22 



The Florists^ Review 



Jdnb 22. 1922 



be operated by the power from one of 

 these machines. They are far superior 

 to a stationary gasoline engine, because 

 with them one can take the power to 

 the job instead of being compelled to 

 bring the job to the power. The engine, 

 however, is a little too light to do satis- 

 factory work when attached to a field 

 plow of the ordinary size. 



The item of depreciation of the ma- 

 chine is small indeed if a little care 

 is exercised, and a careful owner should 

 receive the purchase price of the ma- 

 chine many times over before he is re- 

 quired to dispose of it as junk. There 

 is nothing which deteriorates so rapidly 

 as iron or steel, and once oxidation be- 

 gins its destructive work, it is almost 

 impossible to stop it. The only sure 

 method of avoiding loss in this way is 

 to i)revent the tool from rusting, which 

 can be easily done in a few minutes 

 if the machine is thoroughly cleaned, 

 oiled, covered and stored away in a 

 place where the moisture cannot attack 

 it when not in use. Under these con- 

 ditions a machine should last a good 

 many years, with only the necessity of 

 occasionally renewing parts as they wear 

 out. 



Sales Plus. 



One drawback which has discouraged 

 a more extensive use of these machines 

 in the past has been the unwillingness 

 or the inability of the manufacturers to 

 stand back of their machines with serv- 

 ice. Either the firms were unreliable 

 or they did not realize the value of the 

 follow-up sales system. Under these 

 circumstances the florist or nurseryman 

 had no assurance that if his machine 

 broke down in the midst of a busy sea- 

 son, he could get expert mechanics to 

 help him out. Therefore, not being able 

 to keep a horse for an emergency, nor 

 being willing to do his work at the 

 pleasure of the machine, he decided not 

 to take a chance. 



If a stumbling block of this kind did 

 exist in the past, it has now been en- 

 tirely eliminated. Parts have been stan- 

 dardized to a large extent, and the 

 makers maintain supply and service sta- 

 tions throughout the country in charge 

 of men competent to handle any trouble 

 with which the unskilled person may 

 find himself confronted. This service 

 is generally rendered at a nominal cost 

 if, in truth, it is not done entirely free 

 of charge. Instructions, in untechnical 

 language, accompanied by diagrams, are 

 furnished with each machine, explaining 

 how, when and where to lubricate and 

 the kinds of pil to use, together with 

 all the information necessary to operate 

 the machine. 



Who Makes Them? 



Garden tractors are not entirely a 

 recent innovation, and some of them 

 have been in operation in florists' fields 

 and nurseries for several years. These 

 machines are making good, as will be 

 indicated hereinafter. 



The Merry Garden Auto-Cultivator, 

 made by the Atlantic Machine & Mfg. 

 Co., Cleveland, O., is a machine which 

 some florists have found particularly 

 attractive. It is light, weighing only 

 28.5 pounds, and has a speed of about two 

 miles per hour. The handles can be ad- 

 justed up or down to accommodate any 

 height of man or boy. The slots in the 

 tool-holders allow a wide range of posi- 

 tion of tools, and the transmission of 

 power is effected by means of a train 

 of case-hardened steel-cut gears with 



ratio of 1-30. The control is effected by 

 means of a clutch. The machine mounts 

 a 2-hor8epower Evinrude motor, which 

 is equipped with a Bosch magneto. It 

 straddles a 12-inch or wider row and will 

 work between rows twenty-four inches 

 or more apart. It can be turned around 

 in a 34-inch circle. 



A number of florists have used 

 the Merry Garden. "I have been 

 using a Merry Garden Auto-Cultivator 

 for two seasons with satisfactory re- 

 sults. While it is rather light for plow- 

 ing, it is an ideal machine for cultivat- 

 ing. My 15-year-old boy has done the 

 work," says J. M. Bassett, of Hammon- 

 ton, N. J. "While we have had a little 

 trouble with the machine from time to 

 time, it almost invariably proved to be 

 through some oversight of our own, due 

 to inexperience with motors. We have 

 cultivated from three to five acres with 



Ready to Cultivate Two Rows. 



it easily .and have kejit them more 

 thoroughly worked than we used to with 

 horse power. ' ' 



Makes Turning Easy. 



The Gilson Mfg. Co., Port Washing- 

 ton, Wis., makes the Bolens power hoe, 

 the only machine with a differential, 

 enabling the operator to turn the ma- 

 chine at the end of the row with no more 

 effort than the strength of one hand. 

 It has a high arch, which permits it to 

 work astride a row of plants fnurteeu 

 to twenty inches tall without damage. 

