MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF MOTIVE POWER TO, AND IN OBTAINING LOCOMOTION FOR. THE CULTIVATION OF LAND
Year: 1855

page_text: MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF MOTIVE POWER TO, AND IN OBTAINING LOCOMOTION
FOR. THE CULTIVATION OF LAND."
Sealed the 1st April 1856, and dated the 5th October 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Alexander Halkett
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th October 1855.
I, PETER ALEXANDER HALKETT, of the Windham Club, St. James', in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF MOTIVE POWER TO, AND IN OBTAINING
LOCOMOTION FOR, THE CULTIVATION OF LAND," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in applying the implements of cultivation required
for the various operations of ploughing, tilling, sowing, reaping, or other opera-
tion of culture, by means of a travelling carriage, moving on tramways or rails,
or on other manufactured ways, placed in parallel lines across the fields to be
operated on, whereby the said implements are in their operations always kept
at a regulated height, independent of the small undulations or unevenness of
the ground or of the firmness or softness of the soil, & whereby they are also
kept from varying to the right or to the left of the line of onward motion.

page_text: For the purpose I lay down permanent ways, dividing the fields or pieces of
land in a number of parallel lines, the whole being placed equidistant from each
other. The guage or width between the lines I make as wide as practicable to
suit travelling carriages or platforms to run back & forth. To these travelling
platforms I apply or attach the implement or implements to operate on the
soil, their operation being regulated if necessary by any attendant or attendants
who travel on the platform. The platform may be caused to move over the
ground by means of a stationary engine or other power placed at the headlands,
but I prefer the engine to be placed on the travelling platform, to produce its
own locomotion, either by winding up ropes fixed at each end of the line, or
by means of a rack fixed to the rail, to, afford hold to the driving wheel,
or means provided to give sufficient bite to frictional contact for the act of
propulsion. Paved or other manufactured ways may be substituted for
the rails.
Instead of making the rails, or other bearing surface fixtures, the subway
may be the only permanent part, & may consist of lines of sleepers on which
the rails are laid down & fitted, so that they can be lifted & repeatedly laid
in the same position. Instead of continuous sleepers,, stones, or posts may be
placed at intervals to support or mark and adjust the position of the rails.
These stones or posts being permanent, the rails can be adjusted repeatedly in
the same position. By thus leaving the rails or their subway permanent,
successive operations can be performed among growing crops, as, for instance,
among growing crops which have been sown by the drill. Other instruments
can be readily set to follow, in the proper track at any, subsequent period.
I also, lay, down lines of permanent way along, the headlands, for the purpose
of transferring the travelling platform from one line of rails to another.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,, filed
by the said Peter Alexander Halkett in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE, PRESENTS, SHALL, COME, I; PETER 30
ALEXANDER HALKETT, of the Windham, Club, St. James', in the County, of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord.

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Peter Alexander Halkett, Her special licence that I, the said Peter
Alexander Halkett, executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Peter Alexander Halkett, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF MOTIVE POWER TO, AND IN OBTAINING
LOCOMOTION FOR, THE CULTIVATION OF LAND," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Peter Alexander Halkett, executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Peter Alexander Halkett, 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, reference being had to the two Sheets of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
My Invention of improvements in the application of motive power to, and
in obtaining locomotion for, the cultivation of land, consists in applying, the
implements of cultivation required for the various operations of ploughing,
scarifying, sowing, reaping, or other operation of culture, by means of a
travelling carriage, moving on tramways or rails, or on other manufactured
ways, placed in parallel lines across the fields, whereby the said implements
are in their operations always kept at a regulated height, independent of the
small undulations or unevenness of the ground; or of the firmness or softness
of the soil, and whereby they are also kept from varying to the right or to
the left of the line of onward motion. For this purpose I lay down perma-
nent ways, dividing the fields or pieces of land in a number of parallel lines,
the whole being placed equidistant from each other. The gauge or width
between these lines I make as wide as possible, consistent with the practical
application of travelling carriages or platforms, to run backwards and forwards
thereon, in order to diminish the cost of rails, as also the extent of space

