AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING GARDEN POTS, AND IMPROVING THE GROWTH OF PLANTS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
PHILLIPS, of Park Street, Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Chemist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of August, in the tenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Phillips, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said George Phillips, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said George Phillips, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein men-
tioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT
OF APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING GARDEN POTS, AND IMPROVING THE GROWTH OF
PLANTS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said George Phillips, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
"

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Phillips, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of an Improved Construction and Arrangement of Apparatus
for Supporting Garden Pots, and Improving the Growth of Plants, consists in
enclosing pots in which plants are grown in a metal case in such a manner,
that a reservoir may be formed below to receive the water or liquid that drains
from the pot; and also that evaporation may, to a great extent, be prevented, so
that the roots of the plant may be kept free from a superabundance of moisture,
and the atmosphere allowed free access to the roots.
In order to carry out
this object, the flower may be planted, either in an ordinary porous earthen
garden pot, or in a perforated metal pot constructed for the purpose, so as
to form part of my improved apparatus. With this single difference, both
plans are precisely similar in principle of construction, although it will be seen
by referring to the accompanying Drawings, that they vary widely in external
form and appearance; one of my improved apparatus, as therein shewn, being
intended for an herbaceous plant, such as a fuschia or pelargonium, and the
other for bulbous roots, such as hyacinths.
Figure 1 represents a vertical section taken through the middle of an
apparatus, in which an ordinary earthen garden pot is employed. a, a, a, a, is
the external case, which I prefer to construct of zinc, but any other metal or
suitable material may be employed, if more thought desirable. This case a, a,
may be ornamented externally by japanning, painting, or otherwise, and made
of any form that may be desired. b, b, b, b, is a moveable metal frame, which
carries a piece of wood c, for the purpose of supporting the flower pot in the
case. The frame b, b, is shewn at Figures 2 and 3, as removed from the case.
Figure 2 represents a front, and Figure 3 a side view of the frame, which
consists of two upright sides b, b, connected together at or near their, lower
ends by cross stretchers 6*, *, and furnished at the upper ends with rings or
handles e, e, made of brass wire, as shewn, for the purpose of more easily
removing the frame from the case ledges. d, d, d, d, are formed on or
are attached to the inner sides of the uprights b, b, for the purpose of sup-
porting the piece of wood c on which the garden pot rests, and as there is more
than one pair of ledges it will be seen that the piece of wood c may be placed
at different altitudes as may be required for pots of different sizes.
garden pot f, with the flower planted therein, having being placed on the
wooden support c, as shewn by dots in Figures 2 and 3, the moveable
The

page_text: frame b, b, is lifted by means of the handles e, e, at top, and lowered into its
place in the case a, a. The wire handles e, e, are then bent down, as shewn
in Figure 1, and if the pot f is too small to fit the frame, small wedges f*, f*,
made of cork or other suitable substance, should be pressed between the
sides of the pot and the uprights b, b, as shewn in Figure 1, for the purpose
of keeping the pot steady, or preventing it from getting on one side or out
of its place. It will be seen that there is a considerable space between
the under part of the garden pot f and the bottom of the case a, thereby
forming a reservoir to collects the drainings from the pot f, and the water
that from time to time collect in this reservoir may be drawn off by
removing the plug 9, and its level can be easily ascertained by means
of the small lip or spout h, which is open to the reservoir, and may be
furnished with a piece of colored cork or other float, in order that the level of
the water may be more clearly seen. When the water rises in the reservoir
to the height represented by the dotted lines in the Figure, the colored cork or
other float will be seen to rise in the lip or spout h, and the liquid must
therefore be drawn off by removing the plug 9; but as this liquid or water
will contain a considerable portion of the inorganic salts that have been
washed out of the earth, and which salts form part of the food of the plant,
the water must be poured again on to the mould in the pot, so that none of
the virtues of the inorganic salts may be lost; and in order to prevent a ton
rapid evaporation of the water, the pot is covered over with a moveable lid of
peculiar construction, which will admit of the stem of the plant rising up and
passing through or between its moveable parts, as shewn in the Drawing.
This moveable lid is formed in two parts, which are made to meet in the
middle, and enclose the stem of the plant one half, or one of the parts of
this lid or cover is shewn detached in plan at Figure 4, and in edge
view at Figure 5. It consists of a flat piece of zinc or other suitable
metal or substance i, i, the outer edge of which is made to fit the
inside of the case a, and rest upon a ledge, as shewn in Figure 1,
so that when the second or corresponding piece i, i, is placed on the
ledge it will cover up and fit the case. A sliding or moveable piece j, j,
furnished with a stud or button (as shewn in the Figures), is attached to the
piece i, i, and is made to slide thereon so as to adapt itself to the thickness
and position of the stem of the plant, as will be readily understood upon
inspecting the Drawing. As most flowers or plants require some support
while growing, the lower end of a straight, curved, or bent upright k, made of
strong wire, is inserted into a hole or socket made in the upper end of the
case for this purpose, and this upright is furnished with one, two, or more
spring clips or holders and m for supporting or holding back the branches,

