Fig. 23 represents a form of basket for . sowing seed used in England. It is suspended by girthing fastened to the two handles on the rim of the basket, and passed either over the left shoulder and

Fig. 23

under the right arm, or round the back of the neck and the left hand holds it steady by the head of the wooden stave shewn on the

other side of the basket.

carrier when full; in other parts it is carried in the arms, with the bottom rim supported by the haunch.

The best form of corn basket (Scotice, wecht or maund) for use in the barn is that shewn in fig. 25. They are sometimes made of wood, or of skin, or strong canvas, attached to a hoop of wood.

It is an interesting fact to notice, in regard to baskets, that the facility of teaching and acquiring the art of basket-making renders it a favourite, indeed the most important, employment for the blind in the asylums established for their reception.

BLANCHING POT.-The pots are of various shapes. The best are made of burnt clay. Figs. 26 and 27 represent the most approved for blanching sea-kale. They consist of two being taken off, permits the gardener to exparts, a body, a, and a top, b, which latter, on amine the state of the crop, and also to gather it, without having to remove the whole; thus

or lid to enable the cultivator to examine his crop, they are made all in one piece, having a knob or handle at the top to serve as a handle for lifting them off or on. They are from 9 to 12 inches in diameter and the same in height; are placed over the plants when nearly full grown, the leaves being gathered up with one hand, while with the other the pot is placed over them so as to enclose them completely, and thus ensure their blanching, while they are protected from frost, snow, or rain. The curled leaved varieties of endive are much more readily blanched than the broadleaved or Batavian sorts, therefore a corresponding degree of care must be used in performing the process.

BOITE-A-HOUPPE (French, signifying a puff-box). This simple apparatus (fig. 30), a French invention, is used for the application of sulphur for the prevention or cure of the

Fig.30.

The Boite-à-Houppe is very easily used,. allowing the operator one hand always at liberty to separate the leaves and uncover the parts which are to be sulphured, distributing the sulphur regularly in impalpable powder (which is indispensable in order to obtain a successful result); the other hand being used in merely shaking the box. Two or three applications only are necessary-namely, when the plant first begins to shoot, after it has blossomed, and, if necessary, when the fruit. begins to ripen. There are many other uses to which this invention may be appliedsuch as the distribution of lime, or any similar material. The apparatus is used very extensively in France. An instrument like a pepper-box is sometimes applied to the same purpose; but it distributes too freely, causing much waste. The advantage of the Boite-àHouppe is, that before distribution the sulphur passes through short lengths of wool;. by this means it falls in almost imperceptible particles upon the plants, without the wastewhich takes place by other methods.

BROOMS (Anglo-Saxon brom).-This name is strictly due only to those which are made of the twigs of the broom (Spartium® scoparium, or Cytisus scoparius of botanists), but common usage has applied it to all kinds. of long-handled besoms, whether made of broom, heather, birch, whalebone, bristles, wire, or of cocoa-nut or other vegetable filaments. Birch is the material most generally used for brooms for the garden or farm, and they are made of various shapes. For gardenwalks which are liable to become mossy, a broom made of wire may be usefully employed. If of iron wire, it ought to be well dried and dipped in oil, both before and after being used, or it will soon be destroyed by rust. form best adapted for a wire broom is given in fig. 31, which is that of the ordinary kind used for stables or other coarse work. The common kind of brooms used by gardeners are formed of twigs of the birch, strongly bound together, into which a handle of wood is inserted. Fig. 32 represents the form best adapted for ordinary purposes. In 1855, Mr William Henderson, gardener to the Duke of Athole at Dunkeld, took out a patent for in

The

provements in brooms, which consisted in the handle or stock being so constructed as to enable any ordinary gardener to substitute new twigs for those which are worn out. These stocks made of wrought-iron, are of three kinds-viz., fan-shaped (fig. 33), flat (fig. 34), and round (fig. 35). The two former have a handle socket, to which is attached a pair of iron plates. Through these are passed screws with square heads. When the broom is worn out the screws are undone to the full extent, and the pair of plates

fan-shaped brooms when completed. Another form of these brooms is shewn in fig. 35. The head consists of a hollow cylinder or socket of iron or brass, in the inside of which is a strong screw, extending about 3 inches below the mouth of the cylinder. At the end of the screw is inserted a strong piece of wire, terminated by an eye, the use of which will

Fig. 31.

separated. The material is then filled in lightly between the two plates at the one end or division of the broom-head; and when this division is filled, the operation is repeated at the other end. A key is then applied to the square heads of the screws, and the whole is securely fastened. The ends of the material which protrude on the outside of the head are then neatly cut off. To keep the material in its place, a clasp of strong iron wire is attached, about 3 inches from the head, securely fastened with nuts. Figs. 33 and 34 shew the flat and

Fig. 32.

be afterwards explained. When the broom is required to be filled, the cylinder is placed with its mouth upwards, and a small cone of iron or brass, corresponding in shape with the interior of the cylinder, and pierced with a female screw, is inserted on the screw attached to the cylinder, and turned round about half