Popular Science Monthly 



739 



Have You Weeds on Your Lawn? 

 Kill Them With Gasoline 



THE complete 

 elimination of 

 dandelions, rag- 

 weed, quack grass, 

 and troublesome 

 weeds that grow on 

 the lawn is made easy 

 by a device that elim- 

 inates all back-break- 

 ing stooping. The 

 instrument consists of 

 a slender tube filled 

 with a liquid and pro- 

 vided with a sharp 

 point that is pushed 

 into the heart of the 



Efficiency Has Come to the 

 Garden Rake 



O' 



At side detailed drawing of weed killer 



\ 

 Diaphragm 



Pin that 15 

 pushed ir\to 

 roots of VKceds 

 to oper\ valve 



lution of iron sul- 

 phite is used for pig 

 weed, rag weed, and 

 quack grass. The 

 device is all metal, 

 and very simple in 

 construction ; none 

 of the metal parts 

 is affected by the 

 liquids. Pressing 

 the tool into the 

 ground raises the 

 valves and releases 

 a little of the liquid. 

 The tube may be 

 tilled by twisting the 

 handle and remov- 

 ing the top. 



Above, the same in use on 



weed ; the liquid then 

 automatically runs 

 out, and the weed 

 is killed beyond the 

 power to grow 

 again. 



For killing dande- 

 lions and most or- 

 dinary weeds a gaso- 

 line solution is most 

 effective, while a so- 



lawn 



This simple, self-cleaning rake is the out- 

 come of a Minneapolis man's impatience 



NE day, Charles 

 F. Reiter of 

 Minneapolis, Minn., 

 lost his patience when 

 raking his lawn— and 

 who wouldn't, when 

 the leaves seemed to 

 take extraordinary 

 pleasure in sticking 

 between the teeth of 

 the rake. After Mr. 

 Reiter had bent down 

 and pulled the leaves 

 out so many times 

 that his back ached, 

 he threw down the 

 rake, went into his 

 house and invented a 

 temper-saving, back- 

 resting device which 

 cleans the rake auto- 

 matically. 



The automatic self- 

 cleaning attachment 

 is simply a curved 

 piece of wire which, manufactured in any 

 desired length to fit any rake, sets be- 

 tween the teeth of the rake. Wire arms, 

 operated by springs are attached to the 

 handle and to the curved cleaning wire. 

 When the rake touches the ground, the 

 cleaning attachment is pushed up out of 

 the way. The leaves or scraps are raked 

 in the usual manner. But when the rake 

 is lifted for the back stroke, the wire arms 

 are pressed down by two single coil 

 springs, and the 

 curved wire in- 

 stantly pushes out 

 the leaves accum- 

 ulated on the 

 prongs. 



It will be seen 

 that in addition to 

 saving the trouble 

 of cleaning the rake, 

 all the leaves, etc., 

 that are collected 

 would be worked 

 into the soil, thus 

 helping to make the 

 "leaf-mold" that 

 is so highly valued 

 by horticulturists. 



