In summer the Snow Shovellers Union can reform into the "Lawn Mowers and Irrigators, Limited." Every year I used to send my lawn mower to a "tinker" who charged me one dollar and twenty-five cents for sharpening it. I learned one day and it made me sad, that a lawn mower properly cared for keeps itself sharp. Any boy who is strong enough to run a lawn mower ought to be smart enough to take care of one. He needs to know how the machine is put together, what parts do the work and where the wear comes on the parts. The directions which come with a good machine are worth reading. The man who sells the mower may not be able to explain any part you don't understand. His business may be to sell, only. If you go into the hardware store and find the man who knows all about lawn mowers, he will be only too glad to show you how to run the machine so that it will do its work and last. It is to his interest to have you recommend his machine. Make yourself familiar with a machine in perfect working order. Your ears and your eyes ought to tell you when it is going wrong.
It is, above all, of greatest importance to know how to adjust a lawn mower. A wrench, a screw-driver, and an oil can should be your constant companions. Go over the machine before you begin and put it in shape. It is ten minutes well spent. Tighten screws, oil the parts that rub, adjust the knife to the kind and condition of the grass. When the job is done, look the mower over. If a screw is lost be sure to supply a new one before the next using; clean the machine and put it away in a dry place.
UTILIZING WOOD ASHES
Boys who have as part of their daily work the cleaning out of ashes would do well to stop and consider before they dump their pails. Coal ashes are as nearly worthless as anything I know of although they can be used in making a tennis court, and are even advised by some for a very stiff garden soil. A garden must be pretty bad off to be improved by coal ashes.
But there are thousands of cords of wood burned every year and wood ashes are very valuable. There is no fertilizer equal to them for certain purposes. Not only are they valuable at home, but they are an article of commerce, and have a market value. Who has a better right to the ashes than the boy who manages the ash pan?
Barrels are the most convenient receptacles to store ashes in. Cheap boxes come next. They should be tight and kept under cover. Leaching takes the value out of wood ashes.
PLANTING CROCUSES ON THE LAWN
Did you ever see crocuses, yellow, lavender, and white, scattered informally in the lawn, coming into blossom with the earliest springing grass. One fall we tried the experiment of poking a crocus bulb down in the hole where we took out a dandelion and the result was charming. There are philosophers who profess to a liking for dandelions in the lawn. Perhaps it is Hobson's choice with them, as with many, but although the dandelion flower is bright as gold the leaves are a real nuisance. They are coarse and rank and they resist the lawn-mower, and discourage the fine grasses. Except when in blossom they are a disfiguring feature. Crocuses are certainly more delicate in flower than dandelions and their leaves are more like grass. Moreover they die down early and are out of the way of the lawn mower. So instead of just digging out a dandelion or a thistle and leaving a bare hole, I recommend that you poke in a crocus bulb next fall. Your reward will come in gold and purple.
MAKING ICE
Lots of us get along without ice in winter because we cannot afford to buy it all the year round. We put things outside and they freeze, we keep them in the kitchen and they spoil. The butter is either too hard or too soft all the time.