An Improved Mode of Cultivating Plants, and Means to be used in connection therewith.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 31st Mar., 1894
An Improved Mode of Cultivating Plants, and Means to be used in
connection therewith.
1 JOHN FOSTER PICKERING of St. Aloes, Chislehurst in the County of Kent,
Gentleman, 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 :-
In the growing of fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, whether for market
or private consumption, the difficulty is to obtain a succession of crops without
incurring such expense as to make the growing unprofitable.
In some cases (for instance, in vine culture), a number of vineries or green-houses
are employed, which are successively brought into operation, and thus a succession
of crops can be obtained, but such an arrangement is not suitable for the cheaper
kinds of fruit and flowers, besides which, the houses in vine culture have to be left
open for a considerable part of the year, to give the vines the proper period of rest,
and the houses are therefore practically useless for other purposes.
There are also many decorative plants which it is desirable to leave in the open
for various periods of time, and at certain seasons, and which, when about to bloom,
require heat, and the labour necessary to shift the plants into and out of the houses
is enormous.
In the growing of vegetables and the smaller fruits, again, the crops come on all
at once, producing a glut in the market, and consequent reduction of prices. The
forcing of vegetables and some small fruits, is now effected, on a small scale,
by means of small frames, lights, or glasses, but it will be obvious that, on a
large scale, this is practically impossible, on account of the labour involved
thereby.
The earth in greenhouses is also liable to become foul and stale, because it is not
subjected to the cleansing action of the atmosphere in the same way as the open
ground. This necessitates the removal of a great portion of the earth from time to
time, with possible injury to the trees or plants.
I have mentioned above only a few of the disadvantages of the present systems
of culture, but there are many others which will be evident to horticulturists.
Now, the object of the present invention is to obtain the desired result, of
succession crops &c., without the disadvantages herein before enunciated, and the
invention consists in a mode of cultivation and in means for carrying out the
same.
To this end I may plant the crops in such positions, that suitably long lengths
may be placed under glass, for forcing purposes, as required, by bodily shifting a
glass structure, with or without heating apparatus, longitudinally or laterally, or
by changing the position laterally of the two halves of the roof, or by planting the
plants in suitable troughs or boxes, or in pots placed on suitable flooring or staging,
which may be run into fixed houses, with or without the heating apparatus of
whatever kind it may .be.
And in order that the invention may be clearly understood, I will now proceed
to describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which are shown,
in Sheet I, general views of appliances for various ways of carrying out the
invention, the remaining Sheets II and III showing various details of construction.
Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, Sheet I, which are respectively a plan view,
a side elevation, and a cross section, and illustrate my invention so far as applied,
say, to the cultivation of vines. A represents a vinery or greenhouse, and
B indicates, in, dotted lines, the position.it will assume when shifted. In general,

page_text: f
one shift will be sufficient in a house of the class indicated, but I may provide for
two shifts. In arranging the houses, I should erect a house, say, at one end of a
garden, leave a space equal to one or two shifts, and then erect another house, a
further space being left on the other side, and so on.
·
In this way, I make one house do the duty of two or three, as, when the crop of
grapes has been cut, the house may be shifted, in order to bring on a second crop,
or to use the house for another purpose.
In constructing the house, I proceed as follows:-I build a number of piers a a
in brick or concrete, all of the same height, and with proper footings, and at con-
venient distances apart. Upon these, piers, I fix a plate", to which are secured
by spikes, or in any other convenient manner, ordinary Vignolles or other. rails c
(see Fig. 4, Sheet II). These rails form tracks for flanged wheels d; which carry
the glass structure, and will extend permanently the length of the two or three
shifts, as the case may be.
The wheels d are mounted in suitable brackets e, firmly secured to a base plate f
which, being securely braced and bolted together, forms a frame all round, on which
the glass structure is erected in the usual way, as upon the "plate" usually placed
on the walls.
The glass structure may be half or full span, or of lean-to type, of any form or
pitch, to suit the requirements.
The wheel brackets e will be permanently boxed in, as indicated, at.. Figs. 5
and 6, Sheet III, the casing g being secured to the base, plate. f, and fitting against
the web of the rail. h. represents a flap which closes in the space between two
wheels, the said flap being hinged in any convenient manner to the underside of the
base plate f, and having at its lower edge a flange or fillet, which fits under the
head of the rail, and against the web, as seen in Figs. 5, and 6.
