IMPROVEMENTS FOR INCREASING THE PRODUCE OF AUTUMN WHEAT
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FELIX
CHARLES VICTOR LEON LE VACHER D'URCLE, of Paris, France, Farmer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Hér
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great-
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Felix Charles Victor Leon Le Vacher D'Urcle, my exors, adññiors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Felix Charles Victor Leon Le Vacher D'Urcle, my exors, adññors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Felix Charles Victor Leon Lê Vacher
D'Urcle, my exors, adñiors, 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
Eugland, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS FOR INCREASING THE PRODUCE OF AUTUMN WHEAT; " in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, .that I, the said Felix Charles
Victor Leon Le Vacher D'Urcle, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled
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 and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Felix Charles Victor Leon Le Vacher D'Urele, do hereby declare that the
nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed, that is
to say:-
.
Up to this time autumn wheat has been wrongly treated on the suppositions
that it is an annual plant, whereas I have discovered by study and repeated
experiments that autumn wheat is by nature essentially and positively bienual,
like beetroots, carrots, &c. Now, my Invention consists in developing the
natural bienual properties of autumn wheat, by an improved process of sowing
and treating the ground, as herein-after described, and by which process the
produce of the wheat will be greatly increased.
IMPROVED PROCESS OF TILTING AUTUMN WHEAT FOR INCREASING ITS
..
PRODUCE.
The ground on which it is proposed to sow should be tilted and well
manured beforehand, either before the winter or at the beginning of the
spring, so as to be ready to be sown between the twentieth of April and
the tenth of May following, and not before, on account of the present
degenerated state of the plant. It is, however, evident that the sowing may
take place several days before the twentieth of April, or several days after the
tenth of May; but I have found by experience that the period between the
twentieth of April and the tenth of May is the most suitable moment.
And I prefer that period for sowing, because if that operation takes place
sooner the plant has a chance to be in blossom the same year, which
cannot be the case when the sowing takes place during the period herein-
before stated, and therefore the plant becomes really bienual; the period
of sowing may, however, be advanced in course of time, and from year to
year, as soon as the harvest takes place, because if it were not for the
present degeneracy of the plant the sowing could take place now at the
beginning of March. Each grain of wheat must be sown separately, and must
occupy a surface the extent of which will be smaller in proportion as the
ground is poor in condition and contains small quantity of manure, and also
proportionally larger if the above qualities of the ground are more abundant.
In all cases the greatest attention must be given to the choice of the seed for
sowing, and to the weight, and size of the grain. The ground having been
turned up.and rolled, is divided into squares of about a quarter of an acre in
area, which divisions are marked by means of stones properly placed at the

page_text: requisite intervals, and the sowing will be effected in lines or rows, as it is
usually the case for the sowing of garden plants; the division is effected as
follows: A man and a woman or boy are placed for every quarter of an acre.
The man will be provided with a spade and a cord, which he will set at the
proper divisions; he will prepare the holes at the marked places and remove
the cord, the woman or boy will sow the seed. The most suitable distance to
be left between each row of plants is from nine and a half to twenty-three
and a half inches; if it is thought more advisable to leave a distance of fifteen
inches between each line of the cord, knots should be made in it at every
fifteen inches, and in which a conspicuous mark should be placed, to render
the divisions of the line more visible; if the distance to be left between each
linc be twenty inches, the knots made in the cord should be then twenty inches
apart. When the cord is placed as herein-before described, the man. has to
make the holes throughout the whole length of the cord, so as the holes may
be made close to the side of each of the knots previously made in the cord,
that is to say, that every hole will be at about fifteen or twenty inches apart
from the other; these holes are to be made by means of the spade, at a depth
of two inches, and four or five grains of corn will be dropped into each holes
either by the woman or the boy, great care being taken that the four or five
grains should be set in the form of a circle or of a square, and that in all cases
they should be placed at a distance of two and a half inches from each other.
The first row traced by the cord, being sown with corn as herein-before
described, the man will again set the cord at a distance from it of fifteen or
twenty inches, and will take care in marking the second row that the holes
for the wheat be placed midway opposite the spaces in the first, as is repre-
sented in the Drawing, which is on the scale of one-tenth of the natural size.
The corn being sown as herein-before stated, the man fills the holes thereof;
the first row being filled with the earth which proceeds from the holes of the
second row, and the holes of the second row are filled with the earth
proceeding from the holes of the third row, and so on."
If any of the plants happened to be destroyed, either by insects or drought,
it would be necessary to sow again, in order that there should be no space left
vacant in the division herein-before described. When the wheat has attained
the heights of four to five inches, one plant alone is allowed to grow at the
planted places, and the produce of all the other grains, that is to say, all the
other plants, are pulled out. At a later period, and until the remaining plant
be strong enough to protect itself, it is necessary to destroy parasites weeds.
When the dressing is accomplished as herein-before stated, the field may be
left uninterrupted until the barvest of the following year. By the method

page_text: herein-before described the produce of an acre of good ground will amount
to quantities unknown until this day. As I have already stated, it is necessary
to manure abundantly the ground to obtain the object of my Invention, and
care also must be taken to increase the separation of the plants as the ground
becomes more rich. When experience has shewn the proper degree of sepa-
ration to be given to the plants, showers of rain or storm will no longer
have any hurtful effect.
And having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein. laid down, provided the general
features be preserved; but what I claim as my Invention, and intended to be
protected by the said Letters Patent is, the developing the biennial properties
of autumn wheat, by means of the process herein-before described, by which.
the produce is considerably increased.
In witness whereof, I, the said Felix Charles Victor Leon Le Vacher
D'Urcle, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and