A FORCING FRAME ON A NEW AND IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION POR RAISING AND FORCING CUCUMBERS, MELONS, STRAWBERRIES, AND VARIOUS OTHER FRUITS AND PLANTS WHICH REQUIRE THE APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL HEAT TO REAR OR RIPEN THE SAME
Year: 1808

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, EDWARD
WEEKS, of Lleweny Hall, in the Parish of Henlan, in the County of Denbigh,
North Wales, Gardener, sendeth 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 Seventeenth day
of March, in the forty-eighth year of His reign, give and grant unto the
said Edward Woeks His especial licence and authority, that he, the
said Edward Weeks, his exors, adñiors, and assigns, during the term
of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, cxcrcise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
his Invention of "A FORCING FRAME ON A NEW AND IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION
POR RAISING AND FORCING CUCUMBERS, MELONS, STRAWBERRIES, AND VARIOUS OTHER
FRUITS AND PLANTS WHICH REQUIRE THE APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL HEAT TO
REAR OR RIPEN THE SAME;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained
proviso obliging him, the said Edward Weeks, by an instrument in writing
under his hand and seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of the
said Invention, and in what inanner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within one calendar month next after
the date of the said 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, the said
Edward Weeks doth hereby declare, that the said Invention consists of a

page_text: double frame of any convenient size or dimensions, made chiefly of wood, the
external frame covered with glass lights, and constructed nearly similar to
those in cominon usc, the internal frame placed within the other, not made so
deep and without any covering, with a boarded bottom sufficiently strong for
sustaining the weight of the earth or mould which is placed thereon for the
growth and sustenance of the plants, and not on. the dung or hot bed, as is the
general practice. The internal frame is made deep enough to contain the
proper quantity of earth or mould only, and the bottom thereof covers a less
area than that included within the external frame, so that a space or cavity is
left of from two to six inches wide, or more at pleasure, between the ends and
sides of the two frames for the admissión. of the heat to the plants, which
passes thereto from the hot bed through such spaces or cavities, and not to the
roots of the plants through the. earth..or.. mould. as in the common way. The
internal frame is so contrived that by an apparatus, herein-after described,
it can, with the earth or mould on its bottom and the plants growing thereon,
be raised or drawn up altogether within the external frame nearer to the glass
lights, and by that means the plants or fruits may be made to receive a
greater and more beneficial influence from the rays of the sun, which is of
material benefit and advantage to the growth and sustenance of the plants,
and to the ripening of the fruits. The internal frame, with the earth. and
plants thereon, may also be lowered at pleasure after being so drawn up, and
be suspended between the glass and hot bed, by which more or less heat may
be admitted to the plants or fruits. The .admission of the heat from the hot
bed through the cavities or spaces between the frames to the plants or fruits is
also a great advantage over the old mode, as it prevents the roots of the plants
from being burnt or damaged by the superabundant heat arising from the hot
bed through the earth or mould, and the heat is by the new method admitted
to the plants in a more natural way, which much facilitates their growth, and
the ripening of the fruits thereon.
Fig. 1, a plan of the two frames. A, A, A, A, sides and ends of the external
frame. B, gutter in front of said frame for carrying off rain water from the
glass lights, to prevent the same from injuring the lining of dung placed in the
front of the bed. C, iron spindles placed across the external frame at the
junction of each pair of lights under the groves in which the said lights slide.
These spindles turn in iron staples or boxes let into the sides of the external
said frame, and to one end of each spindle within the frame is fixed a rack wheel
or wheels D, with dogs or stops to each wheel. From each end of the said
spindles are suspended chains, which chains being fastened to the sides or
bottom of the internal frame the said frame may be raised or lowered at

page_text: pleasure by turning round the said spindles with a common winch, similar to
that used for raising or lowering of a bucket in a well. The internal frame
may be also raised and lowered to any other mechanism applicable to the
purpose, and the said internal frame may be made in one or more compartments
or divisions as occasion may require. E, E, E, E, the ends and sides of the
internal frame. F, the bottom of the internal frame, with small holes bored
therein to drain off the superfluous moisture. G, part of the said spindle,
staple or box, rack wheel, dog or stop, and winch, drawn on a larger scale.
Fig. 2, a profile or section of the said frames, shewing the internal frame
drawn up within the external one close to the under side of the glass lights
with the winch, spindle, wheel, and chains.
Fig. 8, another profile or section of the said frames, describing the internal
frame within the external one, resting upon the hot bed, with the apparatus
before mentioned for raising or lowering the same.
In witness whereof, the said Edward Weeks hath hereunto his hand
and seal subscribed and set, the Twenty-third day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eight