STORM RESISTING ESPALIERS
Year: 1884

page_text: I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High. Holborn in the county of Middlesex,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "STORM RESISTING
ESPALIERS" (a communication) to be as follows:-
Although it is generally recognised that wire espaliers for climbing plants or
creepers, specially for hop growing, are advantageous for the plants themselves and
cheap in construction, most hop growers nevertheless fall back upon the pole-
plantations or retain the same.
.
The reason for this seemingly is that the wire arrangements hitherto made were
of faulty construction and consequently could not resist storms. The main fault
of all these constructions is that the horizontal wires are drawn tight and con-
sequently have to bear tensile strain and at the same time have to support the
weight of the hop plants Now if lateral wind pressure has also to be borne it is
clear that the wires must break as, because of difficulties in mounting and because
of cost, they cannot be made so heavy as to resist these combined' influences and as
a tight wire cannot be expected to carry a weight.
The improved arrangement of espalier for hop plantations presents a principle
entirely different from the hitherto customary ones and characterised by the
employment of a spécial system of storm wires which is totally independent from
the carrying wires and those for the plants to climb upon and has to bear no
further load, and which when a storm occurs hold the whole structure together.
The carrying or supporting wires also constitute an independent system and are
not tightly stretched so that as the growth of the plants progresses they form a
pendent curve imparting to the same considerable carrying power, the rising wires
(those for the plants to climb upon) being to some extent movable so that they
may yeild to some extent in a high wind. Lastly the wire rods are not as here.
tofore buried or planted in the soil, but stand loosely on a stone foundation, so that
when the storm wires are drawn tight and sufficiently anchored at the limits of the
gardens a rigid system is produced in which the strains are equalized in all parts
and remain equally divided even if the wires are elongated by heat in summer or
shortened by a decreasing temperature, and this for the reason that the rods are
capable within certain limits of following the storm wires.

page_text: The standards are raised according to the plan of the of the garden vertically.
and loosely upon stone foundations at such distances from one, another that one
standard is allowed for about 49 plants or bines. The head ends of these standards
carry both storm wires and supporting wires. By the tightly stretched storm
wires the standards are rigidly connected with one another. To this end these
may be provided with one of the fittings hereinafter described.
The head of the standard has grooves or recesses crossing one another at right
angles upon their front ends and a ring tightly wedged upon the same so as to
prevent splitting. The storm wires and supporting wires which cross one another
lie in these recesses and are secured by hooks driven in after the espalier is finished.
To prevent change of, position of the standard head with relation to the storm
wires and also to prevent alteration of the correct shape of the carrying wire (the
shape being that of a curve depending between the standard heads) and to prevent
all increase of tensile strain upon the carrying wire by its load (consequently upon.
alteration of the shape of the depending curve) clamping pieces are jammed upon
these wires. The clamping pieces are pushed tightly up to the ring of the standard
head and drawn together by a screw. The storm wire which does not run paralell
with the supporting wire receives clamps of a less size than the storm wire which
runs parallel with the same.
In the latter case clamps are used which hold both the storm wire and the
thicker supporting wire underneath it.
The standard head is intended to be preferably made of malleable cast iron or
cast steel and forms a kind of hood which is tightly driven upon the end of the
standard. Cheek pieces are provided which arranged in pairs, form recesses
between them; these recesses are narrower at their lower end than at the top in
which both the storm wires and the supporting wires are tightly pushed and thus
are held. by friction.only which can be increased by corrugating or roughening
the inner surfaces of the inner faces of these tapering recesses or clefts. The
transverse storm wire passes through the recess between jaws, that which is
parallel with the supporting wires is in one recess of the jaws whilst the carrying
wire is jammed tightly into another recess of the jaws.
It must be observed that the carrying wire is not placed directly beneath the
storm wire but some what at the side of the same, this however does not affect'
the stability of the whole system.
There is also a similar head of cast metal and serving for the wire rod. The
stormwires crossing one another and the carrying wire are simultaneously pressed
into a small prismatic recess by a clamping jaw which is drawn tight by means of
a screw. There are projections to prevent the turning of the standard and serve
for the purpose of preventing the wires should slip off the same before being drawn
tight and wedged fast.
The inclined stay over the heads (likewise cast) of which the stormwires or
supporting wires pass, serve to hold the entire system up and the storm wires and
supporting wires are by a loop or eyelet connected with the anchor wires which in
turn are attached to an earth anchor or foundation of masonry or the like. The
anchor wire which extends directly downward is not wedged fast upon the head
but is merely guided between two projections. The second storm wire passing
around the entire limits of the garden or plantation is fastened to each of the
inclined standards or stays by a clamping plate and screw.
In hop gardens of the usual extent the inclined rods or stays need be placed at
suitable distances apart and upon the limits of the garden only as the storm-wires
are anchored at those points only whilst in large gardens this will be required
within the planted garden also. Instead of the simple stretched steel or iron wires
which are herein termed the storm-wires, plaited wire cord or thin wire rope may
be used as these costing a little more are considerably more durable.
The cross wires to which the rising wires are attached are hooked to the
carrying wires by hooks and in such a manner that they cannot shift. To this
end this hook of the shape of a somewhat distorted S is so arranged that each of

