An Improved Appliance for the Treatment and Ripening of Strawberries.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 19th June, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 25th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 4th Apr., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Appliance for the Treatment and Ripening of
Strawberries.
1, ROBERT SCOTT BURN, Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers,
of Oak Lea, Edgeley Road, near Stockport, Cheshire, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
My improved appliance has for its object to aid the healthy development and the
ripening of strawberries by preserving the fruit in process of ripening from the
deteriorating effects of particles of soil thrown up from the ground through
the plashing and spurting action of rainfalls more or less heavy or continuous;
and by hastening the process of ripening by reflecting the rays of heat from the
surface of my appliance to the fruit which lies or rests upon it. Those two desirable
objects in the culture of strawberries more especially in the case of cultivation on
the comparatively small scale of cottage and villa gardens I obtain by using dises or
plates of various forms made of glazed pottery or of common earthenware made
either in sections or in one piece and which can be readily and easily adjusted to the
plants and which will rest when so adjusted steadily on the ground while the fruit
rests or lies on the surface of the discs or plates. The upper surfaces of the discs or
plates may be either plain, or ribbed or corrugated. The details of my appliance
will be fully described and illustrated in the following Specification and its accom-
panying sheet of drawings.
Those who are acquainted with the details of strawberry culture and have
observed the phenomena connected with the growth of the plants to maturity and
the gradual ripening of the fruit must frequently have had their attention specially
directed to certain points namely the ripening of the fruit and the keeping of it
until it is ready for pulling in good clean condition fitted for the table under
the trying exigencies of rainy weather, and of changeable weather as regards sun
light.
The greatest difficulty met with in strawberry culture on the small scale in the
open garden as in that of the villa or the cottage garden, is the keeping of the fruit.
in good condition when the ripening is approaching its completion when there is
much rain. This especially when heavy, not only injures the fruit by dashing it
against the soil or failing this plashes the soil up on the fruit than which there is
scarcely anything which deteriorates the fresh quality and injures the fine flavour
of the fruit, more completely than this. Fruit which may have ripened well under
the influence of fine weather, and may be almost ready to be gathered in good
condition may by a heavy shower of rain almost at the last moment be rendered
almost uneatalile the consequence of the soil having been rain-plashed all over it.
Even when the rains may be gentle if of sufficiently long duration they still greatly
deteriorate the quality and flavour of the fruit.
The cultivator of strawberries who aims at having the fruit in the finest attainable
condition for the table finds that for the purpose of avoiding the evils named above,
various expedients have been used by strawberry growers on the small or com-
paratively small scale. Perhaps the oldest contrivance and that which gave
according to some authorities the modern English name to the plant was the
placing of clean straw on the beds in such a way that the fruit rested upon it, and
was thus kept from contact with the soil and preserved it more or less from the
soil being plashed up by rain on the fruit, the straw catching the rain more or less
completely. Others anxious to have the finest fruit have adopted other contrivances
such as placing pieces of slate &c. &c. on the ground to support the fruit and keep
it from contact therewith and to prevent the rain plashing effect.

page_text: But all those and similar contrivances are more or less ineffective and while they
also give a littering appearance to the "beds," take up much time in the placing:
while suitable materials are not always ready to hand.
The sketches on Sheet I of accompanying drawings show different methods
of applying my principle of treating strawberries under ripening. This has for its
end a two-fold object, or rather while it serves one purpose subserves another, and
a valuable purpose presently to be described.
Fig. 1 represents the plan of one form and mode of arrangement of the appliance
I propose to use in strawberry cultivation and ripening of the fruit. In this the
material used is ordinary pottery ware the surface of which is white and highly
glazed precisely as ordinary dinner plates are met with. The appliance in Fig. 1
represents it as laid upon the ground, in order to support the fruit or berries and
keep them from touching the soil. The plant itself passing through the aperture a a
in the centre the leaves partly and the fruit or berries wholly resting on the outer
surface. To enable the plant to be placed within or at the central aperture a a
without unnecessarily disturbing the leaves and specially the fruit the appliance bede
is made in four quadrantal sections or parts each section marked bed and e. One
of the sections or quadrants is shown in Fig. 3. In some instances I would make
each appliance in two sections each being semi-circular as in Fig. S. Being made
thus in sections these can be passed easily amongst the leaves and fruit of the plant
and when all the sections are in place the plant will then occupy the central part aa
Fig. 1 of the appliance.
