A MACHINE UPON AN ENTIRE NEW PRINCIPLE FOR SOWING WHEAT, BEANS, PEAS, AND OTHER GRAIN AND SEED, WHICH MIGHT BE PIXED TO A PLOUGH OR OTHERWISE, AND MIGHT BE MADE TO ANY SIZE OR DIMENSIONS REQUIRED
Year: 1784

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM
HESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, JERVAS
WRIGHT, of Cranage, in the County of Chester, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did lately prefer my humble petition unto His present most
Excellent Majesty King George the Third, thereby setting forth, that after
much labour, study, and expence I had invented and brought to perfection "A
MACHINE UPON AN ENTIRE NEW PRINCIPLE FOR SOWING WHEAT, BEANS, PEAS, AND
OTHER GRAIN AND SEED, WHICH MIGHT BE PIXED TO A PLOUGH OR OTHERWISE, AND MIGHT
BE MADE TO ANY SIZE OR DIMENSIONS REQUIRED," which I did conceive would be of
great benefit to husbandry in general; that I was the first and true Inventor
thereof, and that the same had not been made or practised by any other
person or persons whatsoever, to the best of my knowledge and belief; and
therefore prayed that His said most Excellent Majesty would be graciously
pleased to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His Royal
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain for the sole use,
benefit, and advantage of my said Invention within that part of the Kingdom
of Great Britain called England, the Dominion of Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, for the term of fourteen years, according to the Statute
in that case made and provided: And whereas His said Majesty, being willing
to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which might be for the
public good, did, of His special grace, certain knowledge, and meer motion, by
His Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day of July, in the twenty-fourth year of
His reign, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the

page_text: said Jervas Wright, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His special
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, and every of us, by myself or themselves, or my or their
deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others as I or they should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend my said Invention within that part of Great
Britain called England, the Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, in such manner as to me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or any of us, should, in our discretion, think fit, and that I, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should and lawfully might have and
enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commodity, and advantage from time to time
coming, growing, accruing, or arising by reason of the said Invention; to
have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licence, powers, privileges, and ad-
vantages therein-before granted or mentioned to be granted unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, for and during and unto the full end
and term of fourteen years from the date of the said Letters Patent next
and immediately ensuing, and fully to be compleat and ended, according
to the Statute in such case made and provided; in which said Letters Patent,
among other things, is contained a provisoe, that if I, the said Jervas
Wright, should not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be
inrolled in the High Court of Chancery within four calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted,
should utterly cease, determine, and become void, any thing therein-before
contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
NOW THEREFORE KNOW YE, that I, the said Jervas Wright, do, by
this instrument under my hand and seal, in pursuance of such proviso in the
said recited Letters Patent contained, and in compliance therewith, declare
that the Plans or Drawings to this instrument annexed, and the description
thereof, and reference to the same, herein-after contained, do particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, for which such Letters
Patent were granted to me as aforesaid, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, premising and wishing it to be particularly understood that the size
and dimensions of the machine and its component parts herein described, and
taken from. that which I myself have used, and from which the annexed

page_text: Drawings are made, but that they may be made of a larger size if required,
or even of a smaller size, but this I would not recommend, as I think the
dimensions herein given are small enough for any purposes of real utility.
The Drawing marked A represents the machine as fixed to a plow beam,
and one side of the box or case is taken away for the purpose of displaying as
much as possible the mechanism of it and the way in which it works, and it
may be fixed to the beam of any plow; and this is the way in which it should
be used when it is meant to sow only one row under furrow; or the machine
may be so varied as that the motion may be communicated to more seed plates
than one, and these being fixed to a drilling instrument may be contrived to
sow two or four rows at once; but the account here intended to be given is
of that intended to sow only one row. The seed plates, so called because they
are the means of sowing and distributing the seed, must be adapted to the
nature and magnitude of the seed or grain intended to be sown, and they may
be easily and soon changed, at the pleasure of the user, to sow different kinds
of seed or grain, as will hereafter appear. The seed or grain is to be put into
a box, canister, or hopper B at the upper part of the machine, and the seed
plates, which are round, flat, and made of brass, receive their motion from a
wheel passing upon the ground. These seed plates turn horizontally between
the bottom of the box B, in which the seed is put C, and the top of the lower
box or case D. The channels or apertures in them are so ordered as to dis-
pense a limitted and certain quantity of the seed or grain intended to be sown,
which quantity may be increased or diminished upon any given space or length
of furrow by changing the pinion wheel and adding another with a greater
or lesser number of teeth, whereby the plate moves quicker or slower with
relation to the movement of the plough. A block of wood E, which is the
basis or foundation of the machine, is fixed on the under side of the plough
beams by means of two long iron bolts; these pass through the block and
through the plough beam, and are screwed together on the upper side the
plough beam. This wooden block should be seventeen inches long, three
inches broad, and three inches deep. To this block of wood E on the left
hand is fixed an iron frame F, which projects about six inches. The two strong
iron arms G which support this frame are shouldered, and pass through the
arms of an iron plate, and then through the block of wood E, and are firmly
fixed by two nutts and screws on the inside the box, which is on the right-
hand side of the block E. The frame F is the segment of a circle, the radius
of which is about six or seven inches, and the cheeks of it are connected
together at top and bottom by two thin iron barrs rivetted into the two cheeks.