page_text: the bent ends forms a narrowing opening in which the wires wedge themselves
tight so that all lateral movement of the same is prevented. The security of this
attachment increases with the weight and growth of the plant climbing upon the
rising wire.
.
Both the vertical and the inclined stays or standards are only loosely placed
upon a stone base and engage in a recess of the base either by a pin driven into
the lower end of the rod or by a projection cast upon a cap which is tightly driven
upon the rod end. In either case the pin or the projection prevents the rod
slipping off its base. The said pin or projection are however of less diameter than
the recess in the stone base so that the rod is free to move within certain limits
and as has been herein-above stated, the strains in the entire system may as far as
can be equalized; moreover the rotting of the ends of the poles that have heretofore
been buried in the ground to a depth of more than three feet is avoided.
The rods or standards may consist of iron piping fixed together or of poles or.
the like.
It is obvious that the arrangement of these espaliers will have to be varied
according to requirements both as to the placing of the vertical rods, or stays as
also of the inclined stays placed at the confines of the plot, but on the whole the
principle of strictly separating the storm wires, wire cords or wire ropes from the
carrying wires (which support the transverse wires for fixiug the rising wires)
will have to be considered, as the leading feature of the whole above described
invention.

page_text: .
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the county of Middlesex,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention for STORM-RESISTING
ESPALIERS (a communication from Carl Schwend of Stuttgart, Germany Civil
Engineer) and in what manner the same is to be "performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:--
Although it is generally recognized that wire espalier for climbing plants or
creepers, specially for hop growing, are advantageous for the plants themselves and
cheap in construction most hop growers nevertheless, fall back upon the pole
plantations or retain the same.
:
The reason for this seemingly is that the wire arrangements hitherto made were
of faulty construction and consequently. could not resist storms. The main fault of
all these constructions is that the horizontal wires are drawn tight and consequently
have to bear tensile strain and at the same time have to support the weight of the.
hop plants. Now if lateral wind pressure has also to be borne it is clear that the
wires must break as because of difficulties in mounting and because of cost they
can not be made so heavy as to resist these combined influences, and as a tight
wire can not be expected to carry a weight.
The arrangement of a wire espalier for hop plantations shown in the annexed
drawings presents a principle entirely different from the hitherto customary ones
and characterised by the employment of a special system of storm wires which is
totally independent from the carrying wires and those for the plants to climb upon
and has to bear no further load, and which when a storm occurs hold the whole
structure together. The carrying or supporting wires also constitute an independent
system and are not tightly stretched so that as the growth of the plants progresses
they form a pendent curve imparting to the same considerable carrying power, the
rising wires (those for the plants to climb upon) being to some extent movable so
that they may yield to some extent in a high wind. Lastly the wire rods are not
as heretofore buried or planted in the soil but stand loosely on a stone foundation
so that when the storm wires are drawn tight and sufficiently anchored at the
limits of the gardens a rigid system is produced in which the strains are equalized
in all parts and remain equally divided even if the wires are elongated by heat in
summer or shortened by a decreasing temperature and this for the reason that the
rods are capable within certain limits of following the storm wires.
In the Drawings
Figure 1 shows the plan of such a wire espalier erected upon a hillside.
Figure 2 vertical section of the same seen from the right.
Figure 3 side elevation thereof seen from the left.
Figure 4 front view at the broadest part of the garden.
1
A are the vertical rods or standards. D inclined stays both freely placed on
stone. W the rising wires (those for the plants to climb upon) F cross wires
carrying the latter, e the main supporting wires upon which the cross wires are
suspended and b the storm wires,

