CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR THE CULTURE AND TILLAGE OF LAND
Year: 1818

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DYSON, of Watford, in the County of Hertford, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the fifty-eighth year of His
reign,, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Dyson, His special licence, that I, the said John Dyson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Dyson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to tinic and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within Eugland, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR THE CULTURE AND TILLAGE OF LAND;" in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said
John Dyson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in His
Majesty High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John
Dyson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the manner

page_text: in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained in the plan
hereunto annexed, and the following explanation thereof, that is to say:—
There is shewn in the annexed Drawing, Fig. 1, a plan of the apparatus ;
Fig. 2, a section of a portion thereof, on the off side; and Fig. 3, a section of
a corresponding portion, on the near side. The same letters refer to the same
parts in these Figures, and all the other Figures in the annexed Drawing.
A is a carriage, with shaft, axle, and wheels, and a small platform for carry-
ing the different parts of the apparatus. To the back part of this carriage are
fixed strongly two upright bars of iron B, B, with a row of holes in each, the
holes being one above the other; these holes are for the purpose of receiving
the hooks of two links C, C, which links vary in length, that on the off side
being shorter than the other, and having a hook and eye, where it attaches
to the carriage, in order to facilitate the shifting and working of the machine.
The hooks are retained in whichever of the holes may be requisite by keys,
that drop into a mortice in the part projecting through the hole. In the links
are holes at the points D, D, D, D, D, D, for pins, which are formed in the
manner of bolts, with nuts on the upper side, so that they may be taken out
and shifted readily. E, F, are two strong cast-iron bars, which I call beams,
the ends of which enter between the links, and are secured there by the before-
mentioned pins, passing through one of the holes near each end of the beams, and
through the holes in the links. The nuts on these pins should not be screwed
hard up, because though it is necessary to retain the beams firmly, and prevent
them from twisting, yet it facilitates the working of the machine materially to
allow some play in the joints D, D, D, D. The diagonal position in which the
beams are shewn in the plan, Fig. 1, is found much preferable to a straight
one. The machine might be worked with the beams placed differently, but in
all respects to great disadvantage, principally, however, with regard to the
clods of earth, clearing the cutting instruments, and the turning of the machine
while at work; and it is to be observed that the machine should always turn
towards the near side. The beams E, F, have perpendicular holes through
them for the purpose of receiving shares or cutters G, G, G, G, G, of either of
the three forms shewn in Figures 4, 5, and 6, or any other that may be required
for moving the ground, drawing out weeds, or paring the surface; the holes are
square to prevent these instruments from twisting, and whatever may be the
form of the lower parts of the cutters or shares, the upper part of each should
be shaped as the upper part of those shewn in Figures 4, 5, and 6, and they
should be so formed, than when fixed in the holes the point at the lower end
may be directed towards the front of the machine. The beam E has twelve
square holes in it, as shewn in the plans, Fig. 1, 8, 9, and the section, Fig. 7.

page_text: There is a boss on the lower side of each hole for making up the strength of
the beam at that part. The bosses of those holes where the joints D, D, are
formed do not descend so far as the others; the reason is, that in the front
beam the cutting instruments are occasionally required to be in those holes, as
appears in the section, Fig. 3, and the plan, Fig. 9, and the upper part of
them then supplies the place of the pin, and in that case they require to be
used with clamps H, H, as shewn in Fig. 3, and more particularly in Fig. 4,
which contains a transverse section of the beam at that part. When the nut
of the cutting instrument is screwed hard up, so as properly to secure it in the
beam, these clamps bite upon the beam and leave the link at liberty, so that
the machine has as mnch play as ever; but it is to be observed, that with a
view to this, the front holes in the links require to be larger than is necessary
for the round pins, but it is better to have larger pins in these holes than in
the joints of beam F. The beam F has seven square holes and two round
holes for the pins that form the joints at D, D. The number of holes in each
beam might be varied of course, but the precise numbers here specified, and
situated as shewn in the Drawing, Figures 1, 8, and 9, will be found most
convenient in practice. It is intended that the shares or cutters in the bar F
should in the action of the machine move the ground in the spaces missed by the
cutters in the bar E; and all the lines described by the different cutters should
be at equal distances. The kind of instruments, and the number employed at
once, must on every occasion be regulated by the judgment of the person using
the machine, according to the nature and the state of the soil, and the particular
object to be effected by it, such as moving the ground, and clearing it of weeds,
paring the surface, &c., &c.
. With respect to the number of instruments, I have found that the following
three arrangements suffice for every different state of soil, and for clearing
out weeds and paring the surface, under any circumstances, viz: 1st, two in
the front beam E and three in the beam F, as in the plan, Fig. 1; 2ndly,
four in the beam E and four in the beam F, as in the plan, Fig. 8; 3rdly,
eight in the beam E and seven in the beam F, as in the plan, Fig. 9. The
kind of instruments may be varied also; for instance, cutters, as shewn in
Fig. 3, in both beams, or cutters in the beam E and tines, as Fig. 5, in the
bean F; or tines in both beams, or cutters in the beam E and broad shares,
as Fig. 6, in the beam F, or broad shares in both beams, and so on. The
beam F may be shifted and fixed, either as it is the plans, Figs. 1 and 8, or
as it is in the plan, Fig. 9. By having a great number of holes D, D, the
range of its shifting might be extended, but it is not necessary. When the
ground is fine they are best at the distance of a foot apart; at other times

page_text: they should be about eighteen inches. The beams might be made to shift
also endways, by having other holes with bosses adapted for entering between
the links, but that plan would not be attended with any particular advantage.
There are particular implements with one beam and two beams in use at
present for the various purposes of agriculture. My Invention consists in
rendering one machine applicable to all of them, by the opportunity resulting
from the construction, above described, of shifting and varying the number of
cutting instruments and shares, and of shifting one or both of the beams, and
also in giving play in the joints where the beams are attached to the appa-
ratus for drawing them forward, which greatly facilitates the movement and
guidance of the machine. I have also invented collars for the purpose of
setting the cutting instruments higher or lower, according as they may be
required to penetrate the earth, or according as they wear. These are merely
square hoops of iron, made to slip easily on to the square part of the cutting
instruments, varying from half inch to two inches in depth; and cach machine
being supplied with a sufficient number, the cutting instruments, which have
each a collar wrought upon them, may be fixed lower by setting one or more
of these moveable collars upon them below the beam E or F, but above their
own collar, and then screwing them up there, and the screw at top should be
of sufficient length to screw the instrument up to its place, either without
any collar, or with the deepest collar it may at any time be requisite to use.
These moveable collars are shewn in the section Fig. 4, marked k. I have
also invented two wrought-iron arms, shewn in Fig. 10, I, the top part of
which fix into the end holes in one or other of the beams, and the lower part
is bent and shaped so as to carry a wheel answerable to the wheels of the
carriage A, and the machine becomes moveable with perfect facility when
one of these is fixed on each side of the machine, viz., one in the outermost
hole of the beam E and the other in the outermost hole of the beam F; but
it should be understood that these are only required for conveying the appa-
ratus from place to place; on putting it to work they must be taken off.
The dimensions might of course be varied, but according to my experience I
have shewn in the Drawing those which are most eligible. As for the materials,
1 recommend the carriage A to be of wood, the links wrought iron, the beams
cast iron, and the shares or cutters of wrought iron, edged and pointed with
steel.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Dyson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighteen.
JOHN (L.S.) DYSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-fourth day of
July, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Jolin Dyson came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also
the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Twenty-fourth of July, in the year above written.