page_text: The open space between the two semicircular cheeks is about three inches, and
the range between the cheeks is about seven inches. On the left-hand side
this block of wood and close upon it, there is an universal joint H in the iron
axis I. From this joint to the left hand for six inches the axis I is perfectly
round, and about three quarters of an inch diameter. On this part of the
axis there is a wooden roller K, bushed with brass about five inches long, and
three in diameter at the larger or outer end, and one inch and an half at the
smaller. This roller plays up and down the open range in the iron frame, and
effectually prevents the wheel upon the ground from having any movement
sideways, which it otherwise would have from the round part of the axis, upon
which the roller plays. The axis is continued square for two inches and an
half more, with a further allowance of half an inch, which is formed into a
screw. The large wheel upon the ground L, which moves the whole machine,
has a square mortice in its center, which exactly corresponds with the square
part of the iron axis I; when this is put on and fixed by the nut, the wheel
and axis turn together; this wheel gives movement to the seed plates. I have
fixed on twenty-one inches diameter for the large wheel on the ground as the
most convenient heighth for the ploughs commonly used in the part of Cheshire
where I live; but it may be made more or less, as ordered, and constructed of
wood hooped with iron, or of cast iron. The wheel when fixed to work will
be distant from the plough beam on the left-hand or land side about ten inches.
By the contrivance of the universal joint and the roller, the wheel in its cir-
cular motion on the ground rises and falls, and passes over stones or any other
irregularities without affecting the movement of the plow, or straining the
inside or other movements of the machine from the universal joint on the left
side the block of wood before mentioned. The iron axis I is continued through
the block, and about two inches and an half to the right-hand side of it there
is a perpendicular plate of iron, about one inch & a quarter broad, three
inches long, and a quarter of an inch thick, on each side the block of wood;
these are let in and bushed with brass; or these plates may be formed of cast
iron, and through these the spindle or axis from the great wheel passes. It is
here half an inch diameter, and perfectly round for three inches in length;
the other, two and an half square. On this square part of the axis is fixed
a pinion M, with eight leaves or bars. This pinion must be made of hardened
steel, or it may be made of cast copper, with a small allowance of tin to
harden it. The pinion must be nearly two inches long and one inch and
a quarter diameter, with a square mortice through it, corresponding with
the square of that part of the axis I upon which it is fixed. Betwixt the

page_text: inch
pinion and the plate on the right-hand side the block of wood, there must
be put a collar of brass to make up the whole length of two inches and
an half.
A broad-headed screw at the extremity of the iron axis I fixes
all this work, and when it is necessary to repair, clean, or oil any part of
the movement, this broad-headed screw being taken out sets all at liberty.
The pinion and collar come off on the inside the box N, and the round spindle
or axis I comes out on the outer or other side; the long pinion M is essentially
necessary, as it admits of pinion wheels O of different diameters with any
number of teeth, from sixteen to forty-eight, to work upon it from one common
center, as will appear afterwards. The block of wood before mentioned forms
the left-hand side of the box N; two boards three quarters of an inch thick
form the front and back part of the box; a board three quarters of an inch
thick forms the bottom, and on the right-hand side is a door that opens out-
wards; the top or cover is a brass plate, about seven inches square and a
quarter of an inch thick. When the whole is put together it forms a cube of
nearly six inches withinside. In or near the center in the bottom of the box
is a round hole, three quarters of an inch diameter; on the outside of the
bottom is fixed a brass plate, let in level with the surface, about four inches
long by one inch and a quarter broad, with a hole three quarters of an
diameter. By means of two staples rivetted into this plate, a flat double-iron
bolt P with a spring upon it slides into a rebatement turned out of the
upright iron shaft or spindle Q, as will be seen in the Drawing of the separate
parts. By slipping the bolt back the upright spindle Q is readily taken out,
and by pushing it forwards it confines the spindle from rising or sinking, and
to all intents answers the purpose of a step or stop for the spindle to turn upon.
The upright shaft or spindle Q is about eight inches long, the lower part pro-
jecting under the bottom of the box through the bolt P about an inch, then a
circular grove for the bolt P to slide into. This is turned out of the iron about
one eighth of an inch deep and as much wide. The shaft is round at the lower
end, and three quarters of an inch diameter; at two inches from the circular
grove it becomes square. On this square part the different pinion wheels O
are fixed, the upper part is again turned round; this upper round part passes
through a round hole in the brass top D of the box N, corresponding with the
diameter of the round part of the spindle. The spindle rises one quarter of an
inch above the upper surface of the brass top D, and here it is again formed
into a square of half an inch; on this square shoulder the different seed plates
are put by a square mortice in their centers, corresponding with this square
upper projecting part of the upright spindle Q. In order the better to shew

