CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TILLAGE AND DRESSING OF LAND AND THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS
Year: 1808

page_text: EARLE'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIS
EARLE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of His United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirteenth day of
January, in the forty-eighth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the
said Willis Earle, my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Willis Earle, my exors,
admors, and assigns, during the term of fourteen years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TILLAGE AND DRESSING OF LAND AND THE CULTIVATION OF
PLANTS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said Willis Earle, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention
to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within one calendar
month after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, relation being thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Willis Earle, do hereby declare that my said Invention of certain Improve-
ments in the Tillage and Dressing of Land and the Cultivation of Plants is
described and ascertained in the following manner, that is to say :-
The improvements principally consist,―
First, in so managing the land in tillage that in many cases, after producing
a crop,
it is or may be work'd with great expedition, and sufficiently to be

page_text: capable of receiving another crop by means only of such plough or ploughs,
as, however otherwise constructed, have respectively two mould boards, and
throw the earth raised by them to each side of their furrow or otherwise, by
means of such plough or ploughs, assisted by one or more harrows, and a
roller, or either of them, or by means of other instruments having similar
effects, such culture being attended with many important and peculiar advan-
tages, especially in the disposition and cropping of the land, and being also in
great part applicable after a course of ordinary tillage.
Secondly, in an expeditious, and, ultimately, economical method of manur-
ing or dressing land, peculiarly adapted to the before-mentioned system of
cultivation, whereby the manure or dressing is more suitably distributed and
rendered more effective than by the usual processes.
Thirdly, in certain convenient modes of combining and conveying manure
or dressings to be laid on land or incorporated with the soil thereof, and in
the extension and improvement of various methods of cultivation already in
practice.
Fourthly, in the combination of any of tho before-mentioned improvements
in the culture of the same piece of land.
The operations are perform'd as follows, viz, the first, by drawing parallel
furrows with a plough having two mould boards longitudinally along the
ridges or flat ground, as the case may be, at such distances from each other
that one part of the soil shall be completely stirred to a proper depth, and the
whole or nearly the whole surface of the remainder cover'd with such part
thereof as is thrown out of the furrows to each side by the respective mould
boards. If the land has been kept tolerably clean during its occupation by
the preceding crop, and if the ploughing be perform'd so soon as that crop is
removed, all small weeds will thereby be buried, and in many cases the new
crop may immediately be sown, either by a drill or otherwise in the furrows
just made. If a loose soil be wanted in the furrows, or they be thought too
deep for the intended crop, a suitable harrow may be work'd over or within
them previously to the sowing, in either of which cases they will be partially
filled again with soil, and in the former many of the weeds on that part of the
surface which was not broken by the plough will be torn up, whereas in the
latter they will remain buried; but a good general harrowing will be necessary
on account of the weeds whenever they cannot be sufficiently cover'd by the
ploughing, and a succession of ploughings and harrowings may sometinics be
desirable. If the land has borne corn or any similar crop, and if it is in a
dry state at the time such crop is remov'd, it may be eligible to use a roller
before the plough, in order to bruise and break down the stubble, and also for

page_text: other purposes; and harrows may often be used with considerable advantage
for tearing up weeds, and loosening the surface before the plough is employ'd.
The preceding crop on this land may bo supposed to have been put in either
on the drill or broadcast system. If it has been drilled and in single rows at
any distance, from about fifteen to thirty inches asunder, it will be in a state
well suited to the propos'd operations. There can be no difficulty in drawing
proper furrows for the ensuing crop, by stirring each interval with the plough,
and very little practice will enable the ploughman to draw straight and
parallel furrows with that instrument on ground which has been sown broad-
cast. These furrows once made, it will be at the cultivator's option whether
immediately to put the seed into them, or previously to employ a harrow of
any kind, and then, whether to re-open the furrows before sowing, or to sow
upon them when more or less filled up again by the harrowing. He will
then have to chuse his mode of covering the seed sown; and it is recommended
that, when practicable, he should harrow or rake it in within the furrow, as
herein-after described. The seed may, however, be harrowed or raked in
after any other manner, or it may be cover'd by ploughing upon it the soil of
the yet unplough'd ground, this operation being follow'd or not by another
harrowing. Even for this last-described ploughing, the plough with two
mould boards is most suitable throughout on ground laid flat, and also for
ridged land, in ploughing all the unbroken spaces except the outside ones of
each ridge, for which a plough with a mould board only on one side is
undoubtedly preferable. Hand-hoeing or horse-hoeing the crop when in
growth, or other similar culture, will often be requisite, both for keeping the
land clean, and in some cases, when the second improvement is adopted, for
carrying the same into effect. It may of course be done to or from the rows
according to circumstances; but to give perfection to the system here propos'd
it should be perform'd with great care, so that not a weed remain, at least to
ripen its seed. In corn crops, rows from about eighteen inches to two feet
asunder are recommended, as the interspaces between rows at such distances
are most convenient for the greater part of the operations, and because, if the
land be in good heart, and the sced sown early, they are quite near enough
to afford a full crop. It is to be remarked that every alternate year there
will, in ridged land, be one row less to each ridge, unless it be found worth
while to sow the interfurrows between the ridges, or to add a row to each
ridge every such alternate year. In making the furrows, as first described, it
will in general be proper, especially when the intervals in which they are to
be made are wide, to use a plough of the expanding kind, and having a share
extending on each side beneath the soil not displac'd by its mould boards; or

