AN IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT APPLICABLE TO PLOUGHING AND OTHER CULTIVATING PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Giles, of Rugeley, in the County of Stafford,
Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT
APPLICABLE TO PLOUGHING AND OTHER CULTIVATING PURPOSES."-Partly a
communication from abroad by W. S. Spratt, of Pittsburgh, Pen-
sylvania, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Giles at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th June 1871.
. I, ALFRED GILES, of Rugeley, in the County of Stafford, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT APPLICABLE TO PLOUGHING AND OTHER CULTIVATING
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the production of a light, strong, and
convenient implement, more particularly applicable as a garden plough
and cultivator, all as hereafter described.

page_text: The frame or beam of the plough in its simplest form consists of two
handles, which are held together below by a block between the same,
and higher up by a rundle or stay or other suitable bracing. The
lowest parts of the handles or frame form the fork for the wheel. The
pin or axle of the latter carries also a brace, which is connected to a
second brace suspended from the beam or frame, and adjustable there
by being formed with slots or other well-known mechanical device for
that purpose. The first-named brace is formed with a vertical slot in
order to admit the shouldered end of the ploughshare to be inserted
therein and fixed by means of a wedge filling up the remainder of the
slot. Various tools may be inserted instead of the ploughshare in order
to apply the implement as a hilling or ridging plough, a harrow, a
shovel, a hoe, a seed drill, or other similar cultivating implements. For
cultivating strawberries it is by preference arranged with a weed cutter
and pulverizers in front for loosening the middle of the rows, and with
sharp knives on each side to cut off the runners.
Sometimes the front of the plough is fitted with a small revolving
steel disc, similar to that used on the so-called revolving, mould board.
plough.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Giles in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd December 1871. .i
L
TO ALL TO' WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
GILES, of Rugeley, in the County of Stafford, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day. of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Giles, Her special licence
that I, the said Alfred Giles, my executors, administrators, and assigns,.
or such others as I, the said Alfred Giles, my executors, adminis-
.

page_text: •
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, 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 "AN IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT
APPLICABLE TO PLOUGHING AND OTHER CULTIVATNG PURPOSES," (the result partly
of a communication to me from abroad by W. S. Spratt, of Pittsburgh,
Pensylvania, United States of America, and partly. Invention and
discovery made by myself), upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Alfred Giles, my 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Gilés, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 accompanying Drawings
and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say :—'
•
The object of this Invention is the production of a light, strong, and
convenient implement, more particularly applicable as a garden plough
and cultivator, all as hereafter described.
The frame or beam of the plough in its simplest form consists of two
handles, which are held together below by a block between the same,
and higher up by a rundle or stay or other suitable bracing. The
lowest parts of the handles or frame form the fork for the wheel. The
pin or axle of the latter carries also a brace, which is connected to a
second brace suspended from the beam or frame, and adjustable there
by being formed with slots or other well-known mechanical device for
that purpose. The first-named brace is formed with a vertical slot in
order to admit the shouldered end of the ploughshare to be inserted
therein and fixed by means of a wedge filling up the remainder of the
slot. Various tools may be inserted instead of the ploughshare in order
to apply the implement as a hilling or ridging plough, a harrow, a
shovel, a hoe, a seed drill, or other similar cultivating implement.

page_text: •
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation, and
Figure 2 is a plan of this improved agricultural implement constructed
according to this Invention. A and B are the handles of the imple-
ment;
E is the block for holding the handles together, and F is a rundle
or stay near the handle ends of the same; G is a wheel supported at ŏ
the ends of the handles A, B, and at that part where the two meet or
nearly so; C is a brace or bridle secured at one end by nuts to the
axle ends of the wheel G, and D is a second brace linked at or near
the other end of the brace C and embracing the block Ę at its opposite
end; this brace D is made with slots, as. shewn, so that a bolt secured 1
by a nut may be passed through it, and the brace D thereby held at
any desired height, whereby the height of the handles from the ground
is regulated and adjusted so as to adapt them to the varying heights of
persons using the implement, but any other known mechanical device
may be used at that place for regulating the height, e is a slot at the 1
outer end of the brace C to receive the shanks of the tools used with
the implement. Nos. 1 and 2 are the tools, shewn in the Drawings,
applied to the implement, No. 1 being a weed cutter, and No. 2 a
rake or scarifier, but any other tools may be applied as required; b
is a wedge inserted in the slot e to hold the shanks of the tools in 2
position.
Figure 3 is a view of a shovel, and Figure 4 shews a hilling plough,
being other kinds of tools that I use with this implement, but these are
only given as examples of the applicability of the implement to carry.
different kinds of tools or cultivators, which must be regulated according 2
to the purposes to which the implement is to be applied; thus, in
addition to the appliances before named a seed drill may be used with
it, in which case the barrel or sowing parts is or are driven by a suitable
attachment in connection with the wheel G.
To use the implement, fit to it the tool required, adjust the handles 3
A, B, by the brace D to the required height, and. push it forward, when
the tools readily and easily pass through the ground, stirring up the
earth to a depth of, say, six inches.
Sometimes the front of the plough is fitted with a small revolving
steel disc similar to that used on the so-called revolving mould board. 3.

page_text: For the purpose of hilling up two sides of a row I arrange the
implement as a double plough.
Implements constructed in the manner before described. are par-
ticularly applicable for use either in the garden or field, and owing
to the many different appliances that can be fitted when required, they
can be used for almost any kind of work the agriculturist or gardener
may require to do. For cultivating strawberries it is by preference
arranged with a weed cutter and pulverizers in front for loosening the
middle of the rows, and with sharp knives on each side to cut off the
runners.
Figure 5 is a view of this appliance as used for cultivating straw-
berries. a is the weed cutter; c, the pulverizers; and b, b, are the
knives for cutting the runners. This appliance is used in connection
with or separate from the hand plough and general cultivator before
§ described, or it may be drawn by a horse.
This implement is also applicable for use for cultivating all kinds of
small vegetables and fruits, where the rows are wide enough for a man
or horse to walk between them, as the knives in the sides can be taken
off and replaced by small shovels.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I am
aware that it is not new to employ hand implements supported or
carried by a wheel or wheels for hoeing land and for removing weeds
or superfluous plants therefrom, as witness the Inventions of Robert
5 MºHardy, patented the 9 November 1868, No. 3397, and the 15 June
1869, No. 1844, respectively, and therefore I wish it to be clearly under-
stood that I lay no claim thereto generally or when taken separately
and alone; but I do claim,-
First. The construction and employment of the frame and handles of
the improved agricultural implement applicable to ploughing and other
cultivating purposes, substantially as described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
Second. The adjustable brace for holding the various tools or imple-

page_text: Third. The cultivator frame, substantially as described and illustrated
with reference to Figure 5 of the accompanying Drawings and as
applied.
Fourth. The general combination of parts forming an implement or
implements applicable to the various purposes described..
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Giles, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.