Improvements in Draining, Irrigating, and Manuring Meadow and other Land and in Apparatus for Use therewith.
Year: 1887

page_text: Improvements in Draining, Irrigating, and Manuring Meadow and
other Land and in Apparatus for Use therewith.
I, BRUNO SCHNEIDER of Dresden, in the Kingdom of Saxony, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of my invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention consists in an improved system of draining and irrigating meadow
and other land and is more especially applicable to such land as possesses a hilly or.
inclined surface.
Heretofore rain or water falling on the surface of such meadow or other land,
flows off the same to lower levels without sufficiently penetrating the soil, so that the
higher lying parts become parched and sterile.
The present invention is designed to improve the irrigation of such meadows by
retaining the water substantially equally over the surface and thus permitting the
higher parts to be permeated thereby equally with the lower parts.
The improved system also enables dry manure or suitable earths composts or
artificial or chemical manures to be strewn upon the surface of such land and yet be
of advantage thereto without necessitating the turning over of the ground. Such
manures being by nature of the system retained upon the land until by atmospheric
or other agency they are gradually dissolved or decomposed and washed into
the soil.
On horizontally lying land the system is also of advantage in that it causes the water
to be drained from the surface of the ground, and to more readily reach the under
parts of such ground, the superfluous water being removed by the same means which
enables the before mentioned irrigation to be performed.
In the surface of the ground are cut or ploughed a number of narrow drains see
Figs. 3 to 6 Sheet 1 of the accompanying drawings. These drains or incisions are
preferably 4 to 5 centimeters broad and placed at about 20 to 30 centimetersia part, the
drains being substantially parallel to each other. The drains are so cut as to be
horizontal and will therefore traverse the land in a direction substantially at right
angles to the incline. They are fed from irrigating channels, cut so as to be horizontal
and parallel to said drains. The said irrigating channels after filling said drains serve

page_text: also to drain off superfluous water therefrom. As the drains may be cut to any
desired depth, the irrigation or saturation of the soil may be performed to any suitable
distance below the surface. A further feature of the drains aforesaid, is that the
same are preferably cut, not perpendicular to the inclined surface of the ground, but
vertically to the horizontal plane. For cutting them a special implement is provided
(Figs. 1, 2 and 6 to 10 Sheet 1) the same being provided with shares A of peculiar
shape (as shown in Figs. 8 to 10) the said shares being either made in one piece or
of detachable parts. a is the edge, b b inclined faces terminating in slide boards c.
Since the shares are not intended to remove soil from the drain so cut, but only to cut
down therein and force the soil aside to form the walls of the drain, the shares have
the peculiar shape shown. They are revolvably secured to the cross beam D itself
revolvably about B, and are connected by cross bar C and are rendered displaceable
and adjustable by means of the lever E so that the share can be turned about its
fastening points so that its vertical longitudinal axis can always be placed vertically
when such position necessitates it forming an acute angle with the cross beam Ď
(Fig. 6 Sheet 1) so that the walls of the drains may be always cut vertically. The
lever E can be fixed in any position so that the position of the share may be fixed for
any given inclination of the meadow or grass land.
To set the shares out of action for transport the cross beam D is turned about its
fulcrum B so as to bring the share from its vertical position into a horizontal position
(Fig. 7 Sheet 1) where it is secured. The said device is supported upon a car having
two wheels, the axles F of which are capable of displacement in guides, for use on
steep inclines (Fig. 2 Sheet 1). The car may be adapted to cut three or more parallel
drains simultaneously.
For such soils in which it is necessary or advisable to cut the drains aforesaid by
removal of soil instead of by incision and separation of the walls by pressure as afore-
said; the following devices or implements may be employed (Sheets II and III), first
to cut the drains and subsequently to remove the soil from the drain.
For this purpose the car is provided with a digging tool A' having a narrow flat
spade like shape (Figs. 4 to 6 Sheet II) the same being preceded by one or two shares
for preliminary cutting, so that the aforesaid digging implement has only to lift out
the cut soil.
Or in place of such tool, where the soil requires it, a digging implement A* of
curved cross section (Figs. 7, 8 and 9 Sheet II) preceded by straight or rotary cutters,
may be employed. Or again, an implement A³ of narrow helical form (Figs. 10 to 12
Sheet II) preceded by one or more cutters or shares, may be substituted for the
aforesaid.
In another form of implement, an axle d for a rotary tool A* (Figs. 13 to 15 Sheet II)
is journalled on the beam of the car said tool being actuated from one of the
wheels by chain gear k k¹ or similar mechanism and is formed of several radial
arms a a to which curved digging tools aforesaid g g are secured. The said digging
tools may here be unequal in length to work successively at increasing depths.
The car may also be arranged to carry several such devices (Figs. 1 to 4 Sheet III).
That is to say a number of digging tools of the described nature having con-
trivances vv for raising and lowering them each being preceded by one or more
straight or rotary coulters or ploughs s s.
In using the aforesaid digging tools whether of the form A¹ A* A* or A*, no
flattening boards c can be attached thereto or to the shares or cutters, the flattening
boards are therefore independently attached to a particular beam S Figs. 16 to 18
Sheet II behind the respective digging tools.
For cutting turfed land, a rotary cutter is preferably used, the same having a
toothed or indented periphery (Fig. 19 Sheet II) for the easier cutting of
the turf.
When the aforesaid draught implement is intended to make channels for the intro-
duction of manure into the soil, then behind such implement is attached the apparatus
shown in Sheet IV of the accompanying drawings. The device consists essentially
of a frame or frames either rigid or of parts flexibly attached, said frame or frames

