IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND IN APPLIANCES FOR HARVESTING AND PRESERVING CROPS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Henry Cradock Mouckton, of the Oriental
Bank Corporation, Threadneedle Street, London, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND IN APPLIANCES FOR
HARVESTING AND PRESERVING CROPS."
Scaleil the 16th November 1869, and dated the 14th August 1869.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Edward Heury Cradock
Monckion at the Office: of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition and. Declaration, on the 14th August 1869, pursuant
to the 9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
...
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD!
HENRY CRADOCK MONCKTON; of the Oriental Bank Corporation, Thread-
neodle Street, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS an in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND IN, APPLIANCES FOR HARVESTING AND PRESERVING
CROPS," and, have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the
Price S1

page_text: UW KNOW IE, that 1, the sand Edward Henry Cradock Moncktoll,
do hereby declare that the following Complete Specification, under my
hand and seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by
the following statement;
I improve the system of steam ploughing by the introduction of lamps
on the ploughs and other implements, and by placing lamps on the
engine and in other suitable situations according to the system adopted.
By having a lamp to turn a dark side, like a dark lanthorn, signals are
made, and also by raising and lowering lamps by means of cords and
pullies both on the plough and on the engine, by this means ploughing
and other work can be done as well by night as by day, and thus most
valuable time saved in good weather, and the land be prepared for
sowing at the first favorable opportunity; with stiff clay soils this
advantage is immense, for with wet weather and the soil cutting up like
so much liver it had better be left alone. A small lime light apparatus
could be also used near the engine if thought desireable; any simple
signals previously arranged could be carried out between the engine
driver and ploughmen, and a powerful whistle is also used to warn the
engine driver when to stop, the whistle being sounded once, twice, or
oftener, as agreed. I use a fixed engine with coiling drums at a
homestead, and a wire rope attached to each side of a frame by which
to draw it backwards and forwards; this frame is mounted on 2, 4, or
more wheels; this rope is made to pass over suitable pullies or snatch
blocks attached to stationary posts fixed in the ground; to this frame is
attached, as required, all the agricultural implements necessary, such as
for ploughing, clod crushing, harrowing, grubbing, sowing, cultivating.
watering, &c., with frames and baskets for harvesting and cleaning the
ground. Narrow strips of either grass or hard material as gravel or
bricks may be laid down to support the wheels and prevent them sinking,
while the tension of the rope on the fixed pullies on either side keeps the
frame in its proper course without the necessity for either any grinding
apparatus or a man to steer. The frame may be made of any desired
width, according to the power of the engine, from 60 to 200 feet, and
the wheels, where such was desired from the soft nature of the ground

page_text: may be shod with wheels as now done in cart wheels to prevent sinking
where it was not desired to make paths. By this means by drawing the
apparatus backwards and forwards the strip of ground first ploughed.
could be finished off as regards dressing, sowing, and harrowing, if the
land was in a suitable condition without a shift. The number of ploughs
attached to the frame would be determined by the power of the engine
and the strength of the apparatus itself; to shift this frame it would by
preference be run on to a headland at the end furthest off and on to a
moveable truck, which would be then pushed forward till the frame was
brought with its centre opposite to another fixed post and pulley, and
the wheels could be run up on the next lines of hard gravel, &c., the
snatch blocks or pullies with the ropes would be transferred from the
first posts to other posts alongside, and the process be repeated. To
cause the rope to coil evenly on the drums there would be pullies at
each end of the field, and the rope would pass from the pullies on these
posts to the pullies facing the drums, thus all the advantages of a guide-
way system would be gained without any expensive guideway or rail,
and without moveable engines transporting their own weight in addition
to the work to be done by a strong common fixed engine, which could
simultaneously be used for the work of the farm or homestead. This
system could by a suitable arrangement of fixed posts and pullies be
carrried out on land situated all round an engine, fixed in a central
position to the extent of blocks of from 50 to 100 acres, and it would
be found much cheaper to work on this principle than by any other, and
the engine might if desired be moved from block to block and be there
bolted down and rendered stationary, each block would then have its
own centre, and its depot for coals and water, with its yard for ricks,
stacks, &c., and also its cottage and yards with a drying apparatus if
desired. On a smaller scale this system would be found most suitable
for market gardens, as the liquid manure could be always distributed to
the exact spot required, and that even under ground. The frame could
be used by night as well as by day by attaching lamps also to it. Where
the ploughing engine is moveable a small moveable or fixed engine may
advantageously be used in each block, which would be of sufficient
power to be used in all the subsequent processes up to harvesting. The
plough frame could also be made moveable by having transverse axles
to which the wheels could be shifted; a lighter frame could be used by
the farmer, which could also be made moveable from block to block, as

