IMPROVE- MENTS IN PRESERVING POTATOES, ROOTS, PLANTS, GRAIN, AND SEEDS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry George Gray, of Commercial Wharf, Milo
End Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PRESERVING POTATOES, ROOTS, PLANTS, GRAIN, AND SEEDS."
Sealed the 22nd August. 1854, and dated the 30th June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry George Gray
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th June 1854.
I, HENRY GEORGE GRAY, of Commercial Wharf, Mile End Road, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING POTATOES, ROOTS, PLANTS, GRAIN, AND SEEDS," to
be as follows:-
This Invention consists of subjecting potatoes, roots, plants, grain, and
seeds to the action of iodine in combination with sulphates or muriates; for
this purpose it is preferred to use these matters in the state of solution, and
to steep the potatoes, grain, or seeds for a time in such solutions.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry George Gray, Her special licence that I, the said Henry George
Gray, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry George Gray, 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
PRESERVING POTATOES, ROOTS, PLANTS, GRAIN, AND SEEDS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry George Gray, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 Henry George Gray, 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):-
This Invention consists of subjecting potatoes, roots, plants, grain, and
seeds to the action of iodine, in combination with sulphates or muriates; for
this purpose it is preferred to use these matters in the state of solution, and to
steep the potatoes, grain, or seeds for a time in such solutions. In carrying
out this Invention I make a compound as follows:-To ninety parts of
sulphate of copper, sulphate of iron, or other sulphates or muriates, ground and
mixed (if necessary) with a sufficient quantity of a saturated solution of car-
bonate of potass, to nearly neutralize the free acid present, I add one part of
iodide of potassium, dissolved in an equal weight of water, and cause the whole
to be rapidly mixed and set together, so as to prevent the loss of iodine by
evaporation. I use this compound dissolved in water, in the different propor-
tions herein-after recommended, for the different seeds, plants, and roots to be
treated. For potatoes, I mix the solution in the proportion of one lb. of the
compound to four gallons of water; I then allow the potatoes to soak in the
solution for six or eight hours, according to size; I then take them out and
drain them; when dry, they are fit for planting. For fruit and rose trees,
vines and shrubs, I apply with a brush or syringe to the larger branches a

page_text: solution, containing one lb. of the compound in four gallons of water. I
loosen the ground around the roots of the plants or trees, and water the
loosened ground with a solution, containing one pound of the compound in
twenty gallons of water. Wheat, barley, oats, and other seeds I steep in a
solution of one lb. of the compound in five gallons of water; that is to say, for
turnip and the smaller seeds one hour will be sufficient; but for wheat,
barley, and the larger seeds, four hours steeping will be required. I also water
grass land with the solution, mixed in the proportion of one lb. to two hun-
dred gallons of water; I also water stable and other manures (at the time of
digging over) with the solution, mixed in the proportion of one pound of the
compound to two gallons of water, allowing two gallons to each square yard
of manure, and then use the manure for potatoes, roots, plants, grain, and
seeds. In regard to the roots of the hop, vine, rose, and the smaller kinds of
fruit trees, I apply the compound in a dry state, made up with an alkaline salt,
for which I prefer the sulphate of potass, and with ground nut galls or other
substance containing tannin, in the following proportions :-
2 parts iodide potassium.
40 parts sulphate of potass.
:-
58 parts nut galls or other substances containing tannin.
For these purposes, before the sap circulates, I dig round the plants and
make a circular trench over the roots, dredge in the dry compound, covering
the compound over with the earth, allowing the rain to dissolve it, and so
convey it to the roots.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise quantities herein described; but what I claim is, the use of
iodine in combination with sulphates or muriates, for preserving potatoes,
roots, plants, grain, and seeds.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry George Gray, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
HENRY GEORGE GRAY. (L.S.)