page_text: at least a plough with such share, so that not only a sufficient furrow may be
provided for the seed, but also that the whole or nearly the whole of the
ground may be more or less disturbed. It is enough for the crop while
young that the centre of the interval be turned over and well loosened. The
after culture will loosen and supply more soil when wanted; but in order that
its operations may be easy and effectual, and also for other reasons, it is
desirable that the plough should stir, in a certain degree, the whole land, or
very nearly the whole of it, before the crop is put in. If any difficulty attend
the ploughing wide intervals or deep soils with this intention it will readily
be overcome in most cases by two operations, cither of a smaller and then a
larger plough, or of the expanding plough first clos'd, and then somewhat
expanded, that is, in the case of wide intervals, and in that of deep soils by a
process of the opposite nature, successive ploughings of equal extent, but at
different depths, may also be employ'd for the same purposes. In the prac-
tice of this system of cultivation the agriculturist will of course take care not
to misapply it by attempting land too foul with weeds or too stubborn from
the tenacity of its nature, nor in any case by the number and complexity of
operations to defeat one of its principal objects, the saving of time and
expence. In almost any instance, where it may be immediately applicable,
two ploughings will be found to suffice; but in every case it must previously
be consider'd whether any combination of the described processes will be
ferable to a complete working of the land according to the common methods,
or whether such working of it ought not to precede and be made subservient
to the species of culture. When land is in a very clean state, not stony, and
the soil of a loose and friable nature, the following combinations will often
be found of easy practice, and is evidently attended with great advantages.
This is, to perform the ploughing, the sowing, and the covering the seed
all at the same time, leaving also the soil thrown out by the mould boards
of the plough, or the greater part of it, ridged upon the intervals between
the new seed furrow. To effect these purposes, it is only necessary to
use a plough suitably fitted up with a drill immediately following it,
and that there be attach'd to the drill a small harrow or rake, made sharp
el'd and a little wider than the bottom of the furrow, or in any other
manner, so that it may be capable of working easily within the furrow,
and of thereby drawing from the bottom or sides of it only a sufficiency of
earth to cover the seed. So much expedition, however, may sometimes
be unimportant; and if this compound operation appear difficult or hazardous
on unstirred ground, it will be found both practicable and safe after the
furrows have been once open'd by a plough without a drill, or the drill, and
pre-

page_text: rake, or harrow, may be used alone after one such ploughing. The above, or
some equivalent mode of covering the seed, is recommended in every case
to which it can be applied, because it is in many. respects of the greatest advan-
tage to have the soil ridged up on each side of the rows of young plants, until
such soil be wanted for their support and nourishment. The rake or harrow
which works within the furrow may in any case be attach'd to a plough
instead of a drill, before cropping the land, or used alone either before or after
cropping, as may be found convenient. When the new crop is to be a trans-
planted one, furrows may be opened with the plough, and a loose soil within
them prepared for the young plants in any of the modes before described. It
must be obvious that the practices which have been here suggested with
respect to lands which has remain'd in the state wherein it was left by the
preceding crop, are in many instances equally applicable and well suited to
land broken up and brought into proper tilth and form by any of the usual
methods.
The second operation is perform'd as follows, viz:-In land, cultivated as
before described, by covering the seed when sown in such a manner, whether as
before mentioned or otherwise, that the whole or part of the soil which the plough
had thrown to each side of the seed furrows is left ridged up, at least sufficiently
to form such furrows into so many channels fit for the conveyance of water or
other liquids, or in such or any other land which will admit of such process, by
forming, as before mention'd, or by means of one or more hand or horse
hoeings, or each of them, or in any other manner, either the seed furrows or the
interspaces between them, or both, or any part of the ground, as may be deem'd
most adviseable, into such channels, and then by conveying any liquid or any
requir'd species of manure, compost, or other substance capable of being
mix'd with and suspended in water or other liquid, so mix'd and sus-
pended, (in whatsoever mode or modes such mixture, suspension, and con-
veyance may be accomplish'd,) into such channels at such seasons, whether
before putting the crop into the ground or afterwards, or both, and in
such proportions as may be thought most eligible. It is of course suppos'd
that the land be regularly laid down, whether on a flat or a slope, or variously,
that where it is not on a perfect level the higher parts first receive the liquid,
and that there be proper drains and water furrows to carry off any superfluous
moisture which by stagnation might be injurious; and the admittance of the
mix'd water or other liquid into the channels ought to be so far gradual, and so
regulated, that as nearly as possible the whole may be absorbed by the soil
in its progress along the channels, whereby the manures or other substances
therein contain'd will partly incorporate themselves with the soil, and partly
be deposited thereon, and in that precise situation where they will have. or may

