2007/25

Riffle' seed sampler used at Suttons Seeds early 20th C. to produce a working representative sample of seed for analysis from a bulk sample.
This is a 'riffle' seed sampler, used at Suttons Seeds Ltd. in the early twentieth century to produce a working representative sample of seed for analysis from a bulk sample. The bulk sample would be scattered over the grid of the riffle and one of the fractions – either that in the cups or the hollow parts – was retrieved and scattered again until the correct size of working sample was produced. The riffle 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

Suttons Seeds Ltd. Torquay, Descriptions of Tools and Apparatus from Suttons Seeds once used in the Seed Industry – ‘6. Original ‘Riffle’ Sample Divider // Used in the early 1900’s to produce a ‘working’ representative portion of seed for analysis. The submitted bulk sample was reduced in size by scattering the seed over the grid of the Riffle unit. One of the fractions of seed – either what was in the cups, or what had fallen into the hollow ports – was retrieved, and the scattering operation repeated until the correct size working sample was produced. Today, laboratory analysts use automatic centrifugal dividers to produce more accurate and reliable sub samples at greater speed.’, 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.

1900-01-01 - 1924-12-31

Early-twentieth century