1734. Garden knives are of several species and varieties: � The common garden knife consists of a blade of prepared steel, fixed without a joint in a handle of bone or horn, and kept in a sheath of leather or pasteboard. It varies in size and shape, and in the quality of the blade; the best in England are generally made in London, but the great mass disposed of in commerce are manufactured at Sheffield. Every working-gardener ought to carry one of these knives in a side-pocket on his thigh, that he may be always ready to cut off pieces of dead, decayed, or injured plants, or to gather crops, independently of other operations. The common pruning-knife is similar to the former, but less hooked at the point; for though the hook be useful in gathering some crops, and in cutting over or pruning herbaceous vegetables, yet, as all knives cut on the same principle as the saw, a hooked knife is injurious when it is used to cut woody shoots: therefore, wherever a clean section is of importance, the pruning-knife with a straight-edged blade, and not the common garden-knife with a hooked blade, ought to be employed. The folding pruning-knife differs from the other in having the blade jointed in the handle, for the purpose of rendering it portable with greater ease, and in any description of pockets; such knives are more especially used by master-gardeners. There are varieties of these, with saws, chisels, penknives, &c.; but, generally speaking, they are more curious than useful.
