IMPROVE- MENTS IN CUTTING OR FORMING DRAINS IN LAND, AND FOR RAISING SUBSOILS TO THE SURFACE OF LAND
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
PAUL, of Thorp Abbott's Hall, in the County of Norfolk, Farmer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
July, One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the eleventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Paul, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Joseph Paul,
my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Paul, my
exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CUTTING OR FORMING DRAINS IN LAND, AND FOR RAISING SUBSOILS TO THE
SURFACE OF LAND;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that
I, the said Joseph Paul, should cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in

page_text: and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Paul, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2 a ground plan, of a revolving
apparatus for cutting or forming drains, and for raising subsoils to the surface
of land. The same letters of reference apply to similar parts of each Figure.
In-these Drawings the apparatus is shewn in travelling order for moving on a
road or land, and as it would appear when brought upon the ground previous
to being set to work. A, A, is a strong frame of wood, to which the levers B
are jointed at a, the levers being raised or lowered by a windlass C. In the
Drawing the levers are shown as raised, so that the teeth E, E, are supported
clear of the ground. A large wheel or drum D is supported by an axle
turning in bearings upon the moveable levers B. Upon the external
circumference of the wheel D are placed a number of teeth of any suitable
form at suitable distances from each other. When the revolving drain cutter
is to be moved from place to place the frame A travels upon four wheels c, c,
d, d; their axles are to be removed when the machine is to be set to work;
the fore part of the frame will move as a sledge; the hinder wheels c, c, are to
have their axle raised and fixed in the position shewn by dotted lines. Previous
to employing this apparatus, the line of the drain or other work is determined,
and a trench about eighteen inches wide and four inches deep is cut by a
suitable plough or by other convenient means; the fore part of the frame is laid
in the trench prepared as before stated, and the hinder wheels c, c, rest on and
travel upon the surface of the land. In front of the revolving drain cutter
upon a separate frame is placed the horse power, carrying a vertical spindle G,
on the top of which are cross bars h, h, h, h, for the attachment of horses.
Upon the spindle G there is a windlass g², and a horizontal rigger wheel H,
both of which are fixed to the spindle and turn with it. On the axle of the
revolving drain cutter D, and turning with it, there is also a rigger F. An
endless chain i, i, passes round the riggers H and F, and communicate motion
from the former to the latter. A small pulley is fixed to the framing of the
horse power at to keep the chain in the plane of the rigger F. When the
horses attached to the bars h, h, travel round, the spindle G and rigger H are
made to revolve, which motion is communicated by the chain i, i, to the rigger

page_text: As
F, which causes the wheel D to revolve in the direction of the arrows.
soon as the wheel D is set in motion, the levers B, B, are gradually lowered
to any required depth, or until they rest upon the frame A, A, when the wheel
D will be at its deepest cut, and the earth will be dug up to that depth,
leaving an opening equal to the width of the teeth employed. The frame con-
taining the horse work is at the same time made to advance by the winding
up of a chain 1, 1, on the capstan or windlass 92, one end of the chain Z
being made fast to the front of the horse frame; the other end is passed
through a pulley m, and then attached to the windlass 92. The pulley m is
secured to an anchor, which is carried out and moored in front of the appa-
ratus. In consequence of this arrangement, the horse work is made to travel
along the ground in the direction of the trench, drawing after it the revolving
drain cutter or drum D, which at the same time, turning on its axle in the
direction of the arrows, cuts the drain, as before mentioned, by the cutters
descending below the surface of the land on which the machine travels.
The
The drain cutter is prevented from approaching the horse frame too closely
by a bar of iron interposed between them, so as to keep them separate, and
draw the drain-cutting machinery after the horse power. On either side of
the wheel D above the lever B is placed an eaves board a, sloping sufficiently
outward to throw the raised materials over the sides of the cutter. Figure 3
shows a hooked tooth, for breaking stones and grubbing up roots.
revolving drain cutter shewn at Figures 1 and 2 is for cutting drains.
Although I have here shewn and described the method of propelling and
working the drain cutter by horse power, I by no means confine myself to that
mode, as power may be otherwise employed for that purpose. What I wish
to claim is, the mode of arranging machinery for cutting or forming drains, as
herein described.
My second improvement in forming drains has reference to a mode of filling
up the drains after the drain has been cut and the pipes laid therein. This
improvement consists in cutting or scraping out any approved portion of the
subsoils from the sides of the drain at any desired distance above the pipes,
which subsoil, whether clay, sand, or other material, will be bedded upon and
cover the drain pipes. I at the same time cut away the upper angles of the
drain, which fall in and nearly or quite fill up the opening. The earth which
has been raised to form the drain is then levelled over by ploughs or other
ordinary operations of farm labor.
Figure 4 exhibits a plough suitable for carrying out my improved mode of
illing in drains. Upon a metal rod, descending vertically from a plough beam
P, there are mounted two or more cutters or scrapers, adjustable to any