page_text: occupied by such permanent way. To these travelling platforms I apply or
attach the implement or implements to operate on the soil, their operation
being regulated, if necessary, by an attendant or attendants, who travel on the
platform.
The platform may be caused to move over the ground by means of a station-
ary engine or other power placed at the headlands, and motion communicated
to the platform by means of a rope or ropes, but I prefer the engine to be
placed on the travelling platform to produce its own locomotion, either by
winding-up ropes fixed at each end of the line, or by the friction of contact
of its wheels with the rails. A rack or racks, fixed to the rails to afford
sufficient hold to the driving wheels, or other means, may be provided to give
sufficient bite to frictional contact to produce the act of propulsion. For most
purposes of culture, however, I believe the frictional contact of the wheels
upon the rails will afford sufficient hold for traction.
Instead of rails, paved or other manufactured ways may be substituted, but
in all cases proper guides for the platform to be conducted again and again in
a precisely similar course must be provided. Instead of making the rails or
other bearing surface fixtures, the subway may alone be the permanent part,
and may consist of lines of sleepers on which the rails are laid down and
fitted, so that they can be lifted and repeatedly laid in a similar position,
and so produce at any time the same line of transit. Instead of continuous
sleepers, stones or posts may be placed at intervals to support or mark the
position of the rails, these stones or posts being terminated so that the rails
can be adjusted repeatedly in the same position. By thus employing per-
manent rails or ways, or a permanent subway for such rails, the several
operations of culture can be performed at successive periods on sown lands
or among growing crops, as, for instance, among crops which have been
sown in rows by the drill. Other instruments can be readily set to follow in
the proper track at any subsequent period, either for the purpose of "hoeing,
carthing up, stirring the soil," or other operation. I further lay lines of
permanent way along the headlands, for the purpose of transferring the
travelling platform from one line of rails to another.
Such being the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to describe, by
reference to the annexed Drawings, in what manner the same is to be per-
formed.
Figure 1, Sheet A, represents a portion of a field divided out and laid down
with rails a, a, a, a, for the purpose of my Invention, and in which b, b, repre-
sents the travelling platform; Fig. 2 being a side view of the same.
This

page_text: travelling platform is represented on an enlarged scale in Sheet B; in which,
Fig. 3 is a front elevation, Fig. 4 an end elevation, Fig. 5 a plan, and Fig. 6
a transverse vertical section of the same, through the line 1, 2, Figs. 3 and 5.
As this platform is of large size and has to sustain considerable weight, I
construct it of a series of long hollow wood girders A, A, A, say, about thirty
feet long (according to the span between the rails). They each consist of two
boards or planks c, c, c, c, placed on edge, and secured together by blocks or
pieces of wood d, d, and having in the lower part a horizontal board e, to
receive and resist the side strain, to which these girders are subjected. The
planks c, c, are bolted or otherwise secured to uprights f, f, at either end, and
are each supported by a pair of wheels g, g, the bearings h, h, of which are
guided and controlled by the uprights f,f; the whole of the guides A, A, are
secured together by the transverse bearers B, B, of the engines C, C, and by
the planking D, D, D, D, at the ends, and also by light wrought-iron diagonal
stays E, E. The bearings h, h, of wheels g, g, which are separately repre-
sented in side view at Fig. 7, in edge view in Fig. 8, and in section at Fig. 9,
are fitted to slide freely up and down between the uprights f, f, resistance to
their moving upwards being offered by the spring i pressing against the upper
part, as seen in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, where a portion of the wood is removed to
show the bearing and spring, the same spring being repeated at each wheel
and girder. The whole weight of the platform is thus transferred to the
running wheels g, g, through the springs i, i. These springs must be all of
equal strength, so that each wheel may bear as nearly as possible the same
amount of weight while resting on a level surface, and also possess a con-
siderable amount of elasticity, to permit the several wheels to pass over any
undulations of the rails without transferring too much weight from some of
the wheels g, g, to others of the series. The object in distributing the weight
of the platform on a number of wheels and keeping it so distributed is this,
that the rails or permanent ways may be of very much lighter construction
than if the whole weight were liable at any time to rest on a less number of
wheels.
a, a, represents the rails of wood, which if not of a sufficiently hard
nature should be faced with light iron; they are supported at intervals of
sixteen or eighteen inches by posts G, G, G, the length and size of which will
depend much on the nature of the soil in which they are driven. In the posts
shown notches are cut for the reception of the rail, which is well adapted for
the rails if they are to be removeable, but any other means of fitting and fixing
may be adopted to give the requisite stability. At the junctions of the rails,

