IMPROVED HOES AND SPUDS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bailey Denton, of London and Stevenage, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED HOES AND SPUDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bailey Denton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th July 1854.
I, JOHN BAILEY DENTON, of London & Stevenage, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED HOES AND SPUDS" to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to hoes, spuds, and other similar implements for getting
up or cutting weeds, and consists of forming in the said implements or fitting
thereto liquid holders, to contain acid or other liquid that may have the effect
of destroying weeds, or of promoting the growth of cultivated plants when
applied to the stems, roots, or other parts thereof, or to the soil in contact
therewith. In spuds and hand hoes, the said liquid holders are formed with a
socket and valve at the lower end, and into this socket a short hollow shaft
head or shank, formed on the blade or cutter, is fitted and held in the required
position by a spring or other contrivance.
When using the implement, the pressure on the blade or cutter, when 'forcing
it into the earth, causes the spring to yield, and allow the hollow shaft heal or

page_text: shank to slide upwards in the socket and open the valve, when the liquid flows
out, passes through the hollow, and along a groove or grooves in the blade or
cutter, whence it falls on to the roots of the weeds or plants (as the case may
be), or on to the soil in contact therewith.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Bailey Denton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BAILEY DENTON, of London and Stevenage, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, 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 John Bailey Denton, Her special licence that I, the said John
Bailey Denton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Bailey Denton, 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 "IMPROVED HOES AND SPUDS," upon condition (amongst others)
that J; the said John Bailey Denton, 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.
9
i
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Bailey Denton, do hereby declaro
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 description thereof, and in and by the Drawings accompanying
this Specification, together with the explanation thereof herein contained (that
is to say)-
.
My Invention relates to hoes, spuds, and other similar implements to be
used for destroying or cutting up weeds, and consists of forming the said

page_text: implements with holders for containing liquids known to have the effect of
destroying vegetable life when applied to the stems, roots, or other parts of
weeds, or to the soil in contact therewith; or for containing liquids known to
promote vegetation, or to have a fertilizing effect when applied to cultivated
plants, either directly theréto: or to the soil in contact therewith. The said
impliments are to be fitted with valves for discharging the liquid as required.
These valves are so constructed as to open by the pressure upon the blade as it
is pressed into the soil, when the liquid in the holder flows out through an
aperture in the shank or stem of the blade, which is made hollow for that
purpose. The said valves are made so as to close by a spring, as the pressure
is removed from the blade. on withdrawing it from the soil. The liquid is
discharged at the under side of the blade, which has a number of grooves for
conducting and distributing the fluid.
The valves and apertures may also be arranged so as to be opened and
closed by hand, in lieu of pressure applied to the blade, as above stated. The
mode of doing this by the hand is shewn at Fig. 6 on the accompanying
Drawings, and herein-after described.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS.
'scale of
The Drawings accompanying this Specification are laid down to
three inches to a foot, with enlargements, Figs. 4 and 5, to the full size. Fig. 1
.is a plan of a spud, fitted with a liquid holder, spring, and moveable blade;
Fig. 2 is a plan of a hoc, also fitted with a moveable blade; Fig. 3 shows an
end view of the said hoc; Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan, to the full size, and
shows the mode of fitting the blado and spring to the holder when the blade
is moveable; Fig. 5 is also an enlarged plan, and shows the action of the
spring and blade; Fig. 6 is a sectional plan, and shows the blade of the spud
fixed in the liquid holder, and also shows the mode of opening the aperture
(for discharging the liquid) by hand.
The different parts of the implements which are similar in each Fig. are
lettered with similar letters, and, with the exception of Fig. 6, the following
reference applies to the whole: A is the liquid holder; B, the shaft or handle,
fitted thereto at a, a;. C is the blade of the spud at Figs. 1, 4, & 5, and tho
blade of the hoe at Figs. 2 & 3; D is an opening (closed by a screw lid) in the
holder, for supplying the same with the liquid; E is a socket, screwed into the
end of the holder (see Fig. 4), through which there is a hollow stem or shank
I, I, to which the blade of the hoe or spud is fixed. This stem or shank is
moveable in the socket, and is held in the required position by the spring H in
the cap K; part of this cap is shown as removed at Fig. 4, to allow the spring

page_text: to be in view. The spring is thus covered, so as to be protected from getting
clogged up by the soil. Upon pressure being applied to the edge of the blade,
as shown by the arrow, (and as would be the case on forcing the blade into the
soil,) the spring yields and allows the hollow stem to move up through the
socket, as shown at Fig. 5. At the side of this hollow stem, close to the top,
there is a small aperture L, through which the liquid passes from the holder
to the top of the blade on the under side, from whence it is conducted by
grooves M, M, and distributed. Upon withdrawing the blade from the soil,
the action of the spring presses the blade out, and thereby closes the aperture
and prevents the further discharge of the liquid, until pressure is again applied
in using the implement. When the blades are fixed in the holder, as shown
at Fig. 6, the socket and spring are dispensed with. The shank of the blade is
made hollow, and has a small aperture where it enters the holder. This aper-
ture is closed by a small plug N, at the end of the rod O, which passes through
the holder and part of the shaft, and is attached to a small spring lever P,
the pressure of the hand upon which, in forcing the spud into the soil, gives a
slight motion to the rod, and opens the aperture last mentioned, and allows the
liquid to escape as before. In applying this mode of construction to hoes, by
reversing the position of the fulcrum the lever is mounted, so as to draw the
rod by the pressure of the hand against the limb or catch P, in the opposite
direction to that shown by the arrow, or by pulling instead of pushing
against it.
have now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and have illustrated the same by
the accompanying Drawings, to the best of my ability; but I do not confine
myself to the precise form and dimensions shown and described, but include
all such modifications thereof as the principle of my said Invention adniits.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bailey Denton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of January, A.D. 1855.
J. BAILEY (L.s.) DENTON.