page_text: required height, and which may be set at any approved angle by the adjustable
drag chains r, r, as is more clearly shewn in Figure 6, which is a plan of the
cutters n on the line C, D, of Figure 5.
Figure 5 is a front view of the drain, with the plough cutters therein, on
the line A, B, of Figure 4. The plough being placed in the drain and drawn
by horses, the cutters n, n, cut or scrape out a portion of the subsoil (as shewn
in Figure 5), which falls down upon and covers the drain pipes. Immediately
behind the cutters follow the coulters o, o, which cut away the upper angles of
the drain, and throw the earth down into it, which nearly or quite fills the
drain, according to the width and depth at which the coulters have been set.
When the plough is to be moved from place to place, the scrapers n, n, and
coulters o, o, turn upon a centre at s, and are lifted up out of the way, the.
plough travelling on four wheels t, t.
I claim the making of ploughs working according to the mode of filling
drains herein described, by throwing down upon the drain-pipe clay, sand, or
any other portion of the substratum that may be preferred.
When the subsoil is to be raised to the surface for agricultural purposes, I
employ an apparatus similar to that shewn in Figures 7, 8, and 9; Figure 7.
being a side elevation, Figure 8 a plau, and Figure 9 a front view thereof.
A', A', is a square shaft mounted upon levers B', B', supported upon a strong
frame or carriage, which is furnished with four travelling wheels. The levers
B', B', are capable of being raised or lowered according to the depth of sub-
soil which is to be turned up, in the same manner as is herein-before described
and shewn in Figure 1. C¹, C, C, C¹, are tines or teeth bolted to the shaft
A¹, A¹.
In the Drawing four tines or teeth are shewn as fixed to the nave or
socket D, Figure 7, but any greater or smaller number may be employed,
according to the character of the ground to be broken up; so also may any
convenient number of naves or sockets D be placed lengthways of the shaft,
four sets only of such tines or teeth being shewn in the Drawing. F¹ is a
rigger wheel on the shaft A', A¹, round which a chain i, i, is led from the
horse power in precisely the same manner as in the revolving excavator or
drain cutter, Figure 1; the same mode of propelling and working being
applicable to each, though other means than those shewn may be resorted to.
And it is desirable to call attention to the direction in which the teeth travel,
because in some respects this machinery is similar to revolving harrows or
cultivators which have before been proposed. In this machine the teeth so
act as to make their cut upwards, bringing up the subsoil in front of the axle,
whereas in former machines the cut was downwards, moving the land back-

page_text: wards. For the purpose of cutting up deep subsoils or for forming drains, I
propose to attach the tines or teeth on each side of the rigger F¹ instead of
on to the shaft A', A', as is shewn at Figure 10, propelling and working it as
already herein-before explained.
I claim the mode of arranging and moving teeth placed on an axle, and
made to revolve in the direction indicated by the arrows, for raising subsoil to
the surface for agricultural purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Paul, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.