Historical information
A hand sickle is typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock (either freshly cut or dried as hay). this one was used for cutting back bracken fern.
Significance
Sickles were not used as often on farms after the mechanisation of harvesting. They were still used for cutting awkward shaped small plots, for opening a path for the tractors and for clearing bracken.
This item is an example of a tool used by the early settlers of the Orbost district.
Physical description
A wooden handled sickle used for fern cutting. It has a steel curved blade.
Inscriptions & markings
Stamped on blade - RY4 MADE IN ENGLAND
