IMPROVED MEANS OR APPLIANCES TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE CULTIVATION OF HOPS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Coley, of Bower Farm, Maidstone, in
the County of Kent, Farmer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MEANS OR APPLIANCES TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE CULTIVATION OF HOPS."
Sealed the 26th October 1869, and dated the 25th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Coley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th August 1869.
I, THOMAS COLEY, of Bower Farm, Maidstone, in the County of
Kent, Farmer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED MEANS OR APPLIANCES TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE CULTIVATION OF HOP³,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improved means or appliances to be
used in the cultivation of hops whereby a great saving will be effected
on the ordinary cost in the "poling" of hops, and in the cost of labor
required therefor, and the hops will be found to be in a much superior
condition and more evenly ripe than those grown on the old system of
hop poles.

page_text: say at one end of the garden, at the first hop "hill," two ordinary hop
poles are let in and securely fixed in the ground at a convenient distance
apart; they are held steady in their places by a stay or bar of wood, metal,
or wire, which may be permanently secured at the ends to the poles
at a convenient distance from the ground, or it may be made movable
when required to remove or change the poles. To each pole is attached
another pole at about the same distance from the ground as the stay or
bar is placed, one end resting in or on a bracket or support of wire or
other permanent material, the other end being slanted up or elevated
at an angle from the ground to the top of the next standing pole in the
row or alley, being supported there at or near the middle of its length by
a wire or metal hook or bracket let in or secured to the perpendicular
pole, thus causing the elevated pole to extend upwards nearly half its
length beyond the standing or perpendicular pole. The standing poles
after the first two of a series are shorter in height than the first two.
The same arrangement of standing and slanting poles is repeated and
carried out on each alley of the hop garden, and the standing poles
having their extremities in the ground thoroughly creosoted or otherwise
prepared or protected to preserve them when once fixed will not require
removing for several years. The bine or hop plant is divided at first
between the two standing poles, and when the divided portions have
reached the slanting poles a portion is trained up them, and the rest
allowed to grow up the standing poles. As each standing pole only rests
in or on the brackets or supports it can readily be placed in position
(or removed when required), and a woman could easily pole an acre a
day. By the use of this system of "poling" the hop plant will have
more space to spread over, and consequently more air and light will get
to it, enabling the hops to ripen much better and more evenly than
hitherto, and the combination of poles in the manner before described
will give greater steadiness to the whole, thus preventing the wind from
blowing or breaking down the poles and injuring the plants.
The second part of the Invention consists in the adaptation and use of
a bill hook of a peculiar form to be used both for cutting the bines or
plants, and for placing in position and lifting off the slanting poles.
This instrument is composed of a piece of steel (or iron) of suitable size,
having its top slightly curved, its front being a sharp knife edge for use
in cutting the plant or otherwise, and at its back close to the curved
portion a curved metal bracket or hook is let in for the purpose of lifting

page_text: the slanting poles on or off. The whole instrument is fixed in a suitably
formed handle or holder.
The last part of the Invention consists in the application and use of
a peculiarly formed "trolley" to be employed in lieu of a ladder when
the slanting poles are required to be placed in position, or taken down,
or when anything is required to be done to the plants or poles either
before or when the hops are picked. The "trolley" is constructed of two
slanting ladders, on the top of which is firmly secured a small flat
platform for the labourer to operate on or to hold the picked hops; the
ladder sides are kept distended by stays or bars of wood or metal firmly
secured to them. To the foot of one of the ladder sides wheels or rollers.
are attached to enable the trolley to be readily moved about whenever
required, but the foot of the other ladder side is left like an ordinary
ladder foot in order to keep the trolley steady when required to be
stationary.
the 1st February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
COLEY, of Bower Farm, Maidstone, in the County of Kent, send
greeting.
year
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Coley, Her special licence that
I, the said Thomas Coley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Coley, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OR APPLIANCES TO
BE EMPLOYED IN THE CULTIVATION G7 Hors," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Coley, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands

page_text: and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Coley, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, and in reference being had to the
accompanying Sheets of Drawings, that is to say :-
This Invention relates, firstly, to certain improved means or appliances
to be used in the cultivation of hops whereby a great saving will be
effected on the ordinary cost in the "poling" of hops and in the cost
of labor required therefor, and the hops when picked will be in a much
superior condition and more evenly ripe than those grown on the old
system of poles or "poling."
Secondly. To the adaptation and use of a bill hook of a peculiar form
to be used for cutting the bines and for lifting off the slanting poles, as
herein-after described.
A further improvement relates to and consists in the application and
use of a peculiarly formed "trolley" which may be employed when
desired during the time of tying the hop bine to the pole.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improved
Means or Appliances to be employed in the Cultivation of Hops," I
will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the
same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, and in
order that the same may be distinctly understood I have annexed here-
unto two Sheets of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the
same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in
the following explanation thereof, that is to say:―
Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the first part of my Invention,
namely, my improved system of "poling" for hop plants. At the
commencement of a hop plantation, say at one end of the garden, at
the first hop "hill," two ordinary hop poles a, a, are let in and securely
fixed in the ground a convenient distance apart, these are the first two
and longest poles of each hop "alley;" b, b, are the succeeding poles,
all of one length and shorter than the first two a, a; these poles are