page_text: the post where it occurs may be sufficiently wide to fix both ends of the rails
thereon; or two posts may be placed near to each other, and the rails fished
somewhat in the ordinary manner. Larch appears a wood well adapted for
the posts, but earthenware or other less perishable material may be adopted
with advantage when it can be produced at a sufficiently cheap rate.
The engines C, C, are of the ordinary construction of portable engines used
for farming purposes, and therefore do not require any detailed description;
they are mounted on small wheels, and supported by the transverse bearers
B, B, on which they are chocked or otherwise fixed and held stationary. I
adopt these engines in preference to fixed engines, as they may be readily
changed from one platform to another, or employed in threshing, or other similar
farm operations. The cranks of these engines are, in their working, placed at
right angles to each other, as is ordinary in coupling a pair of engines; their
cranks not being on the same shaft, they are so connected by the wheel gear-
ing F, F, and the shaft II, which passes quite across the platform, and is
supported by bearings and standards I, I. In the wheel gearing F, F, two
spur wheels k, l, are fixed on the engine shaft, into which one of the two wheels
m, n, gear. These wheels m, n, are fitted to slide on shaft II, but at the same
time to carry it round with the wheels when propelled by the wheels on the
engine. The pair of wheels shown in gear are equal wheels, and therefore the
shaft H will be driven at the same velocity as the engine shafts; but if it is
desired to be driven at a less speed than the engine, to increase by multiplying
the power of the engine, or for other purpose, the wheels m, m, are slid out of
gear with the wheel k, and at the same time the wheels n, n, thrown into gear
with wheels 1, 1, by means of the clutch and hand lever p; and in either dispo-
sition of the wheels the shaft H maintains the connection between the engines.
In order to communicate motion to the wheels of the platform, two cranks q, q,
(one at either end, are fitted to the shaft H, which communicate motion by
connecting rods K, K, two at either end of the platform. The cranks 1, 1, and
shafts s, s, are supported in suitable bearings on the end timbers or planks
M, M, of the platform. The cranks q, q, being at the point of its greatest
action with one of the cranks r, r, while at the dead point, with respect to
the other one of the two, it is at all times in perfect action when the two
cranks r, r, are combined and in connection with each other, which connection
is established by the iron connecting rod L, which is a light open framework,
fitted at either end to the two crank pins of cranks r, r, r, r. The axles of the
wheels g, g, have cranks t, t, t, fixed on the outer ends, and have a limited
amount of motion up and down, with their bearings h, h, being limited by the