 The power is supplied by a 1 cylinder, 

 air-cooled, gasoline-driven motor, and 

 the gasoline consumption is ahout one 

 gallon every ten hours. The sj)ecd is 

 controlled by a thumb lever on the 

 handle, which operates the throttle on 

 the carburetor. 



The Bolens ni;ichino, with its high- 

 arched axle, its tool control, its differen- 

 tial drive, its easy regulation of specil 

 and its snap hitches on all att.-ictiments, 

 is an outfit especially adajited to floiists' 

 needs. It is designed for close (niltivation 

 ;ni(l tlierefore li;is made triomls wlicrt' 

 florists have seen it ilenionstratcd. 



The Bolens power hoe was sliown at 

 the national flower show, at Indian,'i|>(ilis 

 last March. T'sers in the trade iiicludr 

 the C. C. Pollworth Co. and Ilolton & 

 Hunkel Co., Milwaukee, Wis.; Miles Co., 

 Oshkosh, Wis.; J. A. Peterson & Sons, 

 Cincinnati, O.; W. W. Horlacher, Bav- 

 ton, O.; Fifth Avenue Floral Co.. fdlum- 

 bus, O. ; John Wiemann. Bnrlinttton, 

 la.; Daut Bros., Decatur. Til.; Flick 



floral Co., Fort Wayne, Ind.; Baur & 

 Steinkamp, Indianapolis, Ind.; Qray 

 Floral Co., Chickasha, Okla.; Myers 

 Floral Co., Bluffton, Ind., and Joseph 

 Mahnke, Milwaukee, Wis. It is used by 

 the city foresters of St. Paul and Mil- 

 waukee, the forestry department of the 

 Dominion of Canada and the horticul- 

 tural department of the University of 

 Wisconsin. 



Made in Minneapolis. 



In Minneapolis the Beeman Tractor 

 Co. puts out a garden tractor called 

 Beeman, Jr., which is simply a little 

 power plant built into a traction ar- 

 rangement and designed especially to 

 handle garden tool attachments. The 

 cultivator attachment will cultivate one, 

 two or three rows at a time. It has 

 clearance height of fourteen inches and 

 clearance width of ten inches, which 

 permits going astride or between the 

 rows. A gasoline-driven, air-cooled 

 motor furnishes power, and the machine 

 is thrown into and out of action by 

 a simple but positive belt-tightener, 

 operated at the right-hand handle. 



One of the above-mentioned is found 

 in use at the establishment of Luther 

 Horlacher, Xenia, 0., and Mr. Horlacher 

 says in regard to the operation of the 

 machine: "For the last two seasons I 

 have been using one of these garden 

 tractors, finding it indispensable. As a 

 cultivator, it is far superior to a horse. 

 Much more cultivating and' more- 

 thorough work can be done than with a 

 horse in a given time. Many times 

 I have gone out into my field and .culti- 

 vated an acre and one-half of 3-foot 

 rows up and down twice after the even- 

 ing meal. One can speed these tractors 

 to suit himself, and there is no horse to 

 tramp on the plants. One can turn from 

 one row and go up the next without a 

 minute 's loss of time. This tractor 

 is under perfect control, and can be 

 guided as close to the plants as one 

 desires. My tractor has been absolutely 

 dependable at all times, not giving any 

 mechanical trouble and always being 

 ready for use. The Beeman Co. correctly 

 advertises its useful tractor to take the 

 place of a horse. In my experience, how- 

 ever, T have seldom seen one horse do 

 the kind of plowing on our Ohio soil 

 that a good grower should want on his 

 land year after year. It takes a good 

 team to do deep, thorough plowing, 

 which is essential to maximum results." 



Walking and Biding Type. 



At Indianapolis, Ind., is made a ma- 

 chine called the Utilitor, of which there 

 are two models, one a walking type 

 and one a riding type. The latter will 

 do even heavier work than that of the 

 florist. This machine will plow, harrow, 

 pulverize, plant, cultivate, mow lawns, 

 drag roads, do belt work to four hnrse- 

 jiower and many of those things which 

 lieretofore have been done with the 

 horse or mule. It is made by the Mid- 

 west Engine Co. The front frame can 

 1)0 adjusted for cither narrow or w'de- 

 row cultivation. 



"On fairly level, solid ground the 

 Utilitor does fine work and has an 

 abundance of power. It turns to the 

 right or left on its own power and 

 can be kept going much more steadily 

 than a horse," says Nixon H. Gano, 

 proprietor of the Martinsville Floral 

 Co., Martinsville, Ind. "In fact, if 

 a man keeps it going to capacity all 

 day, he will know that he has done a 

 full day's work. We use ours for plow- 



