AN IMPROVED HAND SOWING MACHINE.”
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lancaster, of Vine House, Canning Town, E.,
Essex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED HAND SOWING MACHINE.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Lancaster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th December 1872.
I, JOHN LANCASTER, Vine House, Canning Town, E., Essex, do hereby
3 declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED HAND SOWING
MACHINE," to be as follows:—
A metal tube with a fixed bottom and a lid on the top; in this bottom
I make holes over which I put a cap in which are holes which corro-
spond with the holes in the bottom of the tube; this cap is made so that
it will slip round so as to contract or enlarge the holes as required, this
cap may be screwed on or be made with a hook to slip over a wire ring
fixed on the tube. On to this tube I fix a small pipe for a stout wire to
work in, which wire has a handle fixed on the end; a small spring is

page_text: fixed on the top of the tube, which spring catches into a cut in the wire
so that the handle can be shortened or lengthened at will.
I do not confine myself to any length or width of the tube, or to the
size, number, or shape of the holes, as all these can be varied and the
same results obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Lancaster in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LANCASTER, Vine House, Canning Town, E., Essex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Lancaster, Her special license
that I, the said John Lancaster, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Lancaster, 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, HAND
SOWING MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Lancaster, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Lancaster, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: round for narrow opening; I, inclined groove by turning the cap till
this groove works down pin M it is drawn down to form wide aperture,
as shewn in Figure 2; D, D, casing for handle; E, E, slot for pin to
slide in; and N, N, N, cross grooves for locking handle; G, handle;
F', rod of handle which may be drawn out to the required length.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that
what I claim is a tube with aperture covered by sliding cap with similar
aperture for the purpose of obtaining various sizes and shapes of openings
for distribution of seed, also the arrangement of extending handle to
facilitate sowing, and construction of apparatus as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lancaster, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
JOHN LANCASTER. (L.S.)
Witness,
H. ELLIS HILL,
of the Firm of Barlow & Co.,
Patent Agents,
23, Southampton Buildings,
W.C.