page_text: slots in side planks M, M, through which the axles pass, and are covered in at
bottom by an iron bar N, N, fixed throughout to the planks M, M: The
crank pins of cranks t, t, t, take into vertical slots u, u, in the connecting rod
L, and are actuated by it in the direction of motion imparted to it by the rods
K, K. In order that the whole of the wheels g, g, and their axles shall have
every freedom of play up and down irrespective of each other according to
the level of the rails, and at the same time have a perfect participation in the
rotary motion desired to be imparted to them for the onward inotion of the
platform, I fix cranks,, to the opposite ends of shafts s; s, but at right
angles to r, r; these are connected by a second rod L', which acts upon cranks
t', t', t', in manner similar to that shown at L, and before described; but which
cranks t', t', are fixed on the axles of the wheels g, 9, 9, at right angles to the
cranks t, t. By this means, a perfect rotary motion will be imparted to all
the wheels g, 9, 9, which have éach in themselves at the same time tlie neces-
sary freedom of motion up and down. This up and down movement does not
require to be of any great extent, as the undulation in the length of rail occu=*
pied by the full extent of all the wheels g, g, g; should not at any place be above
a few inches. By thus placing the platform on a great number of wheels; the
weight is distributed over the rails, thereby diminishing the pressure on any
given point; and at the same time by driving the wliole of tlie wheels, the full
friction of contact caused by the weight of the platforin on the rails is exerted
in traction.
In Figs. 3, 5; and 6, I have represented an arrangement of ploughs, in
which the earth is operated on three strips, while the intermediate strips or
patches are left fallow (or it may be that they bear crops), while the ploughing
represented is in progress. The ploughs are fixed to traction bars or beams
P, P, which are fitted to joints Q; Q, fixed to the platform girders A, A; by
bolts v; v, and washer plates w; w; placed above and below those girders; these
fixings can be slid along the girders and secured at any point. The plough
bars and ploughs are elevated and depressed by means of segmental racks
R, R, secured to the plough bearer P, and passing upwards through two plates
a, a, seeri separately in Fig. 10, which sustain the racks in their proper posi
tion. These plates are fixed above and below the girders A by suitable bolts
binding them thereto. The racks R, R, are acted upon, so as to be elevated
or depressed by pinions y, y, fixed on shafts S; S, which are stretched across
the breadth of the platform; and supported in bearings z, z; cross handles
T, T, are placed on two of the shafts S, S; by which they are actuated by hand;
when required to operate on the rack bars, for the purpose of raising the

page_text: ploughs out of or inserting them into the ground. The pairs of shafts S, S,
are geared together by spur wheels S', S', to impart motion simultaneously
thereto.
In the arrangement represented, the two ploughs on one side of the plat-
form in each strip of land to be operated on are represented in operation at
the same time, while the other pair of ploughs on the opposite side of the plat-
form is arranged to act on and complete the ploughing of the strip of land
while the platform is travelling in the opposite direction.
Although I have shown only a small number of ploughs in operation at one
time, and the land cultivated in strips, a greater number of ploughs may act
simultaneously, and the whole breadth between the rails ploughed, according
to requirements, and the tractive power of the engine and platform on the
rails.
The plan, Fig. 11, represents a series of ploughs, arranged to plough the
who'e breadth between the rails; the eleven ploughs in the middle being set
to act at one time, and with the machine travelling in one direction, while the
extreme (sets of six ploughs each) act while the platform travels in the oppo-
site direction, all turning the furrow towards the middle.
In this Figure
another method of traction is exhibited. It consists in fixing drums H', H',
on the shaft H, which wind up and unwind ropes 1 and 2, fixed at either end
of the line of motion; the one rope 1 being wound up and drawing the plat-
form along, while the other rope 2 is being laid down, and to be wound up at
the return traverse of the platform. The ropes are re-secured at the ends
when the platform is changed from one line of rails to another. The ropes
1, 2, are conducted over pullies 3, 4, in order that they may at all times pull
from the centre of the platform. Instead of moving the platform by means of
ropes wound up on the platform, the tractive force may be applied by means
of engines placed on and moving along the headlands of the field, as the work
progresses. Instead of simply using friction of contact to acquire the tractive
force on the rail, a system of plain wheels may be acted on, so as to bite the
rails sideways by the pressure of springs or other pressing force, and so obtain
sufficient hold of the rail for the propulsion of the platform on the rails.
The turning over or ploughing of the soil having been performed in the
manner described, other instruments for further breaking up or otherwise
operating on the soil are attached to the traction bars P, or otherwise dragged
by the platform to effect such operation, all of which acts are accomplished
somewhat in the ordinary manner, and so far the advantages of my Invention
are not so apparent as in the application thereof to the subsequent processes of

