IMPROVEMENTS IN FRAMES FOR HORTICULTURAL AND VEGETATIVE PURPOSES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Wilkins, of Walworth, in the County of
Surrey, and of the Experimental Garden, in the County of Berks, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FRAMES FOR HORTICULTURAL AND
VEGETATIVE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 13th April 1858, and dated the 15th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Wilkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th October 1857.
I, EDWARD WILKINS, of Walworth, in the County of Surrey, and of the
Experimental Garden, Reading, in the County of Berks, do hereby declare
the nature of my Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FRAMES FOR HORTICULTURAL
AND VEGETATIVE PURPOSES," to be as follows:--
My Invention consists in making frames or boxes (for cultivating plants)
of glass, iron, wood, or other material, with small openings or perforations at
the lower part thereof, and in suspending such frames or boxes within an outer
frame or casing, so as to form or leave a space or enclosure for the circulation
of air or vapour, either cold or artificially heated, around such inner frames or
boxes. The outer frames or casings may be formed either of brickwork or of
metal, or of wood or other suitable material, and I suspend the inner frames or
boxes at such a height or distance from the ground or floor as to admit of a
trough containing liquid being passed underneath, and raised when required
to supply moisture to the plants contained in the inner frames or boxes. And
in making metal frames (for supporting boxes or pots containing plants) in the
form of a tree, by taking moulds from the tree itself, and afterwards making
castings, either solid or hollow, from such mouldings, I connect the several
parts of the castings together by means of sockets and screw nuts, or otherwise,

page_text: and at the end of each branch, or as many thereof as I may wish, I affix a metal
ring or frame for holding a box or pot, which boxes or pots should have per-
forations or small openings at their lower parts, for convenience of supplying
liquid to the plants contained therein, when necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Wilkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
WILKINS, of Walworth, in the County of Surrey, and of the Experimental
Garden, Reading, in the County of Berks, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October; in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Wilkins, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Wilkins,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Wilkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FRAMES FOR
HORTICULTURAL AND VEGETATIVE PURPOSES, "upon the condition (amongst others)
that I; the said Edward Wilkins, my executors or adminstrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Wilkins; do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in making frames or boxes (for cultivating
plants) of glass, iron, wood, or other material; with small openings or per-
forations at the lower part thereof, and in suspending such frames or boxes
within an outer frame or casing, so as to form or leave a space or enclosure.

page_text: for the circulation of air or vapour, either cold or artificially heated, around
such inner frames or boxes.
My improved frames or boxes may be constructed of various shapes and
sizes, and of various materials, and I will proceed to describe some of those
which I believe will be generally useful. For hothouses, I construct frames
with the bottoms, sides, and ends of perforated porcelain or glass joined
together by metal or wood framing, and mounted each on four legs, which legs
I affix to the upper part of the frame, and bend or form them a little outward
from the frame, so as to allow space for the trough (hereafter described) to be
raised, and the sides thereof to pass between the frame and its legs. The legs
are sufficiently long to suspend or hold the frame or box at such a height or
distance from the ground or floor as to admit of a shallow trough or vessel
containing liquid being passed underneath, and raised or lifted when required
to supply liquid manure to the plants contained in the frame or box. The
trough or vessel I make of iron or tin, and, in large establishments, it will
be 'convenient to mount it on small wheels, to facilitate its removal from
beneath one frame to another, and to furnish it with a lever or screw appa-
ratus, to raise and lower it as required. I prefer to make the frames or boxes
of an oblong shape; and in large hothouses, for the cultivation of tropical
plants of large size, I-mount a number of them side by side, between walls of
brickwork, or of metal, or of wood, or other suitable material, so as to enclose
the series of them on all sides, except the upper side, within an outer frame or.
casing, leaving a sufficient space between the inner frames or boxes and the.
outer casing for the circulation of air or vapour, either cold or artificially
heated around such inner frames or boxes. A door must be formed in the.
outer casing beneath each separate inner frame or box, to admit of the trough
being passed under and raised, to supply liquid when required. The series of
frames or boxes may be heated by hot air or water pipes passing through the.
space between the outer casing and the inner frames; or, steam may be
introduced from a boiler placed in any convenient situation, either outside:
or within the building. These improved frames or boxes may be adapted to.
various situations, and in various ways. For instance, I place one or more of
them between the ordinary glazed window of a room and an outer glazed
frame or window, leaving sufficient space between the two to admit of the
frame and the plants to be cultivated therein, so that, as required, either the
inner window may be opened to admit warmth to the plants from a fire in
the apartment, as well as to permit the fragrance of the plants to be diffused
therein; or the inner window.may be closed and the outer one opened, to
admit the atmosphere. A frame similar to the ordinary hot-bed frame may

page_text: also be constructed by connecting several small frames together, and raising
the whole a little distance from the ground, to admit of the trough being
passed underneath, and lifted or raised when required to supply liquid. Flower
stands also may be constructed by suspending several franies or boxes at the
same or different levels, on suitable framework of.any desired shape, by means
of brackets or otherwise.
I do not limit myself to any particular size or form, nor to any particular
materials, as it is evident they may be considerably varied.
My improved frames are adapted for the passage of an electric wire through
a number of them from a single- battery, should it be thought desirable to
apply it...
My Invention consists, secondly, in making metal frames (for supporting
boxes, or pots containing plants) in the form of the stem and main branches of
a tree, by taking moulds from the tree itself, and afterwards making castings,
either solid or hollow, from such mouldings. To form a mould, I procure a
tree of the kind desired and strip it of its leaves, and remove such branches
as I may wish, and then form a mould from it in the ordinary way of making
moulds for casting metals, and I then cast the frame from such mould, and
finish and polish the same in the ordinary way; or, I cut the tree into several
parts, and form separate moulds for each part, and after casting I connect the
several parts together by means of sockets and screw nuts, or otherwise. At
the end of each branch of the casting, or as many thereof as desired, I affix
a metal ring or frame for holding a box or pot, which boxes or pots may have
perforations or small openings at their lower parts, for convenience of supplying
liquid to the plants contained therein, when necessary; or at the ends of the
branches I form screws, on to which my patent vases can readily be screwed.
The boxes, pots, or vases may readily be removed from the frame when
required to supply them with liquid..
"
Several of the above-described castings of the same or of different sizes:
may be attached to à casting representing the lower part of the trunk of a
tree, with portions of the root.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Wilkins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
TD WITIZING
INS. (..)
WIND