'
i, Figs. 4. is the lower rail of the light, which may form one side of a.V.gutter,
the other side being a bar or rail i', secured at right angles to the rail i.
The ends of the house shown at Fig. 7, Sheet III, are built up in the usual way
on the base plate f, and will in most cases be moved with the house.
For a house of the kind above described; I secure. the hot water pipes, to, the
framework, so, that they may be moved with the house, and a fixed boiler j
suitably placed, say, at the centre of the shift, see Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the junction
between the boiler and the pipes being made in any convenient manner.
"
For field work, I employ a somewhat. lighter construction, as indicated, at
Figs. 8 and 9, Sheet I. In this case, I use posts or piles.k to carry the "plate"
and rails; or may combine the plate and rails in one, as shown in Fig. 10,
Sheet II, that is to say, I may use a channel iron 1, which is firmly secured to
the posts in any convenient manner, and the wheels run on the sides, which are
slightly rounded at the top edge, to give a better bearing surface.
As will be seen from Fig. 9, it is proposed to place the glass structures side. by
side in this arrangement, the two sides of the channel forming the rails on which
the wheels of two adjacent structures run, the channel serving as a gutter; the
water from which is carried off by suitable down-cast pipes, as indicated at. Fig. 10.
This construction also lends itself to inequalities in the ground. The boiler for
the heating arrangement may be supported as indicated, in Fig. 10, in which the
boiler m is slung on one side by a strap from a rafter, the other side strap, being
provided with a small roller, which runs on the rails.
j
The ends of the houses may consist of match-boarding, and be permanent, or
may, be made up of flaps hinged to the framework, as indicated, at Fig. 11,
Sheet II.
*
*
Fig. 12, Sheet III, illustrates the invention as applied to a lean-to roof against
a wall, the same letters of reference referring to corresponding parts..
In this case, however, I prefer to brace the "plate to the wall by strong
metal braces, placed at suitable distances apart.
: .111.
In place of moving the structure longitudinally, it will be obvious, that I
arrange the rails or ways so that. the structure may be, moved bodily, laterally.
may

page_text: Instead of moving the house longitudinally or laterally, I may effect my object
by so constructing the roof, that the two halves may be turned over laterally in
opposite directions.
This plan is indicated in the transverse sectional view shewn at Fig. 13,
Sheet I. In this case, I have alternate houses and spaces, the plants being
planted both in the house and in the spaces.
In carrying out this arrangement, I prefer to have a permanent skeleton frame-
work, or principals, o, to support the lights (see Fig. 14, Sheet II), and I construct
the lights with a double ridge-board p.
The bottom rails 9 I pivot or hinge to the base plate b in any convenient manner.
A simple way is shewn at Fig. 14, as before mentioned, suitable rounded recesses
being made in the bottom rail to receive metal straps s, which are firmly secured
to the base plate b.
The space between the ridge boards p is closed by means of a ridge_piece
which is hinged so that it may be raised either side as required, see Figs. 15
and 16, Sheet III. The attachment of the ridge piece to the ridge boards is
temporary, as the ridge piece must be removed when the lights are turned over,
and refixed on the opposite side.
The raising of the ridge piece t may be effected by the lever handles, as
he readily understood from the figures, or in any other convenient manner.
will
As the lights have to be turned over, it will be evident that the glass must be
fixed in a more permanent manner than with putty, and it will also be evident
that there should be no overlapping.
We therefore form on one side of a rafter, a groove, see Fig. 17, Sheet II, into
which the side edge of the glass is inserted, and on the other side a rebate,
which, as soon as the glass is inserted, is filled in with a fillet, which is nailed or
screwed to the rafter, as preferred. The end edges of the glass abut, and are
united together by an elastic varnish or piece of glazier's lead, as indicated at o
in Fig. 14.
In order to lower the lights gradually into their new position, I may attach
chains to the ridge boards, and pass them round pulleys attached to the base
plate on the opposite side of the house.
The end of a house used with this arrangement, is shown at Fig. 18, Sheet 111,
the upper part being permanent, the lower part a consisting of flaps, which can
be readily removed as required. The ends, in this case, may also be mounted on
wheels, to be shifted bodily laterally to the new position.