page_text: it was required; or if preferred the farmer could on light soils use his
horses to finish and harvest with, while the ploughing might be done by
contract. I attach to the bar on which the cutters of a mowing machine
are fixed another bar parallel to it behind, to which I attach pegs, so that
the grass after being cut on passing over these pegs, which have the same
reciprocating motion as the cutters becomes separated and shaken out so
as to save by this operation the labour attending the first opening out of
the grass, the grass can be again and again shaken as above by simply
removing the bar with the cutters after it is cut, and leaving on that
with the shakers. A revolving apparatus to turn the hay may easily be
attached (if preferred in lieu of the reciprocating bar, or both may be
combined. I give a reciprocating motion to the bar with the cutters by
placing parts of two reversed endless screws alternately round a rod, to
the end of which a cogged wheel is fixed, which is turned by a similar
wheel fixed on to the wheel that runs on the ground; these screws are
adjusted so as to force a peg with a roller on it, if preferred fixed on to
the reciprocating bar to a certain distance in one direction during part of
the revolution, where the screw being cut off the reverse screw takes hold
of and drives it the other way where this screw also in its turn is cut
off and the first screw again catches its peg. By this means the action
on the cutters is rendered equable throughout its cutting stroke instead
of having an unequal force applied through cranks and eccentrics.
I construct by another system my bar with its cutters in steps, so that
the bar projects in front, which moves exactly as at present, and cuts
the crop at an angle instead of in a line parallel to it, and I place a back
board at a similar or greater angle on the platform above it, by which
means the crop is slid off. at that angle by the forward motion in a
continuous side delivery, which is when desired again subdivided into
sheaves by having a divider either raised and depressed or drawn back-
wards and forwards by a lever motion at stated intervals, which may be
effected either by the band or by the machinery; and this side delivery
may be effected underneath either in the space between where the driver
sits and the horse or behind the driver, in the former case the driver
would see the sheaves delivered without turning round. The bar with
the cutters in this case might also be made straight instead of in steps
and be driven at an angle, the angles at which the knives cut being
altered accordingly.

page_text: For both reaping and mowing I also construct my cutter on the
principle of a band saw placed horizontally, sharpening the edge
between stones or steel edges at intervals, as required, as the band
knife revolves. The band knife occupies the place of the present
cutters, revolving continuously with à determinate onward cutting
motion in lieu of a reciprocating one, by which means no power is lost.
The band, which is broad, is driven by compression between two or
more rollers placed above with suitable surfaces, such as wood, leather,
or vulcanised india-rubber, and as it enters and leaves the recess now
used for the knives passes over small rollers arranged in a suitable curve,
and which are protected near the ground by projecting points. On the
same principle a rotating cutter of knives linked together cutting with
one side only may be used, and spaces left between the links for the
cogs of a propelling wheel to enter while the chain cutter was supported
beneath on a roller, which latter might be indented to receive the points
of the cogs, and thus help to bind the chain and propel it more firmly.
A shaking apparatus may also be attached to this machine when grass
is cut. The band knife may also be made with holes to receive cogs.
and the cutter may be separate but attached to the band, which may
also be bound with leather.
By another arrangement a rotating lift is attached to the back of the
cutters which receives the cut cereal and delivers it into a cart driven
alongside, but attached to the reaper so that two horses one in the cutter
the other in the cart suffices, by this means the grain can without
sheaving be taken at once to be thrashed by merely separating the
connection between the cart and reaper, and attaching an empty cart in
its place with another horse in it, thus where grain was in a suitable
condition all the trouble of sheaving, binding, and raising with all the
labour and cost of these operations would be saved, and horse power
economised also to the utmost.
I dry my crops whether hay or cereal by a novel method of exhausting
or withdrawing the damp air or moisture, and thereby causing the
atmospheric pressure to force in dry, cold, or hot air in its place. The
object attained by this means is very different from that of merely forcing
or driving in hot air, because in the latter case, in the first place, the
damp air in the crop would have to be driven out against atmospheric
pressure, which would require a comparatively speaking very great

page_text: force to accomplish, and which would become enormous if a large
quantity had to be operated upon at once, and secondly, the mass of
material to be operated on itself prevents the hot blast forced against
it from percolating the mass unless it be well shaken about as in the
case of hay, or be separated into sheaves as in the case of corn, which
in the former case could not be done except in small quantities, in
cither case requiring a subdivision, whereas by the system of exhaust
this subdivision is unnecessary, the atmospheric pressure causing dry,
cold, or hot air to rush in to fill up the vacuum, by this means a stack
that has commenced heating may be cooled down and any moisture
removed in a short time without any necessity for pulling down the rick
or stack; a fan or blower is revolved either by hand or engine with a
tube attached to its centre, the air is drawn through this tube into the
centre of the blower and is expelled by the outer tube. The central tube
is either inserted into or connected with thin perforated sheet iron.
wooden or other tubes packed into ricks or stacks, the motion of the fans
draws out the damp or hot air which is immediately supplied by atmo-
spheric pressure with fresh dry air, hot or cold from without; or else the
central tube of the blower is inserted into an orifice made into one end
of a chamber filled with damp hay or crops and then closed, the other
end of the chamber having another similar orifice placed in connection
with a tube from a coke or smokeless fire protected with one or more
wire gratings, so that should the air outside be damp, dry or hot air
could be easily sucked or drawn in, in any suitable proportions which
could be regulated by means of slide or turn valves by having two such
chambers adjoining, and one or other at pleasure placed in communica-
tion with the former at one end and the fire at the other, the one could
be emptying and filling, while the other was undergoing the drying pro-
cess, thus a waggon load could be operated on at once in each chamber or
more if so desired according to their size. By another arrangement the
exhaust may be made from above while the hot air is drawn up through
a raised perforated tile or wood floor from below.
The same principle may be applied in the field, by forming the damp
crop into cocks packed round a sheet iron perforated tube of, say, a foot
more or less in diameter, placed upright, and applying the exhaust by
connecting the centre of a common winnowing machine with the top of
the tube in the haycock by means of a canvas or other tube which

