From The History Of The Lawn Mower

Edwin Budding's first lawnmower

It would not be a big exaggeration to say that the real glory of the English lawn began with … the invention of the lawn mower. Before her appearance, English lawns were not much different from continental ones, except that the grass on them was cut shorter, which made the entire lawn look neater. The achievements of the technical revolution, coupled with the innate scrupulousness of the British, turned the English lawn into an object of envy and a role model. It is said that an American, contemplating a magnificent English lawn, asked a gardener what the secret of growing it was. “Sir,” he answered with dignity, “you just have to not be lazy to water and mow the lawn every day, and then, in 100 years, your lawn will look no worse …”

Steam powered lawn mower

Lawn Mower

Hovercraft

Flymo Turbo 400

The introduction of the lawn mower has significantly accelerated and facilitated the laborious and tedious process of mowing grass. However, it cannot be said that before the appearance of this brainchild of the technical revolution, people did not show a certain ingenuity. For example, in the Middle Ages, in order to hold back the onslaught of grass, it was trampled and beaten with sticks. In the 18th century, sheep and cows were herded on the lawns in the landscaped gardens of large country estates. But still, more often than not, a person had to pick up a scythe and do everything by hand.

An inventive human mind has found a way out. In 1830, a humble foreman at a textile factory in Stroud, England, invented the cylindrical lawnmower, modifying the machine that trimmed the edges of fabric rolls. The inventor's name was Edwin Budding. Two years later, his invention saw the light of day: the Ransoms company established the production and sale of lawn mowers and it immediately turned out that it did not take much time or skill to keep the lawn in order. The first lawn mower was made in two versions - the one that is cheaper, intended for "gentlemen who would like to do it themselves", and the one that is more expensive - for workers.

As you know, there are no limits to human laziness, and it is this circumstance that for many centuries has been the main driving factor of technical progress. Man soon found it too tedious to use a lawn mower with his own hand, and in 1842 a horse-drawn model appeared. The first steam-powered lawn mower was made at the end of the last century, and at the very beginning of the 1900s, gasoline lawn mowers appeared, which at first were available only to the very wealthy. In the 60s and 70s of our century, the lawn mower became electric and today this type of lawn mower is most popular with buyers. One of its newest varieties is the hovercraft lawn mower. Among its advantages are lightness, ease of use and, importantly, cheapness.