JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 7, 1880. ] 
upwards of 2 feet high, not with a loose and straggling air, but 
with clustering heads of flowers that are especially effective 
amidst the decay of so many summer plants.—L. 0. 
THE LATE MR. ARTHUR VEITCH. 
Will you kindly permit me, through the medium of your 
columns, to pay a grateful and sincere tribute to the memory of 
one who has, I deeply regret to hear, lately closed an honourable 
and useful career ? Of the general business qualifications of the 
deceased gentleman it would be presumption on my part to speak. 
But as one who has experienced at his hand the utmost kindness 
and consideration in one particular branch of his business— 
namely, the dealing with men who seek the assistance of the firm 
in obtaining situations, I would fain say a few words. Doubtless 
there are hundreds of men who, like myself, will remember with 
thankful and grateful feelings the kindness they experienced 
from him under these circumstances. No matter how urgent 
other business might be, time was always found for attention to 
their claims, and they were always met in a kindly and congenial 
spirit. Many a gardener who entered his presence with head 
bowed and heart heavy, retired from it—solely by the influence 
of his cheering and kindly manner—in a better and happier frame 
of mind. I feel sure had this alone been the claim to grateful 
remembrance, his useful life had established on the horticultural 
world the name of Arthur Veitch would be long, lovingly, and 
gratefully remembered, and his early death sincerely deplored.— 
A. Eames, Heanton Satchville, Bedford , Devon. 
LAWN MOWERS. 
I dakesay many who are interested enough in mowing 
machines and read this short article will be surprised to see my 
signature attached to it, but the fact is I have been away from 
home since the end of June, and I have scarcely seen any flowers. 
In Scotland, with the exception of the famous Tropseolum with its 
lovely scarlet flowers, I saw nothing to interest me. The hotel 
gardens as a rule were filled with annuals and weeds, and I saw 
no flowers to make notes of. Here in Yorkshire I have not come 
across anything which I can possibly write upon, and so I am 
driven to the somewhat uncongenial subject of lawn mowers. 
There are a great number of these, and in this letter I shall 
carefully abstain from causing offence to any one firm. I shall 
mention no maker’s name, in order that I may not only avoid the 
charge of puffing any particular firm, but also to avoid injuring 
others whose machines may be equally good or even superior, 
although unknown to so humble an individual as myself. I shall 
therefore confine* myself to a few hints as to the means whereby 
to keep the mowers in good working order, and also how those 
who may be without one, or dissatisfied with that they have, 
may know what new one to order. The most important part 
of the machine is the neck, in which the spindle or shaft of the 
knives revolves. In some of the older machines it was the prac¬ 
tice of the makers to put a solid piece of iron with a hole bored 
in it wherewith to form the neck. 1 should strongly recommend 
all persons to abstain from buying a machine made in this way, 
because the dust and grit soon wears the hole larger and the 
spindle smaller, so that the latter shakes loose, and it is impossible 
to set the knives as required. It is now the custom to have a 
couple of brasses fitted into the framework, and as the hole wears 
these can be filed easily where they join, and by means of adjust¬ 
ing screws they can be set so as to fit closely round the spindle. 
The distance of the knives from the cutting plate is next to be 
considered. The makers, I believe, tell you to set the knives so 
closely as to be able to cut thin paper when turning them round 
with the hand. The course, however, I pursue is to set them 
so as to just touch the plate all along. It is the practice of some 
gardeners when they find the machine very hard to push, to 
screw the knives back slightly from the plate, under the sup¬ 
position that it will be easier to work thereby. This is a great 
mistake, as the grass wraps round the edge of the plate and is torn 
off the roots, and not cut as it ought to be, thereby forming a 
kind of brake, against which the knives have to rub at every 
revolution, and requiring necessarily increased efforts to push the 
machine along. The same result is produced when necks or 
brasses are worn. After setting the knives (I am speaking of a 
bran new machine which comes properly fixed from the maker), 
screw the brasses close up round the spiniie—not so tight, how¬ 
ever, as to “ bind ” it, but just so that you can shake very slightly 
the spindle in the necks. Next adjust the front rollers on wheels, 
so as to regulate the closeness you wish the grass cut. Each gar¬ 
dener will have his own views on this point. The closer the grass 
is cut, however, the harder will be the work, and vice versa. For 
327 
my own part I put the machine on to a stone step and adjust the 
rollers so that I can push the end of my forefinger under the 
bottom plate—that is, from one-quarter to three-eighths of an 
inch. 