page_text: be made to have, the most beneficial influence upon the plants growing or to
grow in or between such channels. The superfluous moisture itself will filtrate
thro' the soil, and pass off in like manner as rain into the water furrows.
In almost every instance this will be found the most eligible process; but
when the liquid is abundant, and other circumstances are favorable, it may
sometimes be advantageous to cover the land by a more general overflow.
The third operation consists in, by any means whatever, disposing the sub-
stances wherewith land is to be dress'd into a compost or otherwise, so that
they will be either soluble in water or other liquid, or so far light and friable
that when agitated in a running stream of water, or other liquid, they will
partly or altogether remain therein suspended, at least long enough to admit
of their being carried by its force into such channels as are before mention'd.
And after putting any substance or substances of this description into water or
other liquid, and agitating them therein and mixing them therewith by any
means, whether natural or artificial, in conducting the water or other liquid
so mix'd and impregnated.by suitable methods into such channels, but more
particularly in the following mode of executing the last-mention'd processes,
to effect which it is desirable that the land intended to be dress'd should be
situated several feet below the level of whatever liquid is to flow over it. A
pit is then to be made, communicating at pleasure thro' proper channels, and
by means of valves, sluices, or other contrivances, with the liquid on the one
hand, and with the land that is to be floated upon the other, upon a
level with the highest part of such land, and at or near the bottom or lower
part of the sides of this pit should be the apertures of both its communi-
cations. These arrangements being made, the sluices clos'd, and the pit
empty, or nearly so, some of the manure or dressing substance is thrown
into it; the sluice for admitting the liquid is then open'd, when such
liquid, according to the pressure of its column, will rush with violence into
the pit, and amongst any substances therein contain'd, by its own force alone,
considerably agitating them and mixing itself with them; to which, as may be
convenient or appear necessary, any other means of agitation may be added.
As the liquid flows into the pit more of the dressing substances is from time to
time thrown in; likewise, when the liquid is deem'd to be sufficiently impreg
nated, the other sluice is open'd, which permits it to flow upon the land. The
first sluice may either be shut at the time the second sluice is open'd, and only
one pitful of impregnated liquid may be us'd at once, or the pit may be
continually supplied with the aforesaid substances, and the liquid continually
admitted and let out; but, in the latter mode, care must be taken not to suffer
the liquid in the pit to rise too high, or the entering liquid, from the resistance
it meet with, will flow in but weakly, and of course contribute little towards

