Spade.
1. (
Husbandry.) A square-bladed digging implement, in which two hands and one foot are engaged.
Spades for ditching assume many forms, especially in
England, where the blade is made to correspond to the shape of the cross-section of the ditch.
This is all very well to a certain extent, but all such ditches may be made by machines drawn by horse-power, either as plows or excavators.
Where the ground admits, the team may be hitched to the machine; in wet soil the machine may be drawn by a rope from a capstan moved by a horse walking in a circle.
See cap-Stan.
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Ditching-spades. |
In the
United States, ditches too large for the ditching-plow are made by the usual spade and shovel, or in some cases — and this will move more soil for the same money than any other mode — the ground is plowed and then moved away by the scraper.
It may be finished by the shovel.
This plowing and scraping does not give the symmetrical, steep bank so much coveted, but is a vast saving of manual labor.
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Tuft-spade. |
The turf-spade is adapted for cutting sods, one upturned edge severing the sod while the blade cuts the roots.
The use of turf in many parts of the
British Islands is common, for fuel and for filling in the walls of shelters.
The business of getting the winter supply of turf for fuel interests millions in that country, and probably some others with which we are not so well acquainted.
It is stacked and thatched after having been cut. dried, and carted.
It makes a good hot fire, something like peat, which it resembles in appearance and constituents.
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Thistle-digger. |
The thistle digger is a pronged tool, intended to catch the root below the crown, and then pry out the plant.
The iron portion of the tool has a foot-tread, and a prong which rests on the ground to form a fulcrum; a blade cuts the root if the fork fail to withdraw the plant.
The spade, as a digging instrument, does not seem to have been known in ancient
Egypt.
Its place was supplied by a heavy hoe. (See hoe.) Shovels are illustrated in ancient
Egyptian paintings in connection with the moving of grain and gold-washing.
The ancient
Greek spade had two cross-pieces for the foot, so as to dig right or left handed.
The modern Irish spade has a single cross-bar for use with the right foot.
It has a very long curved blade, and a long handle, with or without a bow, for a hand-hold.
The Japanese spade has a wooden handle, and a blade shod with iron.
The Roman
pala or spade was shod with iron, and had a cross-bar for the foot in digging; this enabled it to be driven farther into the ground than when the foot rested on the blade.
The same tool, called
vanga, is yet used in
Italy.
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Irish spade. |
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Japanese spade. |
The spades of the Feejees, when first discovered, were poles of the mangrove-tree, slanted off at the end, to form a sort of chisel.
A group of three or four men, each with such a tool, stood in a circle, and with repeated strokes loosened a circular piece of earth of about 2 feet surface diameter; the spades were then used as levers to raise the mass, which was then broken up by boys.
The
Maori implement of
New Zealand was substantially similar.
Digging with a sharp hand-spike.
The same of Tahiti.
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Rice's spade-bayonet. |
2. (
Seal-engraving.) A soft iron tool, 3 or 4 inches long, and with the end filed to an angle of 45° and charged with diamond-powder.
It is used to dress
[
2252]
off irregularities from the rounded surface of a cameo figure.
3. (
Nautical.) A cutting implement used in flensing the whale.
A
blubber-spade.
