AN IMPROVED SPADE ORB, DIGGING IMPLEMENT
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Edward Gedge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st
-
July 1866. A communication from abroad by Marie Naslot, of 39,
Faubourg St. Martin', Paris, France.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of. John Gedge and Son, of No. 11,,
Wellington Street, Strand, in the, County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do.
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SPADE ORB,
DIGGING IMPLEMENT," (a communication to me from abroad by Marie Naslot,,
of 39, Faubourg St. Martin, Paris, France,) to be as follows:-
The agricultural implement which forms the object of this Invention is of
an entirely novel arrangement; it has, the shape of a lengthened spade, it is,
divided into two parts, the one full or solid, the other hollowed out; the
full or solid part which commences at the bottom of the socket may be more
or less spread, and the hollowed out part presents the shape of a trident,
the instrument therefore commences in a sort of fork and finishes by a spade.
The part devoted to the spade work, properly so called, that is to say, the
solid part, may form one-third of the instrument, and the teeth may be lance-
shaped, that is to say, finish in a point and gradually enlarge until they
mingle and blend in the solid part. The centre of the spade forms a pro-
jecting rib, from which to the two side edges is a concave part intended to
receive the soil and permit its being piled on the spade in larger quantities, it
also facilitates its division at the moment that the solid part of the instrument
enters the earth, the parts between the teeth form cutting edges and are

page_text: steeled and tempered. The projecting rib is continued to the extremity, and
by its projection divides the central prong into two parts.
This instrument may be modified as follows:-The solid part may occupy
half the tool, and the teeth or prongs the other half. This tool is more
suitable for making embankments when the labourer wishes to work
rapidly, the instrument by the aid of its teeth entering the earth without
much pressure. The solid part may be concave as in the preceding tool, and
thus receive a large quantity of earth. The edges of the teeth of the fork are
formed to cut, and the middle tooth or prong is divided as in the preceding by
a rib which gives to this tooth a sharp ridge, if desired the rib may be
of an irregular shape. This arrangement might also be applied in front of
each tooth of the spade if desired. The teeth differ in this modification from
those of the preceding tool, being on the contrary lengthened so as to present
an equal thickness in nearly their entire length, and they leave at their lower
part near the cutting edge a considerable open space.
Another modification brings this. instrument still nearer to the pitchfork,
from which however it differs in several essential points. This tool, intended
for cultivation more than for any other purpose, presents in each hollowed or
cut out part two cutting edges face to face; these cutters divide the earth,
and as the hollowed part does not leave a very large open space the earth
detached from the ground by the insertion of this instrument may be easily
removed. This arrangement will not permit the soil, however heavy and
clayey, to pile on the tool. The solid part of the instrument is terminated by
cutting edges as in the preceding, and they may be arranged at will in the
same manner.
The instrument last described differs completely from the ordinary fork not
only by the arrangement of its prongs but also by its full or solid part, which
forms an important part of the tool as well as a part not hitherto employed.