page_text: Figures 5. 6 and 7 details showing devices for holding the storm wires and
supporting wires fast on the upper end of the wire rod and by means of clamping
pieces..
These wires are in these attachments as in all those hereinafter described held to
the heads of the rods by friction only.
Hereby the insecure and troublesome knotting and tying of, the wires upon the
standard heads is avoided. The wires pass through the whole length or breadth of
the garden without knotting and in a single piece whereby the mounting is much
facilitated and security against breaking increased.
Figures 8. 9. 10 A head piece (cast in metal) for the standards in which the
storm wires and supporting wires are only held by recessos narrowed towards the
lower end and merely by wedging or jamming.
Figures 11,-12 and 13 a head piece in which the above named wires are held by
a clamping jaw capable of being tightened up by screws.
Figures 14, 15, and 16 a similar head piece for the oblique rods or stays over
which the storm wires are led to their ground anchorage and likewise provided with
tightening screw and jaw.
Figure 14 the eyelet of the anchoring wire for tying the main wire and storm
wire.
Figure 17 a hook by means whereof the cross wires to which the rising wires
are fastened are hooked to the supporting wire.
Figures 18 and 19 two constructions showing how the lower end of the rods may
be placed on a stone foundation.
The standards or rods A (Figures 1, 2, 3, 4) are raised according to the plan of
the garden vertically and loosely upon stone foundations at such distances from
one another that one standard is allowed for about 49 plants or bines. The head
ends of these standards carry both storm wires and supporting wires-By the
tightly stretched storm wires the standards are rigidly connected with one another.
To this end these may be provided with one of the fittings hereinafter described.
Figures 5, 6. 7 show the head of the standard with grooves or recesses crossing
one another at right angles upon their front ends and a ring a tightly wedged upon
the same so as to prevent splitting-The storm wires b and supporting wire c which
cross one another lie in these recesses and are secured by hooks d driven in after
the espalier is finished. To prevent change of position of the standard head with
relation to the storm wires and also to prevent alteration of the correct shape of
the carrying wire c (the shape being that of a curve depending between the
standard heads) and to prevent all increase of tensile strain upon the carrying
wire by its load (consequently upon alteration of the shape of the 'depending
curve) the clamping pieces e are jammed upon these wires. The clamping pieces
are pushed tightly up to the ring a of the standard head and drawn together by
a screw.
As seen in Figure 5 of the Drawing that storm wire which does not run parallel
with the supporting wire receives clamps of a less size than the storm wire which
runs parallel with the same.
In the latter case clamps e are used (Figures 6 and 7) which hold both the storm
wire and the thicker supporting wire underneath it.
The standard head shown in Figures 8, 9, and 10 is intended to be preferably
made of malleable cast iron or cast steel and forms a kind of hood which is tightly
driven upon the end of the standard. a. a. a³ are cheek pieces which arranged in
pairs form recesses between them-these recesses are narrower at their lower end
than at the top in which both the storm wires and the supporting wires are tightly
pushed and thus are held by friction only which can be increased by corrugating or
roughening the inner surfaces of the inner faces of these tapering recesses or clefts.
The transverse storm wire bi passes through the recess between the jaws a', a' that
which is parallel with the supporting wires is in the recess of the jaws a' a' whilat
the carrying wire c¹ is jammed tightly into the recess of the jaws a¹
ver,

