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C h a p . I.
O perations o f Gardening, in w hich S treng th is c h iefly req uired in the O perator.
2287. T o acquire the p ractice o f these operations, a few hours’ labour with the implements
or machines will be of more use than a volume oi’ words ; all that we shall submit,
therefore, will be some observations relatively to the mechanical action of the implement
and operator, the object of the operation, and the best season for performing it. This
class of gardening operations may be arranged thus: — 1. Mechanical operations common
to all arts of manual labour; 2. Garden-labours on the soil; and, 3. Garden-labours
on plants.
S e c t . I. M e c ha n ic al Operations common to a ll A rts o f m a nu a l Lab o ur.
2288. A ll the operations w hich man p e rfo n n s loith implements o r machines are, as far
as his own person is concerned, reducible to lifting, carrying, drawing, and thrasting.
Man himself, considered as au engine, derives his power from alterations in the position
of his centre of gravity ; and ho applies this power, chiefly by his hands, arms, and legs
acting as levers of the third kind.
2289. L if tin g is performed by first stooping or lowering the centre of gravity, and at
the same time throwing it to one side. The object being then laid liold of by the hands,
the body is raised, and the centre of gi-avity, in being restored to its true position,
acts as a counterbalancing weight to the weight to be raised. The weight retained by the
liand is now raised a certain height, never exceeding half that of the man ; if to be raised
higher, recourse is had to muscular strength, or tho power of the arms to act as levers.
2290. C a iry in g . To cany a thing is merely to walk witli a greater weiglit than before ;
and walking is performed by a series of alternate derangements and adjustments of the
centre of gravity, slow or rapid, according as the person may walk or run. According
to Delolm, the most advantageous weight for a man of common strength to carry horizontally
is 112 lbs. ; or, if he retm-ns unladen, 135 lbs.
2291. D ra io iv g . In this operation, the upper part of the body is thrown forward, so
as to act as a power to counterbalance or lift up the body or weight to be moved;
and by joining to this lifting motion the operation of walking, the weight is at once
lifted up and drawn along. This compound operation is exemplified in a horse, when
sti-aining at a draught in a plough or cai-t. lie first lowers his chest, then raises it,
and lastly steps forward. When drawing at case, the lifting motion is scarcely distinguishable
from the progressive one.
2292. P ush in g o r thrusting is performed exactly on the same principles as drawing,
and differs from it chiefly in the kind of implement or machine wliich requires to be
employed ; all machines which ai-e to be pushed requiring to be attached to the animal
macliine by parts acting by their rigidity; whereas, those to be drawn may be attached
by parts acting by their tenacity merely.
2293. A l l these operations nu iy be va ried in q u a n tity, either by a variation in the weight
or gravity of the man, or moving power ; or by a variation in the time or rapidity of his
motions. Thus a heavy man may, in one movement, lift a weight ten times greater
than can be done by one of less weight; but a light man may, by increasing the time of
performance, lift the same weight at ten times. A man, who in digging can apply with
his feet 5 cwt. of power towards pushing the wedge or blade of the spade into the
soil, has an evident advantage over a lighter man irlio can only ajiply 3 cwt. for tlmt
purpose ; but yet the latter may equal the former, by accompanying his power or foot
with a proportionate increase of motion. The power in this last case is said to be
obtained by the momentum; or, the quantity of matter in a body multiplied by the velocity
with which it is moved. Power, therefore, we thus ascertain, is obtained by matter
and motion jointly; and, what may bo deficient in the one, may be made up by excess
in the other. Thus, a small, light worlunan may (though with more animal exertion)
produce as much work as a larger or heavier man : for if we suppose the quantity of
matter in the largo man to be 30, and his motion at the rate of 2 ; then if the
quantity of matter in the small man bo 20, and his motion at the rate of 3, he
will produce an equal effect with the large man. As small human machines, or little
men, arc generally constractcd of firmer materials, or are more healthy and animated
than large ones, the small man performs his rapid motions with nearly as great ease to
himself as the heavy man slowly moves his ponderous weight; so that in point of final
result they are veiy nearly on a par.
S e c t . II. G ard en L a b o u rs on the S o il.
2294. T he simple labours p e c u lia r to a rts o f culture are perfoi-raed cither in the body
of the soil, as picking, digging, &c.; on its surface, as hoeing, raking, &c. ; or on
vegetables, as cutting, clipping, &c.