I
Should there be fruit at one part or side only of a plant, one section only may be
used being put under that particular part of the plant which exhibits fruit. In
this way three sections will be set at liberty to be used at plants similarly situated
with regard to fruit. As each section is provided with a projecting part or feet
shown at a, in Fig. 5-Fig. 5 being a section on line 12 Fig. 4-it will stand
steady and in the proper position when alone or in conjunction with other sections.
These feet are shown on plan at a abb in Fig. 4 which is plan of the lower side or
surface of Fig. 1. Another form of my appliance is shown in Fig. 6 as a single
piece not in sections. In this an open part or slot a a is made leading from outside
edge periphery to central hole in the plate ccc By this arrangement the
appliance can be placed in relation to the plant, by slipping the slot or opening
along from one side till the plant occupies the central part the leaves and fruit
being external to the upper surface cee of the appliance. Fig. 9 shows a form of
my appliance in which the slot as a a Fig. 6 is modified as at a a.
a u
The upper surfaces or those exposed to the light are made of different forms as
shown in the sectional elevations in Figs. 5 10 11 and 12. In Fig. 1 the upper
surface is angular or oblique to the horizontal line of the soil surface-forms when
all the sections a single or separate one being shown in Fig. 3 in place being a flat
or conical surface which if continued would meet in the centre a a Fig. 11 and 12.
In another form the upper surface is spherial or dome shaped being a section or
part of a globe or sphere as shown in Fig. 7 which is a section on the line 1, 2 of
Fig. 6. Fig. 10 is a section of Fig. 9 on line 12 and shows a conical surface as
at abc Fig. 10, the upper surface at outer edge of the circular part as a bbb
Fig. 9 being rounded off' as at points a and b Fig. 10 to meet the ring or under side
which serves as a base on which the appliance rests. Fig. 11 which is section on
line 12 Fig. 6 shows a rounded surface forming a section of a sphere or globe, the
upper plate e ce joining the lower ring d d Fig. 7 on under side at d d. In Fig. 11
the upper surface is conical or a circular flat sloping surface, but in which the
appliance is made either in four sections or quadrants as in Fig. 1, or Fig. 3—or in
two semi-circular sections as in Fig. 8, the under side is formed as at bb, the
appliance resting on the outer ring e c. In place of having the upper surfaces of
the plates or appliance smooth and glazed, they may be corrugated or ribbed in
such as shown in sectional diagrams in Figs. 13 and 14, these will serve as channels
or gutters to carry off such rain or dew as may collect on the surface, this tending
to keep the surface dry.

page_text: A cheaper form of my appliance may be made as shown in cross section of two
sections or quadrants in Fig. 12 and this to be cheaper still may be made of red
pottery ware the same for example as that of which ordinary flower pots are made.
But in all cases I prefer and would recommend the appliances to be made of white
pottery ware highly glazed as in domestic crockery ware; this white glazed surface
serving a very important and highly useful purpose in strawberry culture, namely
the aiding of the ripening of the fruit. The effect of certain substances in raising
or maintaining the temperature of the soil and preventing more or less completely
the evil of frost or of low temperatures in vegetation is well known to some advanced
horticulturists.
An example of this is shown in the application of the straw or of
other substances or bodies referred to in the earlier part of this Specification all of
which have a greater or less tendency to heighten the temperature of the parts
surrounding the plant. Thus if the appliance illustrated in Fig. 10 and which we
have stated is designed to be made of red pottery ware, be placed under a strawberry
plant in the way already described, a very marked influence upon the fruit will be
displayed by the quicker ripening of the fruit. But if the surface of this was a
glazed white, as already named, then the ripening effect of the appliance would be
still more marked, the white surface reflecting the rays of the sun upon the fruit.
