112 MACHINES USED IN HORTICULTURE. 



To do their work well they must be kept in good repair, geared 

 with the utmost exactness, and the knives kept sharp and clean. They 

 are readily and efficiently sharpened by simply reversing the motion 

 against the bottom plate, and placing ebony-powder and oil between 

 the two. One of the best mowing-machines is the Archimedean, 

 recently introduced from America. 



Wheelbarrows for gardens are of two kinds : one of large dimen- 

 sions for wheeling littery dung, tan, short grass, leaves, haulm, or 

 weeds ; and another of moderate size (fig. 82), for wheeling soil and 



gravel. They are generally 



g> ' constructed of wood, with 



the wheel also of wood, and 

 shod with iron ; but some 

 wheelbarrows are formed 

 entirely of cast and wrought 

 iron ; they are, however, 

 too heavy for wheeling any- 

 thing excepting littery dung 

 Garden wheelbarrow. t , , c 



or other light matters, and 



they are far from being so durable as a wooden barrow, when the 

 latter is kept well painted. Some dung and tan barrows have the 

 body or box attached to the handles or levers (commonly called trams) 

 by moveable iron bolts, so that it can be readily taken off and carried 

 by two men into places where the entire barrow with its wheel could 

 not be admitted ; for example, in filling the bark pit of a stove with 

 tan or leaves. There is a third kind of barrow, used by engineers in 

 deep cuttings, which has shallow sides of an equal height on every side 

 of the bottom of the barrow ; it is well suited for carrying heavy 

 subsoil, or stony materials, but is not required in gardens. For general 

 purposes, a middle-sized barrow, between the dung-barrow and the 

 mould-barrow, like that of which we have given a figure, is sufficient. 



Rollers are essential in even the smallest garden, for compressing and 

 smoothing gravel walks and lawns. They are formed of solid cylinders 

 of stone, or hollow cylinders of cast iron, and a very convenient width 

 is four feet. Cast-iron rollers are always easiest to draw, from the 

 greater diameter of the cylinder. The operation of rolling is most 

 effective after the soil or gravel has been softened by recent rains, but 

 is at the same time sufficiently dry on the surface not to adhere to the 

 roller. A roller has recently been invented in which the hollow cylinder 

 can be filled with water, and reduced at pleasure. Thus it can be 

 weighted or lightened according to the work required to be done. The 

 mobilitv of the weighting fluid also throws the entire weight used 

 upon the crushing portion of the roller, which increases to the utmost 

 its crushing power. By filling the inside with hot water, this roller 

 is one of the most efficient means of destroying slugs and worms on 

 walks, lawns, roads, &c. 



The watering engines used in gardens are the syringe, the hand- 

 engine, and the barrow-engine. There are several kinds of syringe, 

 but the best at present in use is decidedly that of Read (fig. 83). Its 