2295. P ic kin g . The pick, as we have seen (fig . 301.), is a blunt wedge, with a lever
attached to it at right angles ; and the operation of picking consists in driving in the
wedge perpendicularly, so as to produce fracture, and then causing it to operate horizontally
by the lever or handle, so as to effect separation, and thus to break up and loosen
hard, compact, or stony soils. The pick is also used to loosen stones or roots ; and the
pick-axe is used to cut the latter. For breaking and pulverising _ the soil, the most
favourable conditions are, that the earth should be moderately moist, to facilitate the
entrance of the pick, but in tenacious soils, not so much so as to impede fractm-e and
sepai-ation. , . i i
2296. D ig g ing . The spade is a thin wedge, with a lever attached m tho same plane ;
and the operation of digging consists in thrasting in the wedge by the momentum (or
weight and motion) of the operator, which effects fracture ; a movement of the lever
next effects separation, whilst the operator, by stooping and rising again, lifts up the
spitful or section of earth on the blade or wedge of the spade, which, when so raised,
is dropped in a reversed position, and at a short distance from the unbroken ground, llie
separation between the dug and uiidug ground is called the trench or fiuTow ; and
when a piece of ground is to be dug, a fun-ow is first opened at that end of it where the
work is to commence, and the earth taken out is can-icd to the end where it is to terminate,
where it sen’es to close the fun-ow. In digging, regard must be had to maintain
an uniform depth throughout ; to reverse the position of each spitfiil, so that what was
before surface may now be buried ; to break and comminute every part where pul-
Yerisation is tlie leading object ; to preserve oacli spitfiil as entire, and place it separate,
or isolated, as imicli as possible, wlicre aeration is the object ; to mix m manures rcgii-
larly where they are added ; to bury weeds not injurious ; and to remove others, ancl all
extraneous matters, as stones, &c„ in every case. For all those purposes a deep open
trench is requisite : and that this may not be diminislicd in tho course of the operation,
it must never be increased in length. If allowed to become crooked by imgMar
advaiioes in the digging, it is thus increased in length, and necessarily dimimslied m
capacity ; unless, indeed, the dug ground is allowed to assume an uneven surface, which
is a fault equally to be avoided. , . .
2297. W eathe r fo r tke operation. Digging, for pulverisation and mixing in manures,
is best performed in div weather ; but for the purposes of aeration, a degree of moistm-e
and tenacity in tho soil is more favonrablo for laying it up in lumps, or entire pieces.
The usual length of the blade of a spade is from 10 m. to 1 ft. ; but, as it is always
inserted somewhat o b l i q u e l y , the depth of pulverisation in gardens attained by simple
digging seldom exceeds 9 in., and iu breaking up finn grounds it is seldom so
^^2^98. S hovelling is merely the lifting part of digging, and the shovel being broader
than the spade, it is used to lift up fragments separated by that implemeiff or the pick.
2299. E x c a v a tin g is the operation of working out pits, furrows, or other hollows in
groimd s, either for the commencement of other operations, as digging or trenching, or tor
planting, burying manm-cs, inserting roots ; or, ou a large scale, for forming pieces ot
artificial water, &c. , , , . . . .
2300 Levellm g, in the ordinaiy sense of the term, as used in gardening, consists m
spreading abroad the soil in such a way that its surface may be nearly m one undorni
plane, either level or nearly so ; to be correct, this plane ought to be parallel with that
of the horizon ; but very generally an even sui-face, if not vei-y far from level, answers
all its pui-poses. The tems level and in gronnd-work, however, ought to be considered
as quite distinct ; the former should be like the siu-face of still water, and the
latter merely free from inequalities.
2301 M a rh in q w ith the lin e is an operation preparatory to some others, and consists
in strctcliiug and fixing the line or cord along the surface by means of its attached pins,
or stakes, in the dfrection or position dcsfred ; and in cutting a slight continuous notcli,
mark, or slit in the ground, along its edge with the spade. ^ .
2302. Trenching is a mode of pulverising and mixing the soil, or of pulverising and
changing its surface, to a gi-eatcr depth than can be done by the spade alone, h or
ti-cncliing, with a view to pulverising and changing the siu-face, a trench is formed like
the furrow in digging, but two or more times wider and deeper ; the plot or piece to be
trenched is next marked off with the line into parallel strips of this width ; and, beginning
at one of these, the operator digs or picks the surface stratum, and throura it m ttie
bottom of the trench. Having completed with the shovel the removal of the siiriace
stratum, a second, and a third, or fourth, according to the depth of the soil and other
circumstances, is removed in the same way ; and thus, when the operation is completed,
the position of the different strata is exactly the reverse of what they were betöre.
In trenching, with a view to niixtiue and pulverisation, all that _ is neccssai-y is to open,
at one corner of the plot, a trench or excavation of the desired depth, 3 or 4 leet
broad, and 6 or 8 feet long. Theu proceed to fiU this excavation from one end by
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