page_text: this iron spindle, a separate Drawing of it is added, marked Q, 9. The seed
plates for different seeds differ somewhat, but are all round, flat, and made of
brass. As they cannot be seen in the place where they work between C and D,
separate Drawings of them are therefore added. That for wheat, R, is some-
thing more than six inches diameter, and rather more than one-eighth of an
inch thick. Two open channels or circles are cut through it near the circum-
ference; these are connected by bars alternately disposed, so that there is little
or no interruption to the seed dropping as the plate turns round. These open
spaces with the interposing rim are about an inch wide in the plate for beans
or peas, S; there is only one open circle, about an inch wide, with sixteen thin
partitions to connect the rim with the body of the plate; this is brass, nearly
half an inch thick, and of the same diameter as the other; the partitions are
flush with the bottom of the plate, but do not rise more than half way up the
rim on the upper side. This will better appear from the Drawing S. The
plate for turnips, rape, lucern, or other smaller seeds, T, must be about six
inches diameter, something thicker than the diameter of a turnip seed, but not
equal to two; the holes must be made as appears in the Drawing, and to open
successively upon the opening in the brass table D, upon which all the seed
plates turn, and made large enough to contain four or five seeds, more or less,"
as they are ordered. The number of holes in this seed plate may be more or
less, as ordered, for in this article persons differ about the quantity of seed they
think necessary to be sowed in a given space. In order to connect the seed
box B with the lower box N, between which two the seed plates move, as
above described, there must be fixed near the four corners of the brass plate D
on the top of the box N four round upright pillars; these are about one
quarter of an inch diameter, and about an inch and a half long; they may be
made of brass or iron, or may be rivetted into the four corners of the brass top
of the box N. Four round mortices are to be made in the bottom of the seed
box B, corresponding with these upright pillars; the seed box must be put on
these pillars and slipped down, and then, by means of four thumb screws which
screw into the bottom of the box B laterally and horizontally, and act against
the upright pillars, the box may be kept in its position. The bottom of the
seed box B is a square piece of wood (beech, mahogany, or other close-grained
wood is what I have used), nearly seven inches square and one inch and a
quarter thick, perfectly smooth and level; this has four holes through it,
corresponding with the four upright pillars, before mentioned, and likewise a
large semicircular opening, five inches long and an inch wide. Through part
of this opening the seed descends from the box above, and part of it is occupied

page_text: by the brushes, hereafter mentioned; but as this cannot appear in the machine
when it is together, a separate Drawing is made of it, U, which represents the
under side of it with the brushes that act upon the seed plates. This wooden
table forms the bottom of the seed box or hopper B. This hopper may be
formed of wood, tin, copper, or rolled iron, and made to contain from one
gallon to two; a triangular piece of wood or brass is fixed by a screw near
the center of this wooden table U, and is made to slide and covers the opening
in it towards the right hand of it for about half way, and under the bristle
bar +, and the brush +, +, hereafter mentioned, are placed; it is made to
slide for the purpose of taking out, repairing, or changing the brushes,
and a separate Drawing is made of it, U, U, which represents the upper
side of the bottom and the triangular sliding cover. When the seed plate
is put upon the square shoulder of the upright spindle Q, which projects
above the brass top D of the lower box N, then the seed box or hopper
B must be put on and fixed by the lateral horizontal thumb screws, and
the seed plate will then, by the action of the great wheel L, by means of the
pinion M and the pinion wheel O, turn horizontally upon the brass table D
without any resistance but what is occasioned by the seed passing under the
bristle barr. There must be a semicircular opening in the brass table D (of
which, as it cannot be seen in its place in the Drawing, a seperate Drawing is
made of it, V,) about two inches long and one inch wide; this must be to the
right of the bristle barr + in the table C or U, that nothing mayfall through
it from the opening in C or U till it has passed under the bristle bar +, and
the opening in the table C or U being to the left of the bristle bar +, no
seed can escape when the seed plate stands still; but so soon as this is put
in motion, whatever is received from the seed box into the open channels
of the seed plate as they pass under this opening is forced by the divisions in
the seed plate under the bristle barr +, and so soon as they have passed under
that bar they drop through the opening in the brass table D or V into a per-
pendicular conducting pipe W, which conveys them downwards to the moveable
conducting pipe X, and that deposits them upon the ground. This pipe W is
made of tin, and joins close under the opening in the table D or V, and is as
wide at top as that opening, narrowing as it descends through the box N, and
is fastened against the inside of the front of that box. On the under or outside
of the bottom of the box N is fixed an oblique flat conducting pipe, made of
strong tin, or thin iron, or copper. ✗; this comes immediately under and
receives the seed from the pipe W. This pipe X turns on a round iron rod or
swivel, that is passed through a hole in a flat piece of copper projecting from

