AN IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT FOR CULTIVATING LAND AND FOR SOWING SEED
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Levi Lemon Sovereign at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
November 1863.
I, LEVI LEMON SOVEREIGN, of 88, Pentonville Road, Islington, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENT FOR CULTIVATING LAND AND FOR SOWING SEED," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improved agricultural implement for
cultivating land and for sowing seeds. For these purposes I employ a frame
carrying one or more bars placed diagonally or otherwise, which carries three
or more plough bodies, each placed transversely, so that the furrow made by
the first is filled by the next, and so on usually. The implement is intended
for light and heavy work, and to plough, drill, harrow, and to sow grass and
such like seeds together or separately, as may be required.
The frame of the implement is carried by four travelling wheels, two
running in the furrow and the other two on the land, all of which are
adjusted to set the ploughs the required distance into the land as well to
work the implement on the side of the bills; these four wheels are arranged
to raise the ploughs out of work at the land's end in front, and two behind the
frame; the former are larger than the latter, and so contrived by means of a
screw acting upon each wheel that one can remain in the furrow and the
other on the land; each wheel revolves upon an arm cast on one end of a
crank, the other end of this crank is connected by means of an iron rod to a
lever at the hinder part of the implement; the two wheels at the hinder part
of the frame are arranged in a similar manner to the former, working upon

page_text: cranks by a lever, but without screws; one of these is a castor or swivel wheel
to run in a furrow, by means of the two levers the man attending the imple-
ment can raise the ploughs and lower them to their work whenever necessary.
The frames also carries an apparatus for sewing seeds behind the plough, this
consits of an hexagon box, in two sides of which a series of holes are formed,
one side arranged to sow grass and such like seeds broadcast, and the other
side to sow in rows large seeds, the sides of these holes can be adjusted to
allow any required quantity of seed to flow through them, this is done by
means of a grooved iron slide working in copper regulators, by which all the
holes may at the same time be more or less closed, as may be necessary, and
each hole is also furnished with a separate slide for entirely cutting off the
flow of seed when it is necessary to put one or more of the holes out of work,
leaving the others in action; directly opposite these holes toothed wheels or
spiked rollers are placed, which keeping the seed in motion causes it to flow
freely, the rollers being themselves kept in constant rotation so long as the
implement travels by a chain or band which passes round a gear wheel or
pulley on the axis of the toothed wheels or spiked rollers to another geared
wheel or pulley on a stud, placed on the nut in front of the frame; on the
same stud is placed a pinion gearing with and driven by a corresponding wheel
fixed on the nave of one of the large travelling wheels; at the front of the
frame are two semicircular brackets, one placed on each side, in each of these
brackets a screw is placed working into a nut made either of gun metal or
other suitable material, and of such a form that one end shall support a
spindle; on each end of this spindle a crank is fixed which carries the front
travelling wheels; on the other end of the nut, which is placed on the off side
a strut is fixed to support a pinion which gives motion to the toothed wheels
or spiked rollers, this pinion gears into the wheel placed on the nave of the
travelling wheel; by this arrangement the wheel and pinion are brought into
proper gearing at whatever depth the ploughs may be set into the ground as
also when the implement is set back into its works after turning at the
land's end.
The frame or stalk which carries the plough breast and share is of such a
form as to serve for a cultivator, tine, or stalk, by simply removing the breast
and share used for ploughing, and using in their stead an ordinary cultivator
share; in the bottom of the stalk or tine an oval hole is formed, and at the
back a ratchet is cast, through the hole a round iron shaft or spindle is placed,
one end turned conical and screwed to carry a nut, and the other end made
flat and oblong, this latter is to carry the plough or cultivator share, on the
conical end a washer is placed with ratchets to correspond with those on the

page_text: stalk, by the means of these ratchets any required incline may be given to
the share to suit the nature of the soil.
On the round iron shaft or spindle a collar is placed at the oblong end
made of such a form as to clip or carry the land side and support the front
of the breast.
The implement can be used as a paring plough by bolting a knife or blade
to the bottom of the stalk.
The above describes the improvement arranged for animal power.
To work the implement by steam power I place a reel on the top of the
frame near the centre, to which one end of the cord to propel the implement
is attached, the object of this is to contract or lengthen the cord when
ploughing oblong fields, as the case may require.
At the hinder part of the implement I purpose using an improved castor
working upon two wheels which run in the furrow; this castor consists of
three brackets, the centre having two slots or grooves, and the two outside
brackets having one slot in each, the two wheels slide to and fro in these slots
or grooves to enable the implement to be drawn forwards or backwards
without the castor revolving.