On this day in 1923 Ernest W. Kummer was granted the patent for BERRY BUSH COVERING MACHINE. U.S. Patent No. 1,444,971.

This invention relates to a machine for covering berry bushes and similar shrubs in order to protect them from the winter frost.

Gardeners and others who live in the part of the country where the winters are severe have found that it is necessary to protect berry bushes, grape vines and similar fruit bearing shrubs and vines from the frost and they have found that the cheapest and most effective way is to lay them down on the ground surface and then cover them with dirt: this entails a large amount of labor and involves considerable expense.

It is the object of this invention to provide a machine that can be drawn by a team of horses and which will gradually bend the bushes over and lay them flat on the ground after which it will automatically cover them with dirt.