316 
The Garden Magazine, February, 1921 
most over night a degree of perfection that seems to leave little 
to be desired, and they come in various sizes and styles, varying 
accordingly in price. For the man who takes the raising of the 
crops just as seriously as the initial effort of making the garden, 
quite a number of modern appliances are available. The old- 
fashioned sifters with which we still apply the common remedies 
against chewing insects, are gradually being supplanted by the 
more powerful duster guns, and blowing apparatus. Insecti- 
cides in dust form will often do more good than liquids and are 
often easier to apply. The spray pump in its various forms, 
however, will continue to be the standard appliance with which 
to keep the garden well. Most of them, from the little hand 
apparatus to the big horse-drawn, motor-driven power sprayers 
for extensive orchard work, are now operated by air pressure 
which forces the liquid in a continuous stream. The perfection 
of quite a variety of nozzles, too, adds to the pleasure of doing 
this work right. Perhaps the most popular of the spray pumps 
to-day are the Knapsack and Autospray types. 
The fact that more than 90 per cent, of annual plant growth is 
water should bring home to the gardener the tremendous re- 
sponsibility of supplying the crops adequately when nature 
may deny it in many sections, and in certain seasons. Much 
progress has been made during the last twenty years in devices 
for carrying and distributing water in nature’s own way. Ex- 
cepting for special work in the greenhouse, or where gardening 
is done on a very limited scale, the old-fashioned watering can 
has gone into the discard. Extensive irrigation systems of 
various kinds — underground, on the ground level, or overhead 
— are now possible wherever a normal water pressure is to be 
had. Many attractive small devices also help to solve this prob- 
lem for the lawn and border. Water fans not more than two 
pounds in weight, which throw streams of water from twenty 
to thirty feet in alternating directions; oscillating sprinklers 
of other types, to cover a complete circle up to fifty feet in 
diameter; and many others, may simply be attached to the regu- 
lation garden hose, and a turn of the faucet will set the apparatus 
automatically to work. Water passing a long distance through 
the air, falling in a similation of rain is found to be very beneficial. 
In the good appearance of the lawn — smooth and velvety — 
is the measure of satisfaction in the height of summer. Given 
a good green grass, even though the borders may be somewhat 
neglected, the general effect will please, so some attention may 
well be paid to lawn accessories. 
To counteract the heaving of the sod, due to alternate freezing 
and thawing, the lawn roller may be pressed into use at the first 
sign of spring. Its weight puts the grass roots where they 
belong. It will fill the mole runs, and level out the ground. 
The water ballast type, which can be weighted to suit is a real 
convenience. 
Second only in importance to the roller, is the lawn mower 
itself, the constant use of which tends to strengthen the root 
system of the sod. Every good mower now is equipped with a 
running roller, while the most modern of the lawn implements, 
the lawn sweeper, combines mower, roller, and grass catcher in 
one. 
To keep the lawn in perfect condition requires almost as many 
elementary tools as to start a new garden. Grass shears and 
border shears should be supplemented with sickle and edger. 
Many of our modern cultivators now have special lawn-edger 
attachments. In addition, there are the wide-toothed lawn 
rakes, made either of wood, or of bent wire because the ordinary 
steel rake will not do for the lawn, since it is apt to pull the sod, 
and a lighter tool may be much wider. In addition, there are 
such incidental helps as Dandelion spuds and Dock extractors, 
and other implements for going after objectionable weeds that 
cannot be eliminated by the use of a mower. 
