I will never forget the face of the ironmonger in Exeter when I went in many years ago to ask for a suckering iron. I had never heard of such a tool, and yet at that time it was possible to buy them from ironmongers in Maidstone, Kent, without any difficulty at all.

There are occasions, however, when it is impossible to get the bow in between the branches, and then it is preferable to use the Grecian pruning saw with its curved blade. Once again, it can be bought in three sizes: the 12 inch, 14 inch and 16 inch-the 14 inch being the most popular.

If suckering irons are impossible to obtain, the best thing to do is to use a well-worn shiny spade and sharpen its edge.

The curved end is then hooked over the branch with the knife-blade full open and the handle up. The handle is then pulled down, the knife-blade passed through the branch, cutting it sharply and ends up in the slot provided for it in the hook. The branch thus falls to the ground, having been cut off neatly at the desired spot.

At the base of the hand pump is a long rubber tube, the end of which is placed into a bucket. At this end there is a special brass filter with a ball valve, thus making the double pumping action effective.

Ten-foot pruners are very tiring to use and those 6 or 7 feet in length are extremely useful and are not difficult to manipulate.