page_text: leaves, or flowers of the plant. These clips are formed of thin wire, and may
either be made as shewn at 7, to embrace the whole of the branches, or as at m,
merely to hold back or support a particular branch, stalk, or flower. The
extremities of the large spring holder are merely hooked together, as shewn
in Figure 1; but the figures of the smaller holder are opened or closed by
sliding a small ring n along the arms, as seen best in the small detached
Figure 6. These clips or holders may be placed at any required height on the
upright rod k, up and down which they may be slidden with ease, as the
socket at the ends of the clips or holders merely consists of two or three
convolute coils of wire, leaving a circular liole in the middle, as will be well
understood by inspecting the Drawing. Other clips or holders of different
construction may be employed, and the number of such clips or holders will of
course depend upon the nature of the plant and other circumstances. In some
cases it will be found desirable to make the apparatus as compact as possible;
as, for instance, for growing hyacinths and other bulbous roots, which are
frequently placed on mantlepieces; and in order to do this I substitute a
perforated metal pot in place of the ordinary pot, as the former can be made
to suit the shape and size of the external case more accurately than the latter
is likely to do, and will also occupy less room.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 7 represents a vertical section taken
through the apparatus, and Figure 8 is a plan or top view of the same as seen
from above. a, a, a, a, is the external case as in the former instance, and f, f,
is the perforated metal pot, which is removeable, and is shewn detached in
elevation at Figure 9, and Figure 10 is a view of the perforated bottom or
under side thereof. The perforated metal pot f is furnished with a flange o, o,
at its upper end, whereby it is made to rest on the shoulder of the external
case, and be thereby supported in its place, as shewn in the sectional view,
leaving a space below which is intended to receive the water or liquid that
drains from the mould or earth in the pot, as in the former instance. In order
to prevent the earth or mould from being carried through the holes in the
perforated pot into the reservoir or space below by the percolation of the water,
the pot is furnished with a bag p, p, made of flannel or other porous material,
in which the mould or earth is placed and the bulb or root planted. When
the perforated metal pot with the mould and root or bulb has been deposited
in its proper place in the case a, a, as shewn in the Figure, the mould in the
pót is to be covered over with the covers i, i, as in the former instance. These
covers are constructed in precisely the same manner as that described in
reference to Figures 4 and 5, being only of smaller size; and as similar letters
of reference are placed on corresponding parts in all the Figures, no further
explanation of this part, nor of other parts common to both modifications of the

page_text: apparatus, will be necessary. It will, therefore, only be requisite to add that
a straight or cranked upright rod furnished with spring clips or holders, as
shewn, may be employed, if thought desirable, for supporting the leaves and
flowers.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not mean or intend to
confine myself rigidly to the precise arrangement, construction, or configuration
of the parts herein shewn and described, nor to the materials of which the
same are composed, as these particulars must in some measure depend upon
the particular purposes to which the apparatus is intended to be applied, and
the nature of the plant that is to be grown in the apparatus; nor do I intend
to claim the exclusive right to the employment of double parts, or of a case
in which ordinary pots may be placed. But that which I consider to be new,
and therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent, is, the apparatus above described, or any modifi-
cation thereof, whereby any superabundant moisture in the mould pot is allowed
to drain into a reservoir below, and be preserved together with the inorganic
salts that may be carried through or washed away from the mould or earth by
the said water, which water, with the inorganic salts contained therein, may be
again supplied to the plant to feed the same. I claim also the method above
shewn and described of preventing the too rapid evaporation of the watery
particles; and also the method shewn in the Drawings of supporting the
branches, leaves, or flowers of plants.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Phillips, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.