Improved Manufacture of Merchantable Material from Thistle
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Apr., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 7th June, 1887.
[Communicated from abroad by EMILLIE HENRIETTA MAUD CASTON, of the City of
Toronto, in the County of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, Spinster.]
Improved Manufacture of Merchantable Material from Thistle
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the county of Middlesex, M.I.M.E.
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of the invention is to produce a merchantable article composed of thistle-
down;
and it consists, in the process hereinafter described by which the desired
product is obtained.
Figure 1, represents a view of a thistle.
Figure 2, is a view of the thistle as it will appear in the first portion of the process.
Figure 3 is a view of the thistle as it will appear in the second portion of the
process.
Figure 4, is a view of the thistle as it will appear after the third portion of the
process.
Figures 5 and 6, are views of the finished product.
A represents the flower or down of the thistle, from which the merchantable product
secured by my invention is inade. This product may be made in the form of pom
pons, as shown in figure 5, or for plain trimming, as shown in figure 6, or in any other
form or style whether for trimming or otherwise which the material may be adapted
for.
In the preparation of the thistle down, I first tie the top of the flower, as shown in
figure 2. I then remove the stock and bristles, leaving the roots of the flower or down
exposed, as shown in figure 3. If I wish to make the down of a single thistle into a
pom pon, I insert a wire, B, through the flower or down and twist it together so as to
form an artificial stock, as shown in the drawing. The wire also assists in binding
together the top of the flower. Having tied the head of the flower together and
removed the stock, leaves, and bristles so as to expose the roots of the flower I place the
Dine CZ1

page_text: thistle thus prepared into an oven heated to a quick baking temperature, keeping the
thistles in the oven until they are slightly browned. This cooking process will cause
the root end of the flower to expand into the form suggested by figure 4. Single pom
pons may be made in this manner, or the material thus prepared may be sewn together
so as to form any style of trimming desired.. The flower or down may be trimmed
into any desired shape, and it may also be dyed any colour required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The within described process for preparing thistle flower or down into merchant-
able material, which process consists in tieing or otherwise securing together the top
of the flower or down, removing the stock and bristles, and subjecting the flower or
down to heat for a short period, substantially as specified.
2. As a new article of manufacture the product of the within described process
prepared substantially in the manner specified.