page_text: carrying downward projecting plates connected to the under surfaces of said frame
or frames transversely of the direction pursued by the draught implement. The plates
aforesaid may be sharp edged (Fig. 7) blunt (as in Fig. 14) indented (Fig. 9 a 3)
toothed (Fig. 10 a 4) or provided with points (Fig. 8 a 5); and they may be rigidly
(Figs. 2, 5, 11-14), or elastically (Fig. 15) attached to the frame or frames according
to the nature of the ground or soil, or of the manure.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In draining and irrigating meadow and other land, the system consisting in
cutting into the surface of the ground a number of horizontal and parallel drains
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In draining and irrigating and manuring meadow and (other land) the com-
bination of a number of parallel horizontal drains of irrigating channels adapted to
supply water, manure or the like to such drains or withdraw the same therefrom
substantially as set forth.
3. In draining and irrigating sloping meadow and other land, the system of cutting
a number of parallel horizontal drains into the surface of such land, said drains being
cut vertically into the soil.
4. The combination with a car having wheels, of shares A having edge a and
flanges bb, detachable flattening boards c, lever E, rail C and revolvable beam D
substantially as set forth.
5. The combination of a car having wheels with a digging or excavating
tool A' A or A and a rotary or other coulter preceding said digging tool substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
6. The combination of a car having wheels with a rotary digging tool A' having
cutters g and operated substantially as set forth.
7. The combination of a car having wheels with a series of digging tools in
succession and juxta position, at uniform or varying depth with or without coulters
preceding said digging tools substantially as set forth.
8. The combination in a car of digging tools A¹ A² A³ or A* with flatting boards
substantially as set forth.
9. In a car, a rotary coulter having a toothed periphery substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
10. The combination with a car baving implements for cutting or forming
channels as set forth, of a frame or frames rigidly or flexibly attached having
boards a¹ a a¹¹ a² a³ a¹ or a' rigidly or elastically attached to the under side thereof
substantially as set forth.
Dated this 11th day of November 1887.
Dated this 11th day of November 1887.
BRUNO SCHNEIDER.
By Herbert & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, W.C.,
Agents to Applicant.