page_text: the bottom of the box N, and is fixed on the fore part of the box N on the
outside, and by means of a strong spring acting against this rod or swivel in a
groove turned out of it near the top, and the upper end of the rod being confined
in a round iron staple that will admit it to turn round in it, the rod and pipe
are kept from slipping down, and may be turned to the right or left under the
bottom of the machine to drop the seed in what part of the furrow the user
thinks fit; but as this pipe and the rod and spring cannot be seen in the
machine as put together, a seperate Drawing of the pipe and rod are made, Y,
and of the front part of the box, with the spring and staple which confine it,
Z. The seed plates are put in motion by the motion of the wheel upon the
ground L, which is communicated to them when they are put on the spindle
Q by means of the pinion M acting upon the pinion wheels O; these pinion
wheels O may be made of brass, or cast or forged iron, and in size may be
from two inches diameter to five, with any number of teeth required. What I
have used have been wheels with twenty-four, thirty-two, and forty teeth; the
rim of the wheel is about half an inch deep, and a quarter of an inch thick;
on the upper side of the center there is a collar, which rises about an inch
above the upper side of the wheel; there is a square mortice through this
collar, corresponding with the square of the upright spindle Q, upon which it
is put, lodging upon that part of the spindle towards the bottom, where it is
round. On the collar, on the upper part all round it, is a shoulder, projecting
horizontally a quarter of an inch, under which comes the end of the horizontal
arm of a leaver of iron of this form L, fixed to the inside of the box N on that
side that is next the plowman. By means of a strong wire passing from the top
of the upright arm of the leaver L through the box N towards the plowman,
and a cord from the wire to the plowman he can at any time raise up the
pinion wheel O, so as to clear it from the pinion M, and stop it from working
or moving the seed plate as long as he pleases, though the plow be going on,
and the wheel on the ground L in motion all the time, and again by letting go
the cord, wheel O will fall immediately down upon the pinion M, and instantly
renew its work; and by this means turnip, rape, lucern, and other smaller
seeds may be sown in drills or rows in what intervals the user thinks proper.
As the lever is fixed on the side of the box N, which in the Drawing is taken
away to shew the mode in which the machine works, a separate Drawing is
made, A 2, which represents the situation and operation of the lever upon the
pinion wheel. The operation of this lever gives the machine several conve-
niences, particularly in going to the field or returning; it likewise gives the
plowman a perfect command over the instrument. If intervals are required