The joint effect of the keeping of the washed up soil from the fruit, and of the
reflection of the heat rays from the white glazed surface, will be found in practice
to be very marked and to lovers of the fruit and of its cultivation very satisfactory.
This I can state as the result of a wide experience upon which I have based the
foregoing remarks and which led me to the devising of the appliances, I have
hereinbefore described, appliances which will give to amateur cultivators of straw-
berries and to others a ready and an effective way of carrying out the principle on
which they are based. Although the forms shown in accompanying drawings are
in plan circular in outline they may be made hexagonal or octagonal, or in the
cheaper forms even square.
As witness my hand this Seventeenth day of June One thousand eight hundred
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Appliance for the Treatment and Ripening of
Strawberries.
ROBERT SCOTT BURN, Engineer, Member of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, Oak Lea, Edgeley Road, near Stockport, Cheshire. I do hereby declare
the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
My improved appliance for the treatment and ripening of strawberries has for
its object a twofold purpose first to prevent the fruit from being injured by the
action of rains which have a tendency to dash or plash up the soil upon the fruit
second to facilitate its ripening. Those two objects are gained by using a simple
appliance by which the fruit is kept well off the ground yet so as not to interfere
with the healthy growth and development of the plant, and from the surface or
surfaces of which the heat of the sun is reflected or concentrated and thrown or
projected more or less upon the fruit thus facilitating its ripening as it is supported
or carried by the appliance. This appliance is constructed of various materials
but prefer to employ earthenware either glazed in white or unglazed. The
appliance is made in two forms chiefly. In the first form it is made of a single
piece, a slot or opening being made in it by which the appliance is passed easily
along and over the branches and leaves of the plant without disturbing the fruit.
The second form of the appliance is made up in either of two or four sections or
pieces, this sectional form facilitating the application to the plant. In an appliance

page_text: made in one piece or in that made up of sections they are so constructed on their
under or lower sides or surfaces that they can stand steadily or securely on the
surface of the ground.
Those who are acquainted with the details of strawberry culture in the open air
in villa and cottage gardening and have observed the phenomena connected with
the growth of the plants to maturity and the gradual ripening of the fruit must
frequently have had their attention specially directed to certain points—namely
the ripening of the fruit and the keeping of it in good clean condition fitted for the
table under the trying exigencies of rainy weather and of changeable circumstances
as regards sun-light.
The greatest difficulty met with in strawberry culture in the small scale in the
open garden as in that of the villa or the cottage is the keeping of the fruit in
good condition when the ripening is approaching its completion when there is much
rain (or frequent showers). This especially when the showers are heavy not only
injures the fruit by dashing it against the soil or failing this plashes the soil up,
upon the fruit, than which there is scarcely anything which deteriorates the fresh
quality and injures the fine flavour of the fruit more completely. Fruit which may
have ripened well under the influence of fine weather, and almost be ready for the
table in good condition may by one heavy shower of rain almost at the last moment
he rendered almost uncatable in consequence of the soil having been rain plashed
all over the surface. Even when the rains may be gentle if of sufficiently long
duration they may still greatly deteriorate the quality and flavour of the fruit.
The cultivator of the strawberry in villa and cottage gardening who aims at
having the fruit in the finest condition for the table finds that for the purpose of
avoiding the evils named above various expedients have been used by strawberry
growers on the small or comparatively small scale. Perhaps the oldest contrivance
and that which gave according to some authorities the modern English name to
the plant was the placing of clean straw on the beds in such a way that the fruit
rested upon it and was thus kept from contact with the soil and which preserved it
more or less from the soil plashed up by the rain more or less completely. Others
anxious to have the finest fruit have adopted other contrivances such as placing
pieces of slate &c. &c. on the ground to support the fruit and keep it from contact
therewith and to prevent the rain plashing effect.
"
But all those and similar contrivances are more or less ineffective and while
they also give a "littery appearance to the beds -not in keeping with the
well ordered arrangements of villa or cottage gardens-they take up much time in
their placing, while suitable materials are not always to hand.