page_text: cultivation, as will be herein-after observed with reference to the operation
of some of the other implements.
In order to transfer the travelling platform from one line of rails to another,
as also to move it from one field to another, I lay lines of rails down on the
headlands, one of which is represented at U, U, in Fig. 1, at right angles to,
and at either end of rails a, a, intersecting the field. The lines U, U, I con-
struct of three rails in order to afford more support for the weight of the
platform. They are made on a lower level than rails a, a, and have travelling
carriages W fitted to run thereon, which carriage is represented in side view
on an enlarged scale at Fig. 12, in end view at Fig. 13, which Figure also
shows a portion of the rails a, a. The end timbers 5, 5, of this carriage are
placed on a level with rails a, a, and are of the same form and guage at the
top, so that the platform b, b, can be run on it when carriage W is in proper
position. The end timbers 5; 5, are connected by three girders 6, 6, 6, similar
to A, A, in the platform before described. This carriage W is mounted on six
small wheels, fixed on their axles 7, 7, to which axes motion is communicated
by a pinion on the shaft of winch handles 8, acting on spur wheel 9, whose shaft
carries a small bevel pinion gearing in a bevel wheel 10, fixed to the shafts
or axles 7, 7, and by which the attendants can move the carriage W, and with it
the platform b, b, from opposite one line of rails a, a, to another, and from
place to place on the farm. Where the carriage W has to be propelled up
hill or long distances, it may be found advantageous to apply the power of the
engine to the wheels of the carriage.
Fig. 18 represents the end of one of the girders 6, 6, which is of wood with
metal ends to secure the timbers 5, 5, and bearings for the axles 7, 7. The
platform, shown in 3, 4, 5, and 6, is represented at a height insufficient for all
the purposes to which the travelling platform may be applied according to my
Invention; I have therefore given another representation of a platform in
outline in Fig. 14, which is at such elevation from the soil as will pass over
standing crops with sufficient clearance for the application of the implements.
Instead of using platforms of different heights from the ground, a platform
may be constructed with high end frames, on which the horizontal platform may
be sustained, and arranged to be elevated or lowered to suit the purposes
required, or the ploughing and breaking up the soil may be effected by the
proper implements attached to the high platform, but which will unavoidably
have less stability than when the platform for that purpose is kept nearer the
ground.
The advantages of destroying the weeds, earthing up, hoeing, and stirring

page_text: the earth among growing crops are well known, and extensively practised, as
far as ordinary means will permit. This in many crops can only be performed
during the earlier stages of the growth of the plant, and, unless executed by
hand labor, is always attended with difficulty and more or less danger to the
crops, from the difficulty of guiding the implements so as to operate in sufficient
proximity to the plant without running into and destroying some portions of the
crop. By means of this my Invention I am enabled to adjust and cause the
implements to traverse in the requisite proximity to the crops to effect with
the greatest advantage the purposes before mentioned, and this at all times
during the periods of the growth of the plants from the time of sowing, as will
herein-after appear. To effect this in as perfect a manner as possible, I fit the
running wheels g, g, g, on one side of the platform, so that they have sufficient
play from side to side between the bearings to allow for any inequality in the
guage of the rails, while those wheels on the other side of the platform have
no similar play, so that the drill spouts or depositors of the seed will always
travel at a regulated guage or distance from one line of rail, and to which the
implements for after-operation can be set at any subsequent period to traverse
in lines parallel with the lines of motion of such drills or seed depositors, and
therefore parallel to the rows of seed deposited, or with the rows of growing
crops the result of such method of sowing, and thus to act upon the soil in
sufficient proximity to the crops without danger thereto, in a manner the
most efficacious and beneficial to the crops, and therefore conducive to
good cultivation.
The soil between the rails in Fig. 14 is divided into six patches or strips,
and occupied by different crops or different implements, for the sake of illus-
tration, which, so far as regards cultivating in strips, I believe may be advan-
tageously carried out on the principle of my Invention. The first strip on the
left hand of the Fig. 14 represents a series of land or drill pressers X, X, or it
may be clod crushers or other implements, having a rolling motion over the
ground, which are fitted on a shaft X', X', fixed between two traction bars X², X²,
similar to those before described with reference to the ploughs; these traction
bars are also elevated and depressed by rack bars R, R, as also before described.
The second division in Fig. 14 represents root plants, with a number of hoes
or stirrers operating on the soil between such plants; these implements are
placed on three bars Y, Y, Y, fixed between two traction bars Y', Y', which
are mounted and elevated or depressed by the racks R, R, as before described.
The instruments of operation are fixed to the bars Y, Y, in sliding sockets
11, 11, which slide along the bars Y, Y, and are fixed thereon with the

