Dibber
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A dibber or dibble or dibbler is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground so that seeds, seedlings or small bulbs can be planted. Dibbers come in a variety of designs including the straight dibber, T-handled dibber, trowel dibber, and L-shaped dibber.
History
[edit]The dibber was first recorded in Roman times and has remained mostly unchanged since. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, farmers would use long-handled dibbers of metal or wood to plant crops. One person would walk with a dibber making holes, and a second person would plant seeds in each hole and fill it in. It was not until the Renaissance that dibbers became a manufactured item, some made of iron for penetrating harder soils and clay.
Straight dibber
[edit]This is the classic dibber. It is anything from a sharpened stick to a more complicated model incorporating a curved handle and pointed steel end. It may be made of wood, steel or plastic.
T-handled dibber
[edit]
This dibber is much like the classic dibber, but with a T-grip that fits in the palm to make it easier to apply torque. This allows the user to exert even pressure, creating consistent hole depth.
Trowel dibber
[edit]This dibber combines the features of a dibber and a trowel. It is usually forged from aluminum or other lightweight material. One end is for dibbing, and the other end is shaped like a trowel.
In popular culture
[edit]British comedian Lee Mack donated a T-handled dibber to the British Lawnmower Museum, Southport, and spoke about it on the panel game show Would I Lie to You? (series six, episode three, first broadcast 27 April 2012).[1]
In military parlance an aircraft-dropped 'dibber bomb' is an anti-runway penetration bomb which destroys runways by penetrating below the tarmac before exploding, cratering, and displacing the surface, making repairs difficult and time-consuming, during which conventional airplanes can neither land nor take off.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Did Lee Mack Donate an unusual item to the British Lawnmower Museum? - Would I Lie to You?". BBC One. 26 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-12-19 – via YouTube.
- ^ "par-25". Airpower.maxwell.af.mil. 2016-07-13. Archived from the original on 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
Sources and external links
[edit]- William Bryant Logan, Smith & Hawken The Tool Book, 1997
- Antique Farm Tools
- Loudon, J.C. (1829), An Encyclopædia of Gardening: Comprising the Theory and Practice of Horticulture, Floriculture, Arboriculture, and Landscape-gardening, Including All the Latest Improvements; a General History of Gardening in All Countries; and a Statistical View of Its Present State, with Suggestions for Its Future Progress, in the British Isles, Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, p. 270
