suit the object in view, but generally six feet wide and from six to sixteen feet long, highest at the side to be placed to the north, and subdivided by cross-bars, and each division covered by a glazed sash. The component parts of the above frame, instead of being mortised into one another, should be fastened with hooks and staples, or keyed iron bolts, which easily admit of their being taken asunder and put under cover when they are not wanted for use. I have about a hundred sashes that can be taken apart and stowed away, or erected in one day.

Vegetable or Kitchen Garden, with a select assortment of Fruit combined, Fig. 17. This arrangement affords great facilities for croping the ground and a rotation of crops. It also confines the trees to one place, for the purpose of giving a partial shade to the main walk in summer, without injuring any of the vegetables. This plan is decidedly preferable to the mode of distributing the trees over the garder.

Fig. 17.

• a a—Main entrance.
• b b—Grape-vine arbor.
• c c—A border ten or twelve fect wide all round the garden, for the smaller and finer sorts of vegetables.
• d d—Compartments for vegetables in quantity, divided by alleys.
• e e—Row of choice Pear trees on each side of the walk, affording shade.
• f f—Rows of dwarf trees, either Plum, Quince, Peach on the Plum stock, Apricots, or dwarf Pears.
• g g—Large compartments, surrounded by Currant and Raspberry bushes, for early Corn, early Potatoes, or any vegetable of which a large quantity is grown. If situation will admit of it, the pits or frames can be in these quarters, portioned off by a low hedge.