page_text: uplement of operation at the same time by a binding screw 12, as repre-
sented in the side view of the traction bar, Fig. 15, which represents in side
siew the operation of the tools or implements of the third division, Fig. 14,
where the crops are of considerable height, but which, as regards the fitting
and fixing of the tools, is the same as that herein-before described, and there-
fore need not be repeated. The method of raising and lowering by the racks
R, R, is also distinctly seen in Fig. 15. In stirring or performing some
similar operation amongst high crops, it is necessary that the rows of crops be
separated previous to the advance of the implements; I therefore employ what
I term a shield, which is represented in Fig. 15; it consists of a double plate
of metal Z, Z, or other material, in the form of a wedge externally, with the
extreme point of advance near the ground; one of these shields is placed
between each two rows of growing crops, and has the implements of operation
placed between the plates of the shield. These shields are fixed to & advance
with the platform, and therefore divide and separate the rows of crops for the
passage of the hoeing, stirring, or other implements, which thereby in their
Where it is necessary to conduct any
passage offer no injury to the crop.
implement in close proximity to a crop of any considerable height, it may be
necessary to protect the crop by a shield in a similar manner.
The fourth division of Fig. 14 represents the application of a rotary or
Norwegian harrow; it is supported by traction and rack bars, as exhibited in
side view at Fig. 16. The joints of the traction bars carry a shaft 13, which
receives motion from the prime mover of the platform by means of strap and
rigger 14; cranks set at right angles on either end of shaft 13 communicate
motion by suitable connecting rods to similarly arranged cranks, fixed on the
ends of the harrow shaft 15, which thereby has a rotary motion communicated
to it during the onward progress of the platform, for the purpose of operating
on the soil in the ordinary manner of such harrows.
The fifth division, Fig. 14, represents a fallow. The sixth division represents
the crops grown to nearly the full height.
The platform, Fig. 14, which is supposed to be dragged by the tractive power
of the platform, first herein described, is furnished with a water tank A', A',
which so far as capable is made to form its own support between the widths of
rail, the planking of it being tied by diagonals and cross ties between the
two sides. The object of the tank is to carry water or liquid manure and to
distribute it on the growing crops, either independently of or during the time
any of the other operations to which it may be advantageous are in progress, as
illustrated by the distributing pipes D', D', D'.