page_text: placed in the ground two to each hop "hill," all being creosoted or
otherwise prepared at c, c, in order that when fixed in the ground the
ends will be preserved, and it will not be necessary to remove the poles
for a great number of years. At a suitable and convenient height from
the ground the poles are bracketed and held together in pairs by fixed
stays d, d. In some cases, when it is required to change or remove the
poles, these stays are not permanently fixed, for instance, every tenth
row of poles is provided with a movable wire bracket e, e, in order that
when manuring is required this tenth row can be taken up and the
manure brought in an ordinary cart. At about the same height as
these stays and resting in the staples, brackets, or supports f, f, are
placed the lower ends of the slanting poles g, g; these at or about two-
thirds of their length rest in wire brackets or supports h, h, at the tops
of the succeeding upright poles b, b, in the same row or "alley." This
arrangement of upright and slanting poles is repeated and carried out in
each "alley" of the hop garden.
One important feature in this Invention is that only four bines are
allowed to grow up each upright pole till they reach slightly above the
lower junction of the upright and slanting poles, where they are sepa-
rated, two being allowed to continue growing up the upright poles,
and the other two being trained up the slanting pole and tied by rush
bands i, i. If the hop plant should happen to be weak it is probable
the bine growing on the slanting pole will not reach the point of junction
between it and the top of the upright pole. If this should occur the
top of the pole g will be utilised by the plant on the succeeding upright
pole, which on arriving at the top of the same will immediately cling to
and grow along the rest of the pole g or that part not in use. This is
illustrated in Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings at A,
and the way the bines separate and grow is seen at B. The shorter and
thinner poles m, m, are for use in case the bine is very weak and will
not at first cling to the larger poles a, b. In Figure 2 a steddle is shown,
composed of four upright poles j, j, and cross poles k, k, on which about
four hundred of the slanting poles g, g, can be laid to preserve them
during the winter or when not in use, being protected by a slanting
cover. This Figure likewise illustrates the bare upright holes a and b
as they stand during the winter.
Figure 3 is a modification of my improved system of poling hops.
this being adapted for various descriptions of the hop plant in which
the length of the bine is not so great as usual.

page_text: The second part of the Invention is illustrated in Figures 4. n, n, is
the blade or part of the bill hook for cutting the bine at the top of the
upright poles (thereby releasing the slanting pole in that position when
the hops are to be picked), and o, o, the hook for lifting and lowering
the poles g, g, when the bine at the top is cut. This bill hook has a
handle about six feet long, which has at its lower end an iron shoe point,
so that the bill hook can be stuck in the ground and thus be always ready
to hand. Figures 5 represent a modification of the bill hook, which is
hung and secured to the waist or side of the "binman "by a chain
and catch for use when required at picking time for cutting the bine at or
about the place D, which allows the bine to die gradually away and
prevents it from bleeding and weakening the plant.
Figure 6 represents a suitable tool which may be used for bending
the wire supports h, h, when the poles g, g, are in position so as to
protect them from being moved by the wind, at the same time allowing
them to be easily raised and removed when required by using the bill
hook E.
Figure 7, Sheet 2, is a perspective view of the improved "trolley"
which I recommend to be used in lieu of the ordinary ladder. It is
constructed of two slanting ladders, p, q, to the top of which is firmly
secured a platform r; s, s, being stays to keep the sides distended. To
enable this "trolley" to be readily moved about when required wheels
t, t, are attached to the foot of the ladder q, the foot of the ladder p
being left as an ordinary ladder foot in order to steady the "trolley."
The "trolley" is moved about between each pair of alleys, the laborer
on the platform r being able to reach on either side the row of poles
nearest in order to place the bines to the poles and to band them.
Figures 8 represent front and side elevations of a suitable manure
truck or cart which I recommend, but do not claim as a material part
of my Invention, but mention it as being found the most convenient
form of passage and use amongst the standing poles. By the employ-
ment of this it will not be necessary to remove any of the standing
poles as herein-before mentioned, as it will run through any "alley "
required. It is mainly constructed like an ordinary cart, the prinicpal
difference being the placing of a guide wheel u in front made capable
of moving round a centre v, so that when required the cart can be
readily turned in any desired direction. The body of the cart is tilted
when required to deposit manure,

page_text: Figures 9 and 10, Sheet 1, are side and bottom views of an instrument
which may be used when the staples at lower junctions are being
clenched for forming the eyes f, f, correctly and all of the same shape.
Figures 11 and 12 are front and top views of an instrument adapted
for cutting the wire (used for forming the staples and hooks h, h,) into
lengths; this is firmly fixed in a suitable support, the raised parts v
preventing the hammer injuring the knife edge o, and Figure 13 is a
perspective view of an instrument adapted for rounding and shaping
the cut ends of the wire. The wire is laid in one of the grooves st
and struck once or twice on the edge of the cut part by a hammer.
The above-described instruments shown at Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, and
13, I merely mention and refer to as instruments or appliances I have
found by experience since I applied for the said Letters Patent most
suitable for the purpose each instrument is intended for, but I do not
claim them as material
parts of my Invention.
"
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention
for Improved Means or Appliances to be employed in the Cultivation
of Hops," together with the manner in which the same is to be or may
be performed or carried into practical effect, I would remark in con-
clusion that what I believe to be novel and original and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is, the improved system and arrangement of
poling" or cultivating hops together with the means or appliances
to be employed therein or therefor (due regard being had to the means
or appliances herein-before excepted as not material parts of my Inven-
tion), substantially as herein-before described and illustrated on the
accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, or any modification thereof, or
equivalent therefor.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Coley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
THOMAS COLEY. (L.S.)