Encyclopaedia of Gardening - Mower Included

AN  ENCYCLOPEDIA 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. BY J. C. LOUDON, F.L.S. H.S. &c.

HON. MEM. OF THE HORT. SOC. OF LISLE, NEW YORK, MASSACHUSETTS, BALTIMORE, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND TORONTO.

ILLUSTRATED WITH MANY HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD, BY BRANSTON.

A NEW EDITION, CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED AND ENLARGED. LONDON: PRINTED FOR

LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMAN, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1835.

2310. Budding's mowing machine (fig. 501.) is an admirable contrivance for cropping, In the operation of or shearing lawns, grass-plots, or indeed any kind of short grass. pushing forward the machine, the cylinder (a) rolls upon the ground like the wheel of a wheelbarrow; and, by the wheels and pinions connected with it, causes the revolving cutters to act rapidly, by their smooth outer edges, against the edge of the fixed rectangular steel plate (c), so as to crop or shear the grass or vegetable surface. The smaller cylinder (b) serves effectually to regulate the height, and to ensure the steadiness of the rectangular fixed cutter (c), against which the revolving cutters act. To keep the small roller (6) sufficiently free from any adhering substances, there is a horizontal box which serves as an axis for a thin iron scraper, which is curved so as to form a portion of a cylinder, having its lower edge bearing on the surface of the roller. There is a  box (d) in which all the grass cut by the machine is collected, thus saving the expense of sweeping. The machine may be easily rolled from one place to another without cutting, by merely lowering the handles, so as to lift the gauge-roller from the ground. (Gard. Mag., vol. viii. p. 35.)