1862-06-14 Gardeners Chronicle - Shanks Advertisement

SHANKS' NEW IMPROVED PATENT

LAWN MOWING, ROLLING, COLLECTING, and DELIVERING MACHINE for 1862,

WITH SILENT MOTION IF SPECIALLY DESIRED,

HORSE POWER MACHINE

J.B. BROWN AND CO. in introducing Shanks NEW PATENT LAWN MOWERS for this season, do so with that confidence in their merits and superiority which eminently ly of the previous years have been so much appreciated by the practical Gardener that a very large and steady increase in the number of Machines sold has every year taken place, every one of which, so far as known, has given the greatest satisfaction. Further important improvements have been introduced into the Machines for this season. 

The peculiar advantages of Shanks' celebrated HORSE MACHINE may be this described:-

1. The Cutter is so constructed that in Mowing the closest and finest Turf there is not the smallest appearance of ribbing.

2. The Drums are loose on the Shaft, and are made SELF-ACTING, so that in turning the Machine will Mow as well as when going in a straight line.

3. From the position of the Front Pulleys or Rollers the Machine will Mow on the most uneven Lawn, and the Plate at the same time is PREVENTED FROM INJURING THE TURF.

4. No Machine can turn quicker or more easily than this Machine. The two Front Pulleys swivel, and the Drums on the Shaft are loose, and yet kept in gear by Patent Spiral Springs, so that the Machine will turn into the most intricate windings of the Flower Garden, amongst Trees or Flower Beds, with perfect case, and WITHOUT THE SMALLEST CHANCE OF INJURING THE SHRUBS OR FLOWERS.

5. The Wheels are all protected by Guards, which entirely prevent any particles of Cut Grass, or Shrubs, Flowers, &c., from getting into contact with the teeth. A Scraper is introduced to keep the Rollers clear of small stones or rubbish in crossing Gravel Walks, &c. The whole Machine is nicely balanced as regards equality of weight in the front and back, and consequently is exceedingly STEADY IN WORKING. The Cutter works in Brass Bearings, and is now made so very strong that breakage is hardly possible. The Handles or Shafts are made of Malleable Iron, being thus much neater and very much more durable than the usual Cast-iron ones.

6. One of the most valuable of the Patent Improvements the Patentees have effected in their Machine is in the method of emptying the Grass Box. The want of a speedy and efficient method for this purpose has been much felt for many years past. In the Spring more especially, when the Grass springs up rapidly, nothing is more annoying in working a Mowing Machine than the stopping and almost constant travel from the handles to the box, and vice versa, for the purpose of emptying the Grass. A great deal of time is thus lost, independent of the hard work to the man, not only in walking some hundreds of times the length of the Machine in a day, but more especially in the stooping posture which he has so often to endure. Many Gardener can testify to this. This great want in all Mowing Machines, whether past or present, is completely obviated in Shanks New Patent Mowing, Rolling, Collecting, and Delivering Machine for 1862. The improvement consists in the introduction of a simple and efficient Apparatus for emptying the Box without the man being under the necessity of either leaving the handles or stopping the Machine. So effective and complete is this valuable Improvement, that the box, if it were possible to fill it, could be emptied at the rate of sixty times a minute, without any undue strain being to the apparatus. The immense advantages of this invention must be at once apparent to the practical Gardener. It will enable the Machine to do at least a the more work, while the labour and annoyance in working it, as compared with ordinary Machines, is three-fourths lessened. If a Lawn, which formerly took a Machine nine hours to Mow, can now be done in six hours, with three-fourths less labour to the man who works the Machine, nothing further is necessary to establish the utility and worth of the invention.

One of the most important considerations in making a Machine fit to be put into the hand of a labourer, to work without any difficulty, is simplicity of construction and arrangement, combined with strength and durability of the whole working parts, and the Patentees have much pleasure in intimating that their efforts to attain this end have been completely necessary. The Improved Machines for Horse and Pony Power, combining with these advantages the additional one Delivering the Grass without stopping the Machine, make it peculiarly fit for all the purposes of Mowing, whether for Grass Walks, the Flower Garden, or the open The style in which the work is executed cannot be surpassed-and it is quite immaterial whether the Lawn be level or otherwise, or whether the Grass be wet or dry.

PRICES.

Including Carriage to most of the principal Railway Stations and Shipping Ports in the Kingdom, and Directions for Use.

The first practical Gardeners of the day, who have devoted their attention in examining all the different Lawn Mowers, do not hesitate in recommending Shanks Machine the best Mower for general nee. There is nothing in the Machine which is not of real practical worth.

Shank Patent Mowing and Rolling Machine is in successful operation in Her Majesty's Royal Gardena at Kew, Windsor, Buckingham Palace, Hampton Court, Osborne, and Balmoral; in the Gardens of His Majesty the Emperor of the French. His Royal Highness the Prince of Prussia, His Excellency the Belgian Minister, Night Hon. Lord Palmerston, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, His Grace the Duke of Sutherland, His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, and most of the principal Nobility and Gentry in the kingdom. These celebrated machines are also in operation in many of the Botanic, and in many hundreds of other gardens in the kingdom, as well as in almost every Country throughout the World, where their merits have been fully proved, and their success established.

SOLE AGENTS FOR LONDON: J. B. BROWN & CO., 18, CANNON STREET, CITY, E.C.