page_text: its mixture with those substances. In either mode the liquid will move
towards the land with a rapidity proportion'd to its elevation in the pit above
its surface in the channel of communication, such channel being form'd on a
perfect level. A pit of this kind will also be useful for the more convenient
and perfect impregnation of limited quantities of water or other liquid, altho'
the body or stream from whence it is supplied be nearly on a level with tho
land to be floated. But in such case the mechanical impregnation must
always be more laborious and expensive than when the liquid comes from a
higher level. In many cases it may be desirable, some time before the land
is to be dress'd, to put into the pit a quantity of the dressing substances,
admitting some liquid, in order to a certain extent to facilitate the impregna-
tion, so far as it may depend on chemical agencies or on the solution or
softening of the materials. One or more gratings will be necessary in the pit
and channel of communication, to prevent any accumulation of substances
which might obstruct the passage of the liquid to the land, and the clearing of
such gratings will frequently require attention. These methods of dressing
land are of great importance, both from their intrinsic nature, and from the
choice of time or times of using them afforded in situations where water is at
command, for this enables the farmer to manure his crops according to any
exigency, and at whatever period of their growth. Nor are the benefits
of this third improvement by any means restricted to such land as is
disposed in rows or channels. They are applicable, altho' almost always
in a less degree of utility, to any other lands, whether arable or not, which
are laid down in such a manner that a stream of water may be made to flow
over them. And where water cannot be procur'd with certainty, or at the
most eligible season, it will be of great advantage to convey any compost or
other dressing substance in carts or otherwise, and to deposit the same in any
suitable manner upon land intended to be cultivated in rows or channels, either
previously or subsequently to the use of a plough, with two mould boards,
as before described, the operations of which and of the harrows, or of either
of them, will mix it intimately with the soil. If water is afterwards obtainable
it may be employ'd either alone or as before mentioned. In some cases, too, it
may be adviseable purposely to adopt this method and order, altho' water be
always at command; in others, to use water only; and in others again, to omit
entirely the use of water. Be the crop or the land or its disposition, however,
what they may, the use of water at some period can scarcely fail to be of
service, altho' it may contain no artificial admixture, and altho' no manure
or dressing may have been given to the land. The common watering of grass
land will also in some cases be greatly improv'd by the disposition of the land

page_text: as before mention'd, or otherwise, into rows and channels; and channels may
easily be form'd in various ways on any ground already laid down for irriga-
tion, or regularly flat, or in an inclined plane, or even in ridges. If regular, it
is sufficient to cut out narrow sods longitudinally along such ridges or other land,
at proper intervals, by means of a suitable plough or other instrument; the
sods will be valuable in compost. The water will much more easily be made to
flow along the channels left by them than over the surface of the ground, how-
ever even; but in most cases it may so both, and in these modes of application
it will be found at least equally beneficial to the grass plants, which will grow
with more vigour than before, from the liberty given to their roots. As the
channels fill or grow up again, which they generally will in a short time, some
ploughing or hoeing instrument should be employ'd, and this may be form'd so
as to open two or more of them at once. After the soil or sods thrown out
have been remov'd, a roller or bush harrow will be useful.
Fourthly, the before describ'd improvements, and the several processes of
which they may consist, are evidently susceptible of many different combinations.
The comparative propriety of these can only be determined by the circumstances
of each individual case, nor would it be necessary to afford any particular
example. The following combination, however, which comprehends the more
important parts of each improvement, is stated somewhat in detail for the
better elucidation of the general system. The ground in culture may bo
suppos'd to have borne a crop of wheat drill'd in rows at the distance of
twenty-one inches, and to be left thereby in a very clean state. The crop
being taken off by the end of August, the ground is rolled and then barrow'd
an expanding plough of the description before mention'd, and, displacing
about eight or nine inches of soil in width, then opens a furrow in each
interval. These operations are suppos'd to be perform'd as soon as possible
after removal of the crop, and a large portion of ground may be so far work'd
by the middle of September. The new intervals, with the stubble, and any
weeds which may be upon them, are cover'd with the soil ridg'd upon each
side of the furrows, and the original soil of those intervals, or the greater part
of it, is gently mov'd by the lateral parts of the ploughshare. About the
middle of September (of course beginning with the land first stirred) the
plough is again pass'd thro' the furrows, having attach'd to it a rake or
harrow which works within them and loosens a portion of soil. Respecting the
depth and width of the furrows, absolute or relative in each ploughing, circum-
stances must determine. A new crop of wheat is then sown, a single row in
cach furrow, by means of a barrow drill, which has likewise attach'd to it a
mall harrow or rake of similar nature. This completes the cropping, and