The sketches on sheet of drawings left with Provisional Specification show
different methods of applying my principle of treating strawberries under the
process of ripening. This has for its end a two fold object; or rather while it
serves one purpose subserves another and a valuable purpose presently to be
described. Fig. 1 represents the plan of one form and mode of arrangement of my
appliance used in strawberry culture and in ripening of the fruit. In this the
material used is ordinary pottery ware the surface of which is white in colour and
highly glazed as ordinary plates and saucers are made with. The illustration in
Fig. 1 represents my appliance as it is laid upon the ground in order to support
the fruit or berries and keep them from touching the soil. The plant itself passes
through the aperture a a in the centre the leaves partly and the fruit or berries
resting wholly on the outer and upper surface. To enable the plants to be placed
within or at the central aperture without unnecessarily disturbing the leaves and
specially the fruit or berries the appliance b c d e is made in four quadrantal
sections or parts each section marked b, c d and e. One of the sections or a
separate quadrant is shown in Fig. 3. In some instances I would make cach
appliance in two sections each being semi circular as in Fig. 8 which represents
one section or half. Being made thus in sections these can be passed easily under
the leaves and fruit of the plant and when all the sections are in place, the plant
will thus occupy the central part or aperture a a Fig. 1 of the appliance. Should

page_text: As
there be fruit at one part or side only of the plant one section as at Fig. 2 or 3
may only be used being put or placed under that particular part of the plant which
exhibits the fruit. In this way three sections of any one complete appliance will
be set at liberty to be used at plants similarly situated with regard to fruit.
each section is made with projecting parts or feet shown at a a Figs. 4 & 5, being
a section on line 1, 2 Fig. 4, it will stand steady and in the proper position when
alone, or in conjunction with other sections. These feet are shown in plan at a a.
in Fig. which is plan of the lower or under side or surface of Fig. 1, and
in section at ab in Fig. 5. Another form of my appliance is shown in Fig. 6. In
this an open part or slot a a is made reaching from outside edge or periphery to
central aperture in the plate ccc. By this arrangement the appliance can be
placed in relation to the plant by sapping the slot or opening a a along from one
side of the plant till it occupies the central aperture the leaves and fruit
external to or lying upon the upper surface ecc of the appliance.
The upper surfaces of the appliances or those exposed to the light are made of
different forms as shown in the sectional elevations in Figs. 5, 7, 11 and 12. In
Fig. 1 the upper surface is angular or oblique to the horizontal line of the soil
surface forms when all the sections are in place-a single or separate one being
shown in Fig. 5-a flat or conical surface which if continued would meet in the
centre a Figs. 11 and 12. In another form the upper surface--on which the
fruit and leaves of the strawberry plants rests-is spherial or dome shaped being
a section or part of a globe or sphere as shown in Fig. 7 which is a section of
Fig. 6 on the line 1, 2. Fig. 10 is a section of Fig. 9 on line 1, 2, and shows a
conical upper surface as at a bbc Fig. 10, the upper surface at outer edge of the
circular part as abbb Fig. 9 being rounded off as at points a and c Fig. 10 to
meet the ring or under side which serves as a base upon which the appliance rests.
Fig. 7 which is section on line 1, 2 Fig. 6 shows a rounded surface forming a
section or a sphere or globe the upper plate ccc joining the lower ring d d on
under side at d d. In Fig. 11 the upper surface is conical or a circular flat sloping
surface but in which the appliance is made in four sections or quadrants as in
Fig. 1 or Fig. 3 or in two semi-circular sections as in Fig. 8 the under side being
formed as at bb, the appliance resting on the outer ring e c In place of having
the upper surfaces of the ripening plates or appliances smooth or glazed they
may be made corrugated or ribbed in fashion such as is shown in sectional
diagrams in Figs. 13 and 14. These will serve as channels to carry of such rain
or moisture as may collect on the upper surface thus tending to keep this dry and
to aid the ripening effect of the appliance surface. Or the appliances may be
made with sand rough surfaces which would have a tendency to keep them free
from snails and grubs which do not like to crawl over rough surfaces. However
I may state that in practice I have found even with smooth surfaces appliances the
snails do not effect the surface of the plates very much. They show indeed a
singular freedom from the attacks of those destructive pests of the garden. But
even where they are found attacking the plants which are resting upon the surfaces
of the appliances, the very form of these surfaces afford great facilities for their
quick removal.
