2007/23

Cambridge and Paul Instrument Company (Manufacturer)

Dodder counting machine used to assess the impurity of seed samples by counting the number of harmful seeds in an exact amount of seed.
This is a dodder counting machine, used to assess the impurity of seed samples by counting the number of harmful seeds in an exact amount of seed. It consists of a hopper, handle, velvet conveyor belt and magnifying glass. Turning the handle causes the seed to trickle out of the hopper and onto the conveyor belt, which passes under the magnifying glass through which the operator counts the number of ‘injurious weeds’. This dodder counter was made by Cambridge and Paul Instrument Company 1920–1924 and used at Suttons Seeds Ltd. It is part of a large collection of objects relating to Suttons Seeds Ltd., as well as other rural artefacts, compiled by John Cox, who worked at Suttons from 1931 to 1976, starting as an office boy and finishing as Company Secretary.

seed sampler: wood, metal

Suttons Seeds Ltd. Torquay, Descriptions of Tools and Apparatus from Suttons Seeds once used in the Seed Industry – ‘2. Dodder Counting Machine // Under the outdate 1920 Seeds Act covering herbage seeds; dodder, docks, sorrels, black and couch grass seeds were classified as ‘injurious weeds’. Where the incidence of such seeds in a commercial seed sample exceeded one in a prescribed size sample, full details by name and number had to be given to the buyer within seven days of purchase. // The manually operated dodder machine was devised to enable the incidence of injurious weeds in a given measure of seed to be assessed accurately. The machine was also used to determine the incidence of other weed seed in samples. // Dodder is a parasitic plant and its host plants include clover, lucerne and aster, which were the principal seed kinds in which dodder occurred. // The hopper of the machine is charged with the sample to be inspected. As the handle is turned, the seed trickles out onto the moving velvet belt, passing under a magnifying glass through which the operator makes the incidence count. // Current legislation simply proscribes the marketing of herbage and other economic seed stocks where the incidence of specified ‘seed impurities’, in a working sample, exceed a given number or percentage by weight.’, MERL miscellaneous note – ‘Dodder counting machine // Made by the Cambridge and Paul Instrument Company between 1920 and 1924, this small, manual conveyor belt was used at Suttons Seeds Ltd. The Seeds Act of 1920 made high incidence of weeds in commercial samples illegal. Scoops like the square ‘riffle’ (rear) and pointed ‘thief’ (left) meant staff could extract standard measures. The counting machine then helped workers to assess the impurity of these samples. This was achieved by counting the number of harmful seeds such as dock or dodder, hence the name.’, MERL miscellaneous note, Greta Bertram, 2 August 2012 – Suttons Seeds Ltd. was founded in 1806 by John Sutton (1777–1863) and traded as a corn merchant. It was known as the ‘House of Sutton’ and had premises on King Street, Reading. John’s two sons joined the business in 1832 and in 1836 it was renamed ‘Sutton & Son’. In 1837 the company moved to the Market Place, Reading, and expanded into seeds and acquired nursery grounds in Queens Road, Reading. In 1840 they established a testing laboratory and in 1873 new buildings replaced those in Market Place. These included various offices, separate store rooms for different types of seeds and bulbs, recreation rooms, residences and a fire station. In 1962 Suttons moved to new grounds and premises on the eastern outskirts of Reading, before moving to Torquay, Devon, in 1976 and then Paington, Devon, in 1998.

Cambridge

1920 - 1924

Wood, Metal