THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, July 7, 1857. 
216 
Pelargoniums will strike freely in the open air in sandy 
soil during this and the succeeding month, and so will 
strong cuttings of the fancies; but small, rather green 
bits of the latter had better have the advantage of a 
handlight over them. Cuttings of scarlet Geraniums 
will strike freely in the open air. Let few leaves remain 
on a cutting, and do not be alarmed if they flag a little. 
Successions of Pelargoniums will want tying out, but 
staking as little as possible; and those intended for 
autumn blooming should now be potted in their flower¬ 
ing pots. Many of the scarlet and pink kinds that 
make little show out of doors make a fair show in the 
greenhouse in autumn. 
Cuttings of double Groundsel, scarce Verbenas, and 
Dahlias may now be inserted under a handlight in 
shady places, and will furnish nice compact plants in 
autumn. The main stick of Verbenas should be taken 
off in August if the owner wishes his young stock to 
be free of fly and thrips. 
The grafting of Oranges, Camellias, Azaleas, Gera- 
; mums, &c., may still be proceeded with, but it is now 
/ getting late for such operations. A close, moist top heat, 
with shade, and a little sweet bottom heat are great 
accessories to success. 
Neapolitan Violets. —Plants divided, or cuttings planted 
out respectively on a border, will be greatly benefited by 
frequent waterings and surface-of-ground stirring, and 
removing everything in the sliajie of a runner. Without 
that attention you must not complain if you have a 
small supply of flowers in winter, whether grown in pots 
or in pits and frames. 
Achimenes should be neatly supported, so that the 
sticks should not be perceptible, and successions grown 
on. A closish pit is the best for the latter purpose, and 
if they are intended for the greenhouse set them in a 
place where the fresh air does not rush directly upon 
them. In other words, when there, keep them and their 
neighbours, the Gloxinias, moist, and in a subdued atmo¬ 
sphere as respects light, and moist from standing on 
damp moss, and with a diminished supply of air. 
Balsams and all such soft-wooded plants should re¬ 
ceive frequent shiftings, rich soil, and plenty of water, 
with a free current of air to keep them bushy. They 
will do very well after May without bottom heat. Cocks¬ 
combs are always the better for a little bottom heat until 
they are full grown, or nearly so. Few things will 
beat a good Balsam, and we frequently see them first- 
rate in windows, and even planted out in flower gardens. 
Heaths, Epacrises, and other hard-wooded plants 
must be treated according to their circumstances. Those 
that are in bloom can scarcely have too much air or 
light either, provided there is no particular desire un¬ 
duly to prolong the bloom, and care is taken that the 
roots are not injured by the sun beating against the pot. 
Those that bloomed early, were cutback, kept rather close, 
and thus encouraged to make wood, will now require 
more sun and air to consolidate and ripen the wood. 
Others, again, that have just finished flowering, should 
be cleaned of old flowers, pruned as needed, and en¬ 
couraged to grow, and then have the wood hardened 
before winter. For growing after pruning and cleaning 
nothing is better than pits with plenty of light, which 
you can shade at pleasure, and the sides of which so far 
shade the sides of the pots. For hardening and ripening 
the wood no place is better than the said pits again, as, 
even when unable to bear the full sun in the middle of 
the day at first, the lights could be left off morning and 
evening, and even during the night, when the weather 
is to be depended on. In all such plants, as autumn 
approaches, the great thing is to ripen and harden the 
shoots, and thus set the flower-buds, and therefore all 
the sun they will bear, and all the water they can do 
I without, will be so much in their favour. 
MOWING MACHINES versus THE SCYTHE. 
Notwithstanding the great advance in mechanical 
skill during the last few years, there are some things 
which do not seem to have improved much during that 
time. Some old-fashioned ploughs have beaten modern 
ones, and the original reaping machines of Bell, 
described by Loudon about thirty years ago, beat the 
crack American and others out of the field in 1852 and 
since. In gardening matters, also, a like tendency 
exists in certain things to resist improvement; in 
others mechanical invention seems to have strayed too 
often from the straightforward path of utility into that 
of novelty, or even frivolity. 
The mowing machines, of which there was a goodly 
display at Chiswick, were to be subjected, I believe, to 
a trial the day after the Show; but with the result of 
this trial I have nothing to do, as I write only on 
the broad principle of machine against scythe, and 
not as opposing one machine to another; for, after 
all the assumed improvements each respective maker 
says he has introduced, the cutting blades are iden¬ 
tically the same as in the original machine of Bud¬ 
ding, sent forth about 1831 or before. That the cut¬ 
ting parts, which are, of course, the most important 
parts of the machine, should remain so many years 
with so little alteration is certainly complimentary to 
the original inventor. It is true the number of such 
cutting blades has been reduced from six to four, or 
even three; but the spiral mode of fixing them on a 
roller is just the same now as then, as well as the box 
for short grass, &c. Now, I find no fault with this, and 
must admit that the other portions of the machine have 
been much improved, the front roller and wheels being 
very useful; and more recently the mode of applying 
the working parts so as to cut the grass to the extreme 
edge it travels on is a great acquisition, and other 
mechanical contrivances have been added, giving the 
power of regulating the heights to cut the grass, &c., 
which have, perhaps, improved the machine to as great 
an extent as it is capable of. Still I confess my doubts 
of its ever competing with the scythe for general pur¬ 
poses, though in some cases I have no doubt that it is 
found useful; but, as a sort of comparative table of its 
merits and disadvantages will convey the best knowledge 
of its utility, I herewith append a few notes drawn 
hastily together from my own experience and observa¬ 
tion, assisted by the opinion of others who have like¬ 
wise had experience that way, beginning first with the 
advantages a mowing machine presents over the scythe. 
A few points are also appended of the disadvantages its 
use entails, and other unprofitable results. 
First, then, we have the merits of a mowing machine. 
1. It will cut the grass when dry; in fact, it does so 
best in the middle of the day. 
2. It requires no particular skill to direct it, and to a 
gentleman wanting athletic exercise it seems a useful 
and pleasing mode of taking it. 
3. It clears up the grass as it proceeds, leaving no 
litter to sweep up afterwards. 
4. It is well adapted for long walks which are too 
narrow for the scythe to be wielded effectually. 
Its disadvantages are these :— 
1. It will not cut the grass under the boughs of 
a shrub or tree, and cannot well be driven into 
acute angles and other intricate places between flower¬ 
beds. 
2. It cannot be applied to a slope or steep hill, and 
when the ground is uneven it is also inapplicable. 
3. It makes an unpleasant noise, more so than many 
pieces of machinery much larger, which is annoying 
at times when visitors are about, the machine only 
working well in the middle of the day. 
4. It is very liable to go wrong, something or other 
R. Fish. 
