1697. The shovel (fig. 307.) consists of two parts, the handle and the blade; the latter of plate-iron, and the former of ash timber. There are several varieties: such as are turned up on the edges, and are used for shovelling mud, or, when formed of wood (generally of beech), for turning grain, seeds, or potatoes; square-mouthed shovels, for gathering up dung in stables, and used by gardeners in the melon-ground; heart-shaped or pointed-mouthed shovels, used for lifting earth out of trenches, in ditch-making, trenching, or in other excavations; and long narrow-mouthed shovels, for cleaning out drains, &c.
