Garden Scythe information
- with details of a traditional English Agricultural
or garden scythe and other English or agricultural
garden tools
Garden Scythe Wooden Handle (Snaith)
- This is a full size traditional Garden Scythe
with a traditional wooden snaith and comes complete
with a 27 inch fully hardened and tempered steel
blade - the genuine article !
Garden Scythe Aluminium Handle
(Snaith) - This is also a full size Garden Scythe
but with a lighter aluminium handle (snaith) it
comes with a 24 inch fully tempered and hardened
steel blade.
A garden scythe is an agricultural
hand tool for mowing and reaping grass or crops.
It consists of a long (about 170 cm) wooden shaft
called a snath (modern versions are sometimes
made from metal and/or plastic) with a perpendicular
handle at one end and another roughly in the middle.
The garden scythe handle at the end of the snath
could be omitted but the handle in the middle
of the snath is a must, as it is used to control
the position of the blade. A long blade (roughly
60-80 cm, approx. 26"-30") with a slight
curve perpendicular to the snath is mounted at
the other end. A garden scythe is used by holding
the handles such that the blade is approximately
parallel to the ground (with the heel nearly touching
the ground) and swinging one's arms from side
to side. When done correctly the blade makes wide
sweeping motions.
The garden scythe appeared in Europe during the
12th and 13th centuries. Initially used mostly
for mowing grass, it replaced the sickle as the
tool for gathering crops by the 16th century.
A modern garden scythe - In the developed world,
it has now largely been replaced by motorized
lawnmowers and combine harvesters. It still proves
to be indispensable for farmers in developing
countries and in mountainous terrain.
In Romania, for example, in the highlands landscape
of the Apuseni mountains, cything is a very important
annual activity, taking about 2-3 weeks to complete
for a regular house. As scything is extremely
exhausting physical activity and is relatively
difficult to learn, needing years of experience
to perform the action properly, farmers help each-other
by forming teams. It is also why after each day's
harvest, the farmers tend to celebrate by having
a small feast where they dance, drink and eat,
being careful to keep in shape for the next day's
hard work.
garden
scythe tang
more
details of the garden sythe here
Living in the UK ? - If you live in the
UK - you can buy garden tools from my affiliate
site as below - brackets ( ) indicate number of
garden tools available per category - so there
are plenty to choose from :
Knives (20) Shredders (18) Grass trimmers
(102) Lawn mowers (81) Rakes (51) Axes (61) Bulb
planters (3) Edging irons (15) Loppers (57) Spades
(41) Hand Forks/Trowels (76) Lawn scarifiers (18)
Scythes& hooks (6) Tree pruners (9) Chain
saws (74) Hedge trimmers (9) Log splitters (3)
Secateurs (99) Watering hose & accessories
(50) Garden shears (5) Shredders (9) Spreaders
(3) all from Wilkinson Sword, Wolf, Spear &
Jackson and other top makes.
end of garden scythe information |
