Grafting knives, from old orchards to the key ring
Long before anyone understood why it worked, orchard keepers had learned to join a shoot from a prized tree onto the roots of a hardier one, and classical authors were already writing instructions for it. The craft needs little equipment, but it does demand a blade that leaves a perfectly flat, clean face, because ragged tissue will not knit. Nurserymen came to favour short, straight blades kept very keen, many with a squared end for opening the bark.
This assortment shrinks that tool to keyring size, with a 4.5 cm stainless blade in a 5.5 cm handle and a brass bolster, offered in dark wood, black horn and white bone. It is a working grafting knife for small jobs and a charming reminder of an old craft.