page_text: might be painted; hay making, even in dry weather, could be effected in
a less time by this means than by the more costly process of spreading
and tossing; in damp weather a coke fire could be made in a covered hole
and be protected with wire gauze, the heap being thrown on hurdles
placed over a channel leading to it, and then covered with a rick cloth.
The same principle may be applied to damp hay on a waggon heaped
over a perforated tube placed, say, horizontally in the middle. The
labour of exhausting with a blower which consists of merely drawing
moist air and letting fresh air pass into a heap is far less than the
labour attending the mechanical process of tossing the entire steam
about while on the ground and repeating that process many times over,
virtually amounting to turning the entire stack over many times; the
former is certain in its result, the latter uncertain, as is proved by the
heating of ricks supposed to be perfectly dried by the ordinary process.
The difference between forcing and exhausting air is so great that in the
former case with a very long tube air could not be forced through it,
whereas by the exhaust there is no lumit to the length the mere friction
of the tube's sides renders the former an impossibility, in the latter the
greater the exhaust the less the friction, and thus in a dense heap of hay,
straw, or other fibre the force if sufficiently great would rather blow the
heap away than force air through the dense mass, whereas by the ex-
haust the density is of little consequence. It is always easy, if so de-
sired, to separate the crop more or less by throwing on to it hurdles or
baskets; or bundles of faggots, cloths, or any materials may also be easily
dried by this means if placed in a closed room.
By using an agricultural steam engine the process of drying either in
the field or homestead may be greatly facilitated, and the process of dry-
ing be carried on while the stacks are being made cither with separate
hot air chambers, or by means of tubes laid in the stack as it was made,
and which could be withdrawn and placed higher up after the dessica-
tion was completed below by simply drawing in the dry air of the atmo-
sphere. The drying effect of a rapid current of air even on a rainy day
is far greater than people suppose, the dessication may not be perfect,
still a vast quantity of water may even under such adverse circumstances
be withdrawn and heating be entirely prevented, indeed the very circum-
stance of the stack heating would rather aid the drying process, and the
heap be preserved from rain till a dry day permitted complete drying

page_text: without pulling it down, and with it the expence of spreading and
re-collecting. Again by using on farms hot air engines, the spent hot
air could be used for drying while the same engine by a band could work
the exhaust. Wire frames of galvanised iron may be used if desired
for dividing and separating the heap.
The value of a drying process which would insure the safe harvesting
of crops at all seasons in good condition would will warrant any trifling
outlay in tubes, frames, exhausting, or heating apparatus, where it was
desired to dry without the air passing in contact with the fire, this could
be done by its being made to pass through or over heated tubes; this
could be advantageously applied to the drying of seeds and thus preserve
the germinating powers now often destroyed.
I further generate the exhaust without blowers or fanners by using a
small steam boiler with a steam blower, which by inserting the steam
tube within the exhaust one causes a violent blast, and this being drawn
from the stack at once causes a great exhaust so that any farmer with a
boiler the size of a large kettle could dry his crop in the field even with-
out any fanners or blowers or engine and the same be done more eco-
nomically at the homestead. I further use the steam blower to drive
the sheaves or straw after drying or thrashing up a tube to the top of a
stack, or into a hay loft or barn.
The system of drying by exhaust is especially applicable to the
drying and preserving grain and produce of all sorts in granaries and in
the holds of ships for drying roots and by thus partially dessicating
proserve them from becoming frost bitten. Wind or water power where
preferred can also be similarly applied in lieu of steam, &c.; sugar beet
could be thus dried and transported, by the removal of its stinking
essential oil be rendered fitter for sugar making and distillation; sea
weed may also thus be dried: the drying process may in the case of
roots be applied after the storing without removal at any convenient
spare time subsequently.
Though I always prefer to use the system of drying by exhaust, I also
make use of the steam hot air blast to force hot air into the hay or
straw, and further I combine the two operations by carrying the steam
pipe to the further end of the chamber or stack, and exhaust there while

page_text: another steam blast forces hot air into the vacuum, and thus gain &
double advantage by the application of the same means.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of
August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-nine.
EDWARD HENRY CRADOCK MONCKTON. (L.S.)