The Wire-Loop Plant Marker: The Handle You Push With Carries the Name

"The looped portion thus provided constitutes in a very real sense a handle member, and permits the standard, which is sharpened at its lower end 18 to be thrust into the ground by exerting moderate pressure on the looped portion." "A tongue 23 is provided on the extreme end of the marker, constituting the outer end when the parts are in assembled position, and this tongue is designed to be bent around the element 14 of the looped member and to constitute a retaining device."

Cut 600 mm of 4 mm galvanised steel wire with the hacksaw. File one end to a point.

Bend the wire 90° in the vice 340 mm from the point, then 90° down after 100 mm, then 90° back toward the upright after 30 mm. Saw off the end where it meets the upright. Tap each bend square.

Cut aluminium sheet 90 × 44 mm with a 10 × 15 mm tongue at one end. Stamp the plant's name in the middle. Roll 7 mm of each long edge round a 4 mm drill bit with the pliers.

Stand a pot of firm soil on the kitchen scale and zero it. Press the standard 200 mm in by the loop's middle and note the peak reading; grams × 0.0098 = newtons. Check the loop's corner against the ruler for a lasting bend.

Slide the plate's flanges along the loop's long sides and bend the tongue round its end.

**George A. Brakmeier** of Louisville, Kentucky, filed US 1,590,722 on 18 September 1925; it was patented 29 June 1926. The standard may be formed of heavy wire or a rod of suitable size; the plate's flanges fit over the loop's sides, so it is mounted by thrusting it toward the standard after the standard is in the ground. His Figure 6 bends the loop out to both sides, carrying two plates. His claims cover a standard with a handle and a flanged plate with a tongue engaging it. **Honest limits.** He gives no sizes; ours are examples. The notebook treats the push as one force at the loop's middle. Your pushes and bends are the result.