A cheaper form of my improved appliance for strawberry treatment and
ripening may be made as shown in cross section of two quadrants in Fig. 12 and
these to be cheaper still may be made of red pottery ware the same for example
as that of which ordinary flower pots are made. But in all cases I prefer to use
and would recommend for use the appliances to be made of white surfaced pottery
ware highly glazed as in domestic crockery ware. This white coloured glazed
surface on which the strawberries rest when ripening serving a very important and
highly useful purpose, namely aiding the rapid ripening of the fruit, the effect of
certain substances or materials in raising or maintaining the temperature of the
soil and in preventing more or less completely the effects of frost or of low
temperature in vegetation is well known to advanced horticulturists and agricul-
turists. An example of this is shown in the application of the straw alluded to

page_text: in a former part of this Specification the use of which has a greater or less tendency
to raise the temperature of the parts surrounding the plants. Thus if the appliance
illustrated in Fig. 12 and which is stated as being designed to be of ordinary red
pottery ware, be placed under a strawberry plant bearing fruit in the way already
described a very marked influence upon the fruit will be displayed by its com-
paratively quick ripening. But if the surface of the appliance is a glazed white
as already described then the ripening effect would be still more marked; the
white surface reflecting the heat of the sun's rays, and throwing it back upon the
fruit. The joint effect of the keeping of the washed up soil from touching the fruit
and of the reflection of the heat rays from the white glazed surfaces of the
appliances will be found in practice to be very marked and beneficial, and wholly
satisfactory to lovers of the fruit and the cultivation of the strawberry plants.
This can state to be the result of a wide experience, and which has led me to
devise the appliances I have now illustrated and described.
Having now described and illustrated my improved appliance or contrivance to
be used in the cultivation and ripening of strawberries in the manner and for the
purpose I have detailed in preceding Specification, I now proceed to state what
my claims are in respect of the improved appliance or contrivance just referred to.
Promising that I do not claim the particular shapes or forms which are illustrated
in the sheet of drawings left with the Provisional Specification, or the use in
their construction of the same of the particular materials or substances I have
named in preceding Specification. The forms, shapes, or configuration illustrated
in sheet of drawings left with the Provisional Specification being such as I prefer
to be used or which may be adopted with greater or less usefulness-but other
forms or configurations may if considered desirable or found to be more convenient
in practical use may be adopted, the same remark being applicable to the material
in which the appliance or contrivance may be made. But what I claim is :-
First. The method of forming the contrivance to be used for the purposes hercin-
before described more or less fully in detail in such a manner that it may be used
in a way calculated to injure or disarrange the plants to which the contrivance may
be applied in the least way possible. This being effected by making the con-
trivance or appliance in sections two or more as may be deemed desirable-as for
example in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, or in Fig. 8 in the sheet of
drawings left with Provisional Specification. Or the contrivance or appliance may
be made in one piece but with a side slot or opening as shown in Fig. 6 or
Fig. 9 on sheet of drawings left with Provisional Specification.
Second. claim the method of so forming or making the sections in the case of
the form which is made in sections or separate pieces or the appliance made in the
form of one piece in such a way that by the addition of projecting parts or of a
projecting part so that the sections or pieces, or the whole appliance shall have a
firm base on which to rest when on the ground or in situ. Methods of doing this
are shown in Figs. 5, 7, 10, 11, and 12, of sheet of drawings left with Provisional
Specification and described in preceding Specification.
As to which witness my hand this Nineteenth day of February One thousand
eight hundred and ninety-one.
ROBERT SCOTT BURN.