IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF SECURING HAY AND CORN CROPS AND IN APPLIANCES THEREFOR to be as follows:-
Year: 1884

page_text: JOSEPH BRIGGS, N° 12, Chester. Street, Horton Lane, Bradford, Yorkshire,
Commission Agent, I the above named JOSEPH BRIGGS, do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF SECURING HAY
AND CORN CROPS AND IN APPLIANCES THEREFOR to be as follows:-
"
The buildings implements and utensils to be made use of in this scheme are the
same for hay as for corn, But as Meadow has the first turn, it is advised that as
soon as the grass is mown by either hand. scythes or machines, 'that is if the
weather is fine,' that it should be toss'd about on the land either with hay forks, or
hay shakers till evening when it must be gathered up and put into waterproof
covers about nine feet long and four feet wide and in shape like a cottage roof.
The grass must remain in these covers till sunrise, when it must be shook out if
the weather is fine and be well toss'd about and then again at sunset be neatly
raked up and put into the covers as before to remain till early morning to be shook
out as in the first instance.
What is claimed for this invention, namely, "The British Farmers Rain Cure,"
is, that if the scheme is properly carried out by farm labourers of ordinary
intelligence in accordance with the instructions they will receive, that no farmer in
future need be a loser of his crops from wet weather during the hay season or corn
harvest, while crops when ripe and in danger of shaking out, can be reaped in the
Rain and then be matured very shortly by natural means and be thrashed out by
a portable machine which thrashes and dresses corn at one operation.
In the first place suppose the weather is fine and the meadow is mown and the
corn is cut, It gets the advantage of the sun (if there is any) during the day, But
in any case before dark under this scheme, the cocks of hay and stooks of corn
must be clothed with waterproof covers, made specially to protect them from Rain
and damp both by night and day, and so on in succession until the hay is ready
for stacking and the corn is in a condition to be decapitated, and the ears either
thrashed out at once, or when they are fully matured by the warmth generated in
a peculiarly formed building where the damp corn has the advantage of heated air,
as well as any sun that may manifest itself thro the glass roof during the brief
stay of the corn in the interior of the building, which is something like a con-
servatory at the top and a hot house below, affording by its formation every facility
for the purposes for which it is required.

page_text: In the case however of meadow which from stress of weather or other causes
may have become wet or damp it can by the same means as corn, be restored, (if
not decomposed,) to its natural sweetness and quality. The three portable wood
buildings adjoining each other and required under the scheme, are so constructed,
that the seventy feet in length and forty two feet in breadth of space occupied by
them, besides several broad and long upper and lower tiers of shelving in their
interior, can at once (when not occupied otherwise) be turned into a minature hay
field, where several tons of hay in an emergency, however damp it may be, can be
made ready for stacking every twenty four hours.
But the advantages to be derived by the great Agricultural body by this scheme
being too numerous to mention in this brief outline, Let it suffice for the present
to observe that it is both cheap natural and efficient, and that whilst it protects the
farmer from the ruinous consequences of Rain when in excess, that his farm hands
are so far cared for, that they may like coachmen, cabmen and others, earn wages
at their callings when they will, in wet, as well as in fair weather, and by this
practice not only benefit themselves, but their fellow-countrymen with a far more
abundant and cheaper supply of food of the best quality.
So far then as the waterproofing of fabrics is concerned in connection with this
scheme, the work can be effected so cheaply and efficiently, that a farm labourer
can provide for himself a durable W P suit of clothing at the cost of a few shillings,
that will resist the longest days Rain, This material being also made into covers
for hay cocks, & stooks of corn as well as the W P tents etc, required for working
the scheine, These with care will last at least a dozen seasons, and can one and all
of then be had made up and ready for use as required, at a mere nominal cost
when spread over a given period of time.
"The British Farmers Rain Cure," moreover when carried out in its integrity,
never permits the wasteful practice of stacking corn in the straw, as it is quite
certain that the time honoured farm stackyard, should no longer remain the feeding
and breeding ground of innumerable droves of rats mice, and birds but that it
should be used only in future for the stacking of hay and straw, and that such
stacks should not be thatched with wet rushes etc, but that their roofs should be
covered with a waterproof material which will be found far cheaper and better
than the generality of stack protectors, while the thrashed corn made free from
chaff dust etc, must under this Process, be either preserved in clean dry granaries,
or be put into sacks ready for market, quite out of the reach of destructive
vermin.
The preceding outline is a brief summary of an invention which it-will be seen
has both protective and restorative powers over farm produce, to free it from the
evil consequences of Rain, damp etc, and it is contended that those farmers who
take out Licences to use the scheme after it has been patented, may by so doing,
make themselves almost entirely independent of the state of the weather.
1004

page_text: If the weather is continually wet, the corn is cut by men in waterproof clothing
made into sheaves and carried into the waterproof tent on wheels as shewn at
Fig. 3 and decapitated by the cutting machine the straw being replaced in stooks,
the heads or ears of the corn are placed in stook covers and taken to the drying
room. The drying room is a building with glass roof and ventilating chimneys on
its top, the floor is timbered and underneath are capacious iron pipes filled with
hot air supplied by large coke stoves, these stoves are in an iron tube or funnel a
few feet below, the middle of the drying room floor, this room acts as a con-
servatory with its glass roof, and a hothouse with its stoves and pipes, each side of
the room has twelve panțile lath shelves four feet. broad and thirty six feet long
and at equal distances apart, each shelf is the entire length of the building the
bottom shelves next the floor being, covered with galvanized fine iron wire to
prevent accident from particles falling on to the heated pipes. The shelves of the
room are reached by a portable double staircase, so that the workpeople can fill
the shelves with drying frames see Fig 13. full of damp, cars of the corn and return
down the other side with them filled with dry hay or ears of corn this portable
staircase is made of wood and secured together by galvanized screws; when
properly dried the corn heads or ears are carried, to the thrashing machine which
is operated by a portable Engine in the same building, by the above means both
corn and grass if damaged by the weather can be completely restored in value, and
however wet the weather may be the produce can be saved. The drying room or
sheds can be used for preserving from frost other produce such as turnips.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature. of my said
Invention and, in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The use and employment of the stook cover for preserving crops from rain.
2. The carts and arrangement. of covers upon rollers as shewn and described.
3. The portable tent and decapitator as shewn and described.
4. The Marquee tent for hay making in and sheltering the crops as shewn and
described.
.
5. The arrangement of drying shed with pipes coke ovens and tube or funnel as,
shewn and described.
6. The double portable staircase as shewn and described.