1699. The dibber (figs. 311, and 312.) is a short piece of cylindrical wood, obtusely pointed, and sometimes shod with iron on the one end, and formed into a convenient spade-like handle in the other. There are three species. The common garden-dibber (fig. 311.), the potato dibber (fig. 312.), and the forester's or planter's dibber. The forester's dibber has a wedge-shaped blade, forked at the extremity, for the purpose of carrying down with it the tap-root of seedling trees, and has been much used in planting extensive tracts. There are also dibbers that make two holes at once, sometimes used in planting leeks or other articles that are placed within a few inches of each other; dibbers which make several holes for planting beans and other seeds; and wedge-shaped dibbers which in soft sandy soils are easily worked, and admit of spreading the roots better than the round kind. These wedge-shaped tools also admit of putting two plants in a hole, one at each extremity.
