And this is what kind of knife?

The only thing I know about this style of knife, is that it is called a budding knife, Gardeners will know how to use the unusual end piece. This type of design has been around for many years, I have seen the exact same design in an old George Wostenholm re-print catalogue dating back to 1885.

Rusty1
 
Rusty1 said:
The only thing I know about this style of knife, is that it is called a budding knife, Gardeners will know how to use the unusual end piece. This type of design has been around for many years, I have seen the exact same design in an old George Wostenholm re-print catalogue dating back to 1885.
Rusty1
Click to expand...

Yes a budding or gardening knife. Used for grafting plants e.g., when the roots or stock of the original have gone bad. Cut an uneffected branch off the plant to be saved, make a small slit in the bark of the new host, pry it apart with the flat bit at the end of the knife, insert the new part and the host grows around it and in times it becomes one. Good for roses, vines etc. Most of the vines in Bordeaux were grafted on to American root stock when the deadly phylloxera louse invaded the vineyards in the late 1800s. The louse feasts on the roots of the vine and eventually kills it. Root stocks from America were resistant to the louse so vineyard owners planted the American stocks and grafted cuttings of the Bordeaux cabernet/merlot etc onto the resitant roots/stocks. All done by hand with similar sort of knife. Sorry for the rambling. Here is a Wostenholm as mentioned by Rusty1. It was made post 1890. The spatula bit is made of ivory. Unfortunately, it is worn & broken with use. Later they were made of wood, plastic, and even brass. This is not the best photo.
Knife060.jpg
 
Thanks for the explaination s-k, not having green fingers, I would of stumbled over that answer.

Rusty1
 
Thanks Rusty1. I am not a gardner but I did a little research after I bought the knife. Could try to post a better photo this weekend if you or anyone here is interested. Best wishes
 
s-k sounds good to me, nice to see anything George Wostenholm.

Rusty1
 
s-k I must admit, when I asked about posting anything Wostenholm, I thought it would be a better idea to post elsewhere, Thanks.

Rusty1
 
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