page_text: :.
It must be observed that the carrying wire is not placed directly beneath the
storm wire but somewhat at the side of the same, this however does not affect the
stability of the whole system (Figures 8, 9 and 10).
A similar head also of cast metal and serving for the wire rod is shown in
Figures 11, 12 and 13-The storm wires b¹ 6 crossing one another and the carrying
wire care simultaneously pressed into a small prismatic recess by a clamping jaw g―
The clamping jaw g is drawn tight by means of the screw h―The projections on
the piece are to prevent the turning of the standard A. and serve for the purpose
of preventing that the wires should slip off the same before being drawn tight and
wedged fast.
4
The inclined stays D over the heads (likewise cast) of which the stormwires or
supporting wires pass, see Figures 14, 15 and 16, serve to hold the entire system
up and the storm wires and supporting wires are by a loop or eyelet connected
with the anchor wires b which in turn are attached to an earth anchor or foundation
of masonry or the like-The anchor wire b which extends directly downward is
not wedged fast upon the head but is merely guided between two projections r. r
Figures 14, 15 and 16-The second storm wire b³ passing around the entire limits
of the garden or plantation is fastened to each of the inclined standards or stays D
by a clamping plates and screw t.
In hop gardens of the usual extent the inclined rods or stays D need be placed
at suitable distances apart and upon the limits of the garden only as the storm
wires are anchored at those points only whilst in large gardens this will be required
within the planted garden also-Instead of the simple stretched steel or iron wires
which are herein termed the storm wires plaited wire cord or thin wire rope may
be used as these costing little more are considerably more durable.
The cross wires F to which the rising wires W (Figures 1, 2, 3. 4) are attached
are hooked to the carrying wires c by the hooks represented in Figure 17 and in
such a manner that they cannot shift. To this end this hook of the shape of a
somewhat distorted S is so arranged that each of the bent ends forms a narrowing
opening (Figure 17) in which the wires wedge themselves tight so that all lateral
movement of the same is prevented-The security of this attachment increases with
the weight and growth of the plant climbing upon the rising wire.
Both the vertical and the inclined stays or standards are the bottom only
loosely placed upon a stone base and engage in a recess of the base either by a pin X
driven into the lower end of the rod as shown in Figure 18 or by a projection X'
cast upon a cap which is tightly driven upon the rod end. In either case the pin X
or the projection X¹ prevents the rod slipping off its base-The said pin X or
projection X are however of less diameter than the recess in the stone base so that
the rod.is free to move within certain limits and that as has been herein above
stated the strains in the entire system may as far as can be equalized; moreover
the rotting of the ends of the poles that have heretofore been buried in the ground
to a depth of more than three feet is avoided.
The rods or standards may consist of iron piping fixed together or of poles or
the like.
こ
In figures 18 and 19, S is the base or socket of stone-It is obvious that the
arrangement of these espaliers will have to be varied according to requirements
both as to the placing of the vertical rods or stays as also of the inclined stays
placed at the confines of the plot but on the whole the principle of strictly separating
the storm wires, wire cords or wire ropes from the carrying wires (which support
the transverse wires for fixing the rising wires) will have to be considered as the
leading feature of the whole above described invention.
Having now. particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is
1. An espalier arrangement consisting of wires (or wires and wire cord or wire
rope) and serving for climbing or creeping plants but more especially for hop-

page_text: growing chiefly characterized by the employment of two distinct systems of wires
borne upon supporting rods or standards vizt.
(a). The storm wires which may either be a single wire or a wire-cord or the
like and are tightly stretched and anchored at the limits of the garden or plantation.
(b). The carrying or supporting wires loosely hung in a depending curve from
the rods or standards the latter consisting of wood or of iron piping fixed together.
2. The employment of various attaching devices to prevent the shifting of the
wires or wire cords in the rod heads viz.
(a). The use of clamping pieces as shown in Figures
6 and 7, which are brought
close to the heads of the supporting rods and clamped to the same.
(b). The rod head shown in Figures 8, 9, 10 having tapering recesses in which
the wires or cords are fastened by simply wedging.
(c). The arrangement shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13 of a clamping jaw drawn
tight by a screw and holds the wires or cords fast.
(d). The head piece shown in Figures 14, 15, and 16 for the inclined stays or
wire rods in which the clamping of the wire is also effected by a clamping jaw and.
screw.
3. The supporting of the lower ends of the vertical standards, supports or wire
rods and of the inclined stays upon a stone socket or base in such a manner that
the former loosely rest on the latter their slipping off the stone base being prevented
by a pin or projection readily entering a recess in the stone base (Figures 18
and 19) whereby the strains in the whole system remain equalized under varying
temperatures and the rotting of the lower ends of the poles or rods is prevented.
4. The construction of hooks shown in Figure 17 whereby the cross wires to
which the rising wires are attached to the supporting wires and which are so
arranged that the two S shaped parts thereof by reason of the narrowing aperture
in the same so tightly clamp the wires that lateral displacement is impossible.
Dated this 30th day of March 1885.
ALFRED J. BOULT.