220 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
is wonderfully improved. For a great part of 
the season, frequent mowing is beneficial, and 
unless the lawn is very large, it is merely a 
pleasant exercise to ran over it with the ma¬ 
chine every week. In parks and large places, 
the surface is too great for the hand mower, 
and to meet the needs of these, the manufac¬ 
turers supply horse and pony machines by 
Fig. 2.— THE PHTLADEPLHIA LAWN MOWER. 
which the work may be done very rapidly. 
“ Which is the best lawn mower?” is a ques¬ 
tion that is often asked. Some very puzzling 
questions are put to us, and if asked, which is 
the best mower and reaper—which the best 
seed sower—which the best sewing machine— 
and which the best lawn mower, we are obliged 
to say, “ We do not know.” With these ma¬ 
chines, and others we might name, improve¬ 
ment has so followed improvement, and several 
are so near perfect, that if there is really any 
choice between them, it is founded upou differ¬ 
ences that are of no great importance. Each 
person thinks the machine he has, the best, and 
so it is for him, as he has become thoroughly 
acquainted with and understands its .use. So 
in the case of lawn mowers, we can not under¬ 
take to say which is the best, but give illustra¬ 
tions of the two leading styles, with the claims 
their respective manufacturers make for them. 
The two lawn-mowing machines that, taking 
the large numbers sold as an indication, may be 
Manufacturing Company, at Newburgh, N. Y., 
where they have a very extensive establish¬ 
ment devoted to their 
production. The general 
form of this machine 
is shown in fig. 1, which 
represents the usual size. 
They make four differ¬ 
ent sizes of hand mowers, 
and several styles of large 
machines, to be operated 
by horse-power. This, 
if we mistake not, was 
the first machine in which 
the moving parts were 
covered, and the entrance 
of dust and other mat¬ 
ters to the gearing thus prevented. The makers 
claim for their machine “great simplicity 
and durability.” The “ Excelsior ” has 
a remarkable popularity in Europe, the 
demand for it in England and on the Con¬ 
tinent being large and increasing. The 
“Philadelphia” lawn mower is made by 
Graham, Emlen & Passmore, Philadelphia, 
Pa. The usual pattern is that shown 
in fig. 2, which is made of different sizes, 
to cut from 12 to 20 inches. This ma¬ 
chine, as compared with the cumbersome 
affairs first introduced from England, looks like 
a mere toy; but when tested upon the grass, it 
ers, some of them especially suited for city- 
yards. The use of horse or pony machines is 
PHILADELPHIA HORSE MOWER, LARGEST SIZE. 
rapidly increasing; indeed they are indispen¬ 
sable in public parks, squares, and for private 
places, where the lawn is large. We give an 
engraving (fig. 8) of the largest Philadelphia 
mower. In this style the cut is 36 inches, and 
as the driver is provided with a seal, the labor 
is reduced to a minimum. Other styles of 
horse machines (fig. 4) are made, to be guided 
by hand, and especially adapted to hilly or un¬ 
even lawns, and to those where shrubs and 
other obstructions are numerous. As we have 
used lawn mowers of both the manufactures 
here described, it will naturally be asked which 
is the best. That is a question we are unable 
Fig. 4. —PHILADELPHIA PONT MOWER. 
will be found that the increase of weight, and 
multiplication of parts, do not, of necessity, 
add to the effectiveness of a machine. The 
Fig. 1.—THE EXCELSIOR LAWN MOWER. 
regarded as the most popular, are the ‘ ‘ Excel¬ 
sior ” and the “ Philadelphia.” The “Excelsi¬ 
or” is made by the Chadborn & Caldwell 
popularity of this style is such that it requires 
about 5,000 to supply the season’s demands. 
The same firm make other styles of hand mow¬ 
to answer. If one has either, and cannot keep 
his lawn in perfect condition, he cannot hope 
to find any machine that will allow him to do 
it. Both machines received awards at the Cen¬ 
tennial, and no doubt the judges were as much 
puzzled as we are to decide between them. 
In the American mowers there is not, as a 
general thing, any provision made for collect¬ 
ing the clippings. If the mowing is done as 
frequently as it should be, to keep the lawn in 
the best condition, the clippings are very short, 
of young and tender grass, and as scattered by 
the knives, are soon so shriveled as not to be no- 
ticable ; they remain upon the lawn to serve as 
a mulch to the grass roots, and at length by their 
decay go to fertilize them. Of course, if the 
grass has been allowed to grow too high, the 
clippings must be raked off; they answer ad¬ 
mirably to mulch strawberries, or other plants, 
or if in sufficient quantity, may be cured. Hay 
made frem lawn clippings should be kept by 
itself, to afford a treat to milch cows in winter. 
Whichever machine is used, what is popu¬ 
larly known as .“elbow-grease,” is required ; 
but the consumption of this may be greatly re¬ 
duced by the proper application of another 
kind of grease, in the form of oil, to every 
bearing, or other part where there is friction. 
In dry weather, the rapid motion of the knives 
stirs up a great deal of dust, and the injunction 
placed on some machines, in large letters: 
“ Oil frequently,” should always he observed. 