page_text: The operations of stirring and distributing water or liquid manure to the
growing crops may be performed simultaneously by one implement, in the form
of a hollow bar, stirring the ground to a considerable depth, while the water
passes out through the extremity of the bar or implement. By thus watering
it will be more advantageous to the crops than the application of water or
liquid manure to the surface, inasmuch as the loss consequent on evaporation
from the surface, and the injury done to the crops by the roots tending to the
surface of the ground in quest of moisture, are avoided.
Fig. 17 represents a transverse section of the platform with a reaping
machine attached, which is here represented as constructed on the principal of
Mr. Bell's well-known implement. It is attached and connected by suitable
struts and stays B', B, B', to maintain it at the proper level for reaping, and
perfectly independent of any other support from the ground, and has the neces-
sary gear for communicating the motion to the cutting knives and other parts
of the machine, which motion is communicated by the prime mover of the
platform by the strap C', C. The operation of the machine reaper being well
understood, it is unnecessary to detail it here. If the land is cultivated in
strips, the crops when cut may be deposited on either side by the delivering
web on the fallow adjoining, or it may be on some low crop that will not be
injured thereby; or by another arrangement of machine, it may be tilted behind,
and subsequently banded up by hand, as usual.
Where rails are placed on headlands, at each end of the rails a, a, the plat-
form should be fitted with reaping machines to reap while going in either
direction, and therefore possess a duplicate of the machine described, as partially
represented in this Figure, and so avoid the necessity of running back to begin
to cut in the same direction as before. The duplicate arrangement of imple-
ments should also be carried out with reference to the other implements of
cultivation where it is requisite. The platform should be furnished with
machines to reap the several breadths of crops at the same time opposed to its
traverse between any pair of rails.
Drills, manure distributors, and other similar self-contained implements may
be fitted under the platform, in the manner of the reaping machine represented
at Fig. 17, or they may be constructed with separate light platforms (as herein-
after described with reference to Fig. 19), of their own to be dragged by the
principal platform. In either case, where motion is transmitted to the feeding
or supplying apparatus of the implement, it should be communicated from the
moving power of the platform.
Figure 19 represents a perspective view of a rake for collecting cut crops

page_text: nto heaps, somewhat in the ordinary manner of the horse rake. It consists
of a single transverse tie or girder A, supported on two wheels, one on either
rail, and is supposed to be hooked on and dragged behind another platform,
a part of which is shown at b, b. The rake or teeth e, e, pass through the
girder A. The head rail of the
a bell-crank lever d, d, mounted on fulcra f, f. To the upright arms of
levers d, d, connecting rods g, g, are attached, which communicate with an
arrangement of mechanism which imparts motion thereto at intervals during
the motion of the rake, so as to pull the connecting rods g, g, and thereby
raise the tines e, e, from the ground, and allow the accumulated heap to
remain behind, as well understood in the gathering corn or corps into heaps
by the horse rake.
rake c, c, is connected at either end to
Light platforms supported on four wheels travelling on these permanent
ways and drawn by a horse or horses may also be used in agricultural opera-
tions, the application of which will be readily understood without any particular
description. Light platforms may also be constructed to carry parties of
labourers over the ground for the purpose of weeding, transplanting, or per-
forming any other light operation of hand culture.
In conclusion, I would observe, that although I have in general described
the use of ordinary implements of culture arranged and adapted for appli-
cation to the travelling platform, it will be obvious that other implements
adapted to the same purpose may be applied thereto and actuated thereby in
the manner described. It will be observed that the whole of the operations
necessary for the cultivation of land according to my Invention may be
conducted without the necessity of employing men and horses walking on the
soil, and that therefore the poaching of land, the consolidation of the earth,
and other evils consequent to cultivation by the pressure of men and horses
walking, especially on clay lands, may be altogether avoided.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I do not claim any of the imple-
ments, or any of the several parts or elements of the machinery or apparatus
herein-before described and referred to, when taken separately, or otherwise
than when adapted and applied for the purposes of my Invention; nor do I
claim the use of railways, either portable or fixed, except when applied in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth; and I hereby declare
that what I do claim as the Invention intended to be secured by the said
Letters Patent is, the cultivation of land by means of implements carried by
platforms or carriages guided by and travelling on railways or other permanent

page_text: ways combined and arranged across fields, in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Alexander Halkett, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
W. CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.
P. A. HALKETT. (L.S.)