AN IMPROVED PLANT PROTECTOR
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Stevens, Manager of the British & Foreign
Office for Patents, No. 1B, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PLANT PROTECTOR."
-A communication from abroad by Jules Romiguière, of 48, Rue Laffite,
Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 25th January 1861, and dated the 8th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Stevens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th August 1860.
I, CHARLES STEVENS, Manager of the British & Foreign Office for
Patents, No. 1, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Mid.
dlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
PLANT PROTECTOR," (& that it has been communicated to me from abroad by
Jules Romiguière, of 48, Rue Laffite, Paris; in the Empire of France), to be
as follows:-
The Invention consists of a simple method of protecting young plants from
the attacks of worms and insects. The tubes hitherto used for the protection.
of the stalk of the tobacco plant are made of baked clay, and similar to
drain pipes. The improved protectors differ from these, and can be adapted
to field and garden plants generally. The tube hitherto employed for the

page_text: tobacco plants is in a single piece, but as many plants which equally require
protection would, from their rapid growth during the first days of planting,
be stifled if enclosed in a tube such as that used for the protection of the
tobacco plant, the protecting tubes are therefore made of larger dimensions,
and are longitudinally divided in two pieces. The stalk of the plant is placed
between these two pieces, care being taken that the edges meet, and some
days later the protector is removed horizontally, so as to injure neither the
leaves nor roots. The improved arrangement, as will be seen, is very simple,
inexpensive, & easy of of application, and acts most efficaciously in protecting
plants against the attacks of insects.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Stevens in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th February 1861...
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
STEVENS; Manager of the British & Foreign Office for Patents, 1B, Welbeck
Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles
Stevens, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Stevens, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Stevens, 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 "AN IMPROVED. PLANT PROTECTOR," (a communi-.
cation, to me from abroad by Jules Romiguière, of 48, Rue Laffite, Paris, in the
Empire of France), upon the condition (amongst others) that, I, the said
Charles Stevens, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing.
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Stevens, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
This Invention consists of a simple method of protecting plants from the
attacks of.worms and insects by means of tubes manufactured as follows:-
In commencing, two drain pipes are employed about one foot in length, and
of an equal thickness of abouth ths of an inch, the inner diameter of one
being 2 inches, and of the other 8ths inches. As soon as they are half
dry they are rolled on a board furnished with dividing threads. On this board
(shown front and side views, Figs. 3 & 4) three small blades of steel or
copper are arranged at a distance of about 8 inches from each other, and pro-
jecting about 8 lines. The drain pipes thus divided are baked, and then by
giving them a slight blow, they separate into four pieces, each of which forms
a plant protector (Figs. 1 & 2) about 3 inches high, ths of an inch thick,
and 2 or 3ths inches in the internal diameter. The drain-pipe, having a
diameter of 33ths inches, undergoes another operation immediately after the
first and before the baking, being placed in a wooden receptacle of longitudinal
form, similar to a bent tile for draining, in which it fits exactly (Figs. 7 & 8).
In the middle of this receptacle and on each side is a small iron point (A)
8 lines in length; these points effect a groove, and by causing the drain pipe
to pass from the top to the bottom in the receptacle, it is split in the middle,
and after being baked, divides in 8 pieces, thereby forming the protectors
in two sections (Figs. 5 & 6.) These protectors are for garden plants. By
using Clayton's machine, from 8000 to 10,000 drain pipes may be manu-
factured in one day, forming from 32,000 to 40,000 plant protectors.
The mode of using the plant protector is extremely simple and easy of
application; being made of earthenware, it enters the ground without difficulty,
if the latter be not too hard; when this is the case it must be loosened. The
protector is thrust into the ground so as to allow the extremity to project, and
the plant is placed in the middle of the tube, which preserves it from the
attacks of the various insects so destructive to young plants. The opening
given to the protector furnishes the air and space necessary for its develope-
ment, and, from its shortness, it does not prevent the roots from extending.
The advantages of the improved plant protector are great, not the least
important of them being, that the price is trifling, and the article may be used
an indefinite number of times. When the plants are watered, or after a
shower of rain, the protectors aid in retaining the water, and thereby

page_text: 'greatly increase the developement of the plant by keeping it longer in a state
of humidity.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be carried into effect, what I claim and desire to secure
by Letters Patent, is the application of the plant protector as above described,
together with the mode of manufacture, also above described and represented
in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Stevens, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
CHADIES SITTYENS