That is pretty nearly all that requires to be seen to in order to 
preserve the machine in good working condition. I take it for 
granted that it has been oiled before anyone commences to use it. 
The necks of the knife spindle will require oiling several times a 
day, owing to the speed at which they revolve. The other bearings 
will only need it once a day. If the cog wheels become clogged 
with grass or soil they should be cleaned or scraped with a pointed 
piece of iron, and an occasional general cleaning will be advan¬ 
tageous. If the grass wraps round the edge of the cutting plate, as 
alluded to above, the machine is not doing its work properly, and 
nothing blunts the knives sooner. These should be screwed close 
to the plate. It is, I believe, argued that there is less friction 
with a chain than with cog wheels. This, however, I consider 
altogether fallacious, as every inch of the chain has a pivot, 
and the dust, grass, and dirt which collects in the chain in 
my opinion causes far more friction than the cog wheels. There 
is also another reason--the pivots wear, and this lengthens the 
chain and requires the cog wheels on which it works to be moved 
back, and when further worn the chain does not fit on to the 
cogs but mounts on the top of them. When this happens a new 
chain must be procured. Again, in mowing slopes the chain is 
apt to slip off. 
If I am asked what size of machines I recommend to be purchased, 
I reply that I find it difficult to answer, for so much depends upon 
how close and how often you mow the grass. If a boy can be obtained 
to pull the machine in front, I should recommend a 16-inch cutter ; 
if a man alone is to work it, then a 12-inch is the best size. A 
man and boy twelve years old will do as much with one machine 
as two men will with a machine each. The number of knives in 
each mower varies considerably in different makes. Some have 
eight, revolving slowly as compared with others; some have 
three, and one, I believe, only two. My opinion is the fewer 
knives the better, if only they revolve sufficiently quickly. Thus 
the spindle holding two knives should make four times as many 
revolutions as that containing eight in passing over any given 
distance. I consider that the grass is cut more easily with a quick 
than with a slow travelling knife, particularly when the grass is 
long. How amusing it is for anyone who knows anything about 
lawn mowers to read the advertisement that so often appears, 
“ will cut long or short grass, wet or dry, &c.” Now it is possible 
when the machine is new and in tiptop condition to do this, but 
when the first keen sharpness is worn off will it do so ? As to 
long grass, decidedly no ; as to wet grass, not satisfactorily, for 
the machine becomes clogged in all directions, the grass cannot 
fly into the box, but drops back into the knives. The word “ box ” 
reminds me that the question may be asked, Do you advise using 
one or not ? My answer is, As a rule certainly use one, and for 
this reason : first, if there be any Daisies in flower and the decapi¬ 
tated heads be left on the ground, you will have a bountiful crop 
of them next year; and secondly, if wet or damp and the 
machine delivers the grass in front, you will have your machine 
clogged, and you will continue to chop the same grass over and 
over again. When, however, the grass is dry and short, and there 
are no Daisies, you may take off the box, and you will find the 
mower run more easily. 
Before concluding I would advise all those whose machines are 
out of order not to consider that it is the fault of the particular 
make, and so cast it aside for a different machine at a cost of some 
pounds ; but, on the contrary, let them see if by adopting these few 
hints, which I have endeavoured to make as plain as possible, 
they cannot make their old servant do its work properly.—W yld 
Savage. 
THE STAPLEFORD ROSES. 
“ D., Beal," on page 299 condemns these Roses in strong terms, 
but he does not say what is amiss with them, except that he has not 
seen many at the shows. There is time enough for that yet; but 
Rose-growers are not all exhibitors—only a fraction of them indeed, 
and it struck the writer that the Stapleford Roses would form a 
very valuable addition to our Rose gardens. To talk of any new 
plant “ collapsing ” almost as soon as the stock has left the 
hands of the trade is rather premature. May I ask “ D., Deal ,” 
to tell us if the said Roses refuse to grow or to flower, or if, in 
fact, the descriptions given of them by several writers, including 
Mr. Bennet, are incorrect ? Your correspondent says, “ If there 
are any who have found these Roses different to what I and all 
those with whom I have spoken with have, I hope they will make 
their opinions known ; ” but he has forgotten to specify their 
faults himself. As a set-off against the remark of the “ head of a 
