1862-07-1 The Floral World - The International Exhibition
GARDEN IMPLEMENTS, ORNAMENTS, AND STRUCTURES. LAWN MOWERS. Horticultural visitors to the Inter- national Exhibition will find in the Eastern Annex an extensive collection of Garden Implements, amongst which Lawn Mowers have an important place. Messrs. Kennan and Son, of 19, Fishamble Street, Dublin, exhi- bit (No. 2141) a new contrivance, called the Registered Tilt Gear Lawn Mower. The cutting machinery is so arranged that a quick movement of the machine is not essential, so that it is well adapted to cut damp grass. But the chief peculiarity is, that there is attached below the driving-handles, a large supplementary grass-box; when the box in front of the cutters is full, the mower touches a handle, which throws the grass-box over, and empties its contents into the supplementary box, so that the machine has not to be stopped for the removal of the grass until both the boxes are full. A.Jointed Ladder, shown by the same maker, will be found of great service in small gardens, as it can be used as a double step ladder five feet high, or a single step ten feet high.
Other mowing machines are exhibited by Boyd (No. 2084), who first introduced the cleansing brush,
Ferrabee (No. 2113), who first matured Budding's original patent, and offers in these machines a contrivance for emptying the grass- box without necessitating any halt in the working of the machine.
Mr. Samuelson, of Banbury, and Cannon St., London, exhibits machines (No. 2178) with Boyd's patent brushes, and Mainwaring's silent wheels. The machines of Samuelson we can speak of in the highest terms, the cutting- knives being better adapted for mow- ing damp grass than any machine which we have tried for the purpose; during the summer of 1860, when the grass was always wet, we had one in constant use, and the manner in which it performed its work, under very severe tests, was the subject of general admiration among gardeners. The wooden boxes of these machines are, however, too slight, and they soon get split. It is but a minor matter, but it needs attention on the part of the manufacturer.
Mr.T. Green, of Smithfield Works, Leeds, and Victoria Street, Holborn, exhibits a number of Grass Mowers (No. 2122); these are all beautifully finished, and their excellencies are well known, in fact, they cannot be surpassed for design and workmanship, and have attained their celebrity solely by their merits. Mr. Green has now perfected the Small Model Lawn Mowers that were brought out last year, and samples may be seen at his stand, on the western side of the Eastern Annex, of 10-inch silent-working machines, at the low price of £3 10s. each. We have one of these in use, a 12-inch, for verges and fancy work, which it performs beautifully; but though so small as to look like a toy, we find it as capable of mowing a dozen or two rods of grass turf, as a machine of greater pretensions, while for the margins of lawns, where shrubs hang over, or where trees and flower-beds have to be worked between, we prefer it to a machine of greater size. These are called ladies' machines, but they might very well be adopted by gar- deners, and save the everlasting clip, clip, on verges, and the intricacies of geometric beds.