page_text: betwixt the rows, as in sowing peas, beans, or wheat, this is soon effected by
raising the pinion wheel out of work, at the user's discretion. When it is kept
in constant movement, and sows the seed in every furrow, it is then the same
as broad-cast sowing, with this difference, that one half the quantity of seed
may be saved, or, in other words, the farmer may sow what number of grains
in every yard length of furrow he thinks proper. The wheat seed plate I have
in use delivers out every revolution it makes three drams in weight, with little
or no variation; this weight in counting amounts to three hundred grains or
thereabouts. The first or large wheel on the ground is nearly sixty-five inches
in circumference. When the pinion wheel with twenty-four teeth is in work
the plow will open a furrow one hundred and ninety-five inches, or nearly
five yards and an half for one revolution of the seed plate, and the machine
drop above fifty grains of wheat every yard. When the pinion wheel with
thirty-two teeth is at work the plow will go something more than seven
yards; there would then drop something more than forty seeds every yard.
When the forty-toothed wheel is at work the plow will go nine yards, and
in that compass about thirty-four seeds would drop every yard. I have not
computed the distance the plow goes, nor the number of grains dropped
in a yard with a mathematical exactness, because in an operation of this
kind it is not necessary. By making the channels in the seed plates greater
or less, or by changing the pinion wheel for others with more or less teeth,
the machine may be made to drop precisely any quantity named. When it
is necessary to change the pinion wheel O for a different one, it is done
immediately by drawing back the bolt P under the bottom of the machine,
which lets the upright spindle Q fall down; the pinion wheel is theu taken off,
another put on the spindle, the spindle replaced with the upper end in the
brass top of the box, and the bolt P, sliding upon the circular groove in the
lower end of the spindle, fastens and fits it for work immediately; a separate
Drawing of the bolt is added, marked B2. What remains to be described are
the brushes or bars of hogs' bristles. These are let into the large open space
in the wooden table C or U before mentioned, under the triangular sliding
cover above described, and stand perpendicular to the horizontal seed plates;
they are readily taken out to be repaired, and as soon replaced again; their
elasticity prevents their injuring the corn in passing under them. They are
the only part of the machine that can fairly be injured by use, and as these
may require renewing, it will be necessary to be particular in describing the
manner of making them. The brass frame consists of two parts; the first a
strong plate of brass, about one inch and an half long and three quarters of

page_text: an inch broad; upon this are rivetted two cheeks of brass, about the eighth
of an inch thick and a quarter of an inch broad, so as to leave an open space
betwixt the cheeks an inch wide. The cheeks must be in length the thickness
of the wooden table, before mentioned; when these are rivetted together I call
them one part of the frame. The other part consists of a strong brass plate,
one inch and an half long by three quarters; two holes must be drilled through
the former part to admit two screws, and this last must have two female
screw holes. Fill the vacancy in the first part mentioned with the best Russia
bristles, dust some powdered rosin among them, fill it as full as it will contain,
then apply the other part, and pass two wires through the screw holes to
preserve the communication, then put the whole into a hand vice and screw it
hard, apply the upper part to a hot iron, burn off the redundant bristles, and
continue the heat till the rosin is melted and the whole cemented together;
when it is cool take out the wires and put in the screws; the bristles below
the cheeks must be cut off level with the cheeks by a broad chisel. This brush
or bar is fixed even with the upper surface of the seed plate, and a separate
Drawing of it is made, C2. The second brush, to the right of this, is made in
the same manner, only a piece of brass is rivetted in the middle space betwixt
the two cheeks to divide the brush into two parts; the bristles here are left
longer than the cheeks by the eighth of an inch. The use of this brush is to
sweep out any grain that may accidentally lodge in the open channels of the
wheat seed plate, and force them back again down the conducting pipe. A
separate Drawing is made of this brush, D 2. The brush for beans and peas is
made exactly in the same manner, only the bristles must not be cut off square
with the cheeks of the brass frame, but left a quarter of an inch longer than
the cheeks of the frame. When the bean plate is intended to be used, the
former brush for wheat, marked in the separate Drawing C 2, must be taken
out, and this put in its place; the second or double brush D 2 need not be
removed, as it does not act in that case; a separate Drawing of this brush for
beans and peas is added, marked E 2. I think fit to say one word more about
the effect produced by means of the roller K and universal joint H, above
particularly described, on which, with the horizontal movements of the seed
plate, as applied to the purpose of this machine, I principally build my claim
of right and property to this Invention. The roller is contrived to move between
a frame F, as above mentioned, by which the wheel is enabled to move up
and down and get over obstructions, and at the same time is prevented from
turning either to the right or left, as it otherwise would do, or impeding the
action of the pinion M with the horizontal wheel O, which is never inter-

page_text: rupted by the rising or falling of the wheel on the land L; and it has been
found on trial that the two iron arms to this frame F should be placed within
about two inches of the lower part of the frame, as the large wheel never
sinks much below the center of its motion, but in passing over obstructions
rises greatly above it, which distinction appears in the Drawing F 2; and there
is also another separate Drawing G 2, which shews the iron plate through
which the spindle passes into the box from the universal joint.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-
third day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand seven.
hundred and eighty-four.
AND BE IT REMEMBRED, that on the Twenty-third day of November
in the year above mentioned, the said Jervas Wright came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing herein contained and specified, in form above men-
tioned. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the
tenor of the Statute made in the sixth year of the reign of their Majesties
King William and Queen Mary of England, and so forth.