As before stated, in place of moving the house, I may, in some cases, prefer
to move the trough flooring or staging. Such an arrangement is indicated in
Fig. 19, Sheet 1, the trough or the staging being mounted on wheels to run on
rails, as before described. The heating pipes, or some of them, may be carried
with the trough or staging, and the connections with the permanent boiler will be
made in any convenient manner.
Instead of a glass roof, I may use a dark roof for the cultivation of such plants
as do not require light, and in place of running wheels, I may, for a light class of
structure, mount the structure on V skids, to slide on the rails. Such a plan is
indicated at Figs. 20, Sheet III, in side and sectional views, and in detail at
Figs. 21, Sheet II.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and what manner the same is to be performed, we would here remark that it
will be evident that the details of construction, may be modified considerably
without departing from the nature of our invention, and we therefore do not
intend to limit ourselves to the absolute details shown, but what we desire to claim is
144.2*
1. The method of cultivation herein described, wherein the relative positions
of a horticultural structure, and a series. or number of plants under cultivation,
are changed so as to bring the latter successively within the protection of the
house, in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

page_text: 2. The mode of cultivating fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, as herein
described, which consists of changing, for the purposes of culture, the relative
positions of a horticultural structure, and the plants being cultivated, without
separately moving or disturbing the plants as they stand in bulk, that is to say,
either by a mass movement of the structure or a mass movement of the plants, as
set forth.
3. The mode of cultivating fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, as
herein described, whereby a succession of crops may be obtained in the same glass
structure, a cleansing of the ground by the atmosphere is permitted, the plants are
subjected to the best conditions for proper culture, and the labor necessary in the
cultivation is reduced considerably, as set forth.
4. The mode of cultivating fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, as
herein described, which consists in forcing series or portions of rows of plants,
in succession, by means of a travelling horticultural structure (with or without
heating devices), of sufficient size to cover a series, or a portion of rows of plants,.
and which is shifted or caused to travel periodically, as and for the purpose
set forth.
5. The mode of cultivating fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, as
herein described, which consists in forcing rows of plants in succession, by means
of fixed horticultural structures, the roofs of which can be shifted laterally as
set forth.
6. The mode of cultivating fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, as herein
described, which consists in forcing the trees or plants, planted in travelling
troughs or boxes, or in pots arranged on travelling stagings or floors, with or
without heating devices, by running the troughs, stagings, or floorings, in succession
into fixed horticultural structures, as set forth.
7. The mode of cultivating fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, as
herein described, which consists in planting the trees or plants in the open ground,
between lines of rails or their equivalent, and from time to time, as required,
shifting a travelling horticultural structure mounted on said rails or their
equivalent, to cover series or portions of rows of such trees or plants, whereby
the forcing of such series or portions of rows of plants is effected, and a succession
of crops is thereby obtained, as set forth.
8. The mode of cultivating fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, as hercin
described, which consists in planting the trees or plants in and between fixed
horticultural structures, the roofs of which are capable of being moved laterally,
so that when the covered crop has been gathered, a second crop will be sufficiently
forward. to be forced, and the ground of the first crop will be available for a
third crop, and so on, a continuous succession of crops being thereby obtained, as
set forth.
9. In the cultivation of fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, the use of
travelling horticultural structures, as and for the purposes herein set forth.
10. In the cultivation of fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, the use of
fixed horticultural structures, the roofs of which are made in two parts capable of
being turned over laterally in opposite directions, as set forth.
11. Mounting horticultural structures for use in the cultivation of fruit, flowers,
vegetables, and other plants, on wheels or skids adapted to run or slide on rails
suitably supported, or on suitable ways, substantially as herein shown and described,
and for the purposes set forth.
12. Travelling horticultural structures for use in the cultivation of fruit, flowers,
vegetables, and other plants, constructed and arranged substantially as herein
shown and described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 12 and 20, and the detail
figures relating thereto of the drawings.
13. Fixed horticultural structures for use in the cultivation of fruit, flowers,
vegetables, and other plants, constructed, arranged, and operating substantially
as herein shown and described with reference to Fig. 13 and the detail figures
relating thereto of the drawings.
.:

page_text: 14. In the cultivation of fruit, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, the use of
travelling troughs, stagings, or floorings, in combination with fixed horticultural
structures, substantially as herein shown and described with reference to Fig. 19
of the drawings.
Dated this 24th day of February 1894.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.