page_text: leaves most of the soil, which had been thrown out of the furrows, still ridg'd
up. After the corn appears it will be proper, as usual in accurate cultivation,
to examine the rows and supply any vacancies by fresh seed or by plants; but
in performing this work the husbandman ought not to walk on the small
ridges but in the furrows, from which, in dry weather, the plants will receive
no injury. Before the wet season comes on a slight hand hoeing or raking,
and chiefly upon the sides of the small ridges (the operator walking back-
wards in the furrows), will generally be desirable; and if the land has been
everywhere properly water-furrow'd or drained no further labour is likely to
be requisite thro' the Winter. Early in Spring a second examination of the
rows should take place in some tolerably dry weather, and any vacancies should
be planted up, the husbandman again walking in the furrows from which he
must remove all obstructions, and the sides of which he must ridge up anew
if either be anywhere necessary; he must, in short, supply whatever is wanting
to form the furrows into good water channels. At or about the same time the
earth around the plants may be stirred, and the weeds, if any, may be destroy'd
in whatever may appear to be the most proper mode. After this, the plants,
being suppos'd to be already strong, some opportunity of dry generally rather
than moist weather is embraced for conveying any requir'd manure or dressing
by a liquid medium into the furrows, and among the plants in them, according
to some of the modes prescribed by the second and third improvements for
land disposed in rows and channels. When this operation has been well
perform'd it cannot often require repetition, and the crop will afterwards
employ no very lare portion of the husbandman's time until harvest, since
two hand hoeings or rakings of a very easy nature will generally suffice. The
first, as weeds begin to appear, will bring down the tops of the small ridges
into the furrows, and now the operator should walk forwards upon those
ridges which he reduces by his instrument. The second, and, if wanted, a
subsequent hoeing, or other such like process, will destroy all succeeding weeds,
fill the furrows, and earth up the plants. Should a second manuring or water-
ing be desir'd, or a single one preferr'd after the plants are earthed up and
well grown, it is easily but not quite so well perform'd by hoeing the intervals
into the form of channels; at least, it must be obvious that these can never
be so large and convenient as the original furrows, the space occupied by the
plants being in great measure substracted. Many other combinations of
the improvements, some more some less connected than the above with
ordinary operations of husbandry, might be suggested. This is only offer'd as
generally an eligible one; and the successive adoption of it for a course of
years would, in each, afford every reasonable prospect of an abundant crop.

page_text: Yet the expence and labour of this culture, especially if water properly situated
were at command, would even be less than that of any other now in practice
where land is kept really clean and constantly in tillage. There are only two
ploughings, and these both together not equal in general to one common
ploughing, one rolling, one harrowing, from three to five hand hoeings or
rakings, or other equivalent operations, but all of the easiest nature possible.
The sowing by a drill barrow is indeed slower than by a large drill, but it is
more securo; the operations of the small harrows or rakes within the furrow
add comparatively nothing to the amount of the labour. In regard to
manure, there is a great saving: it is applied immediately to the plants, and
scarcely any part of it can be lost in evaporation, or in the nourishment of
weeds; a very small quantity therefore will suffice. The acconomy in its amount
will, in a very few years, counterbalance any expence that may attend the
making of the pits, sluices, &c. As to the expence of mixing and conveying
the manure, it will probably in no case equal that of any common process,
that is to say, for manuring an equal quantity of land in an equally sufficient
manner. With regard to any description of draining, the expence and labour
of it need be no more than in any common case where it is well perform'd,
but it must be perform'd effectually and in a very accurate manner, because
the plants, from their situation under this management, would otherwise be
frequently more liable to injury from superabundant moisture. For the same
reason it will be proper, in all cases whero land requires to be laid down in
ridges, to take especial care that the ridges be sufficiently bigh and round
when first set out, more particularly as, under this system, they are to last
for more than one season, and as they will have a tendency to become flatter
every year in consequence of the operations to which they are subjected.
Whenever there is hazard of their becoming too flat they must be wholly
plough'd up and form'd anew, of course, in such mode as may appear most
eligible. Horse hoeing:-Growing crops under this culture can only be
proper where the intervals between the rows are of a suitable width. But
the plants having soil ridged up on each side of them would seldom require it.
The use of any instruments or modes of cultivation here pointed out is not to
be understood as precluding that of any other modes or instruments which
may be deem'd proper in any circumstances, but for the working of land in
certain cases. The first improvement renders unnecessary the employment of
any other instruments than such as are thereby designated, so long as the
ground is in a state of preparation for a new crop. The ploughs with two mould
boards (or mould plates) therein referred to, are or may be such as are com-
monly used for the more purpose of horse-hoeing a growing crop. It is also to be

page_text: understood that this Invention does not prescribe any invariable order in the
succession of operations. Altho' the system here developed be peculiarly
adapted to the culture of corn, it is suited to that of a great variety of other
plants, both of the annual and of the more durable kinds, and whether sown
or transplanted. The patent right of this Invention is to be considered as
extending to its application, either in the whole or in part, in every instance
whatever, whether it be us'd alone or in connection with other operations, and
altho' other instruments or other methods than are here mention'd may bo
employ'd to accomplish all or any or any part of its several improvements.
In witness whereof, I, the said Willis Earle, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Second day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eight.