The Manufacture of Improved Fertilized and Fertilizing Materials for Promoting, the. Growth of Plants.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1894-Accepted, 1st Dec., 1894
The Manufacture of Improved Fertilized and Fertilizing Materials
for Promoting, the. Growth of Plants.
I, CHARLES HALFORD THOMPSON, F.R.H.S., of Eastcliff, Teignmouth, in the
County of Devonshire, Colonel in H.M. Regiment of Royal Artillery, 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 :-
My invention relates to the manufacture of improved fertilized and fertilizing
materials for promoting the growth or sustaining the life of plants.
The chief object of my said invention is to provide an improved fertilized fibrous
or spongy material which will serve as a substitute for earth for supporting,
nourishing and sustaining the vitality of plants:
For this purpose I manufacture a fibrous or spongy material impregnated with
substances, such as are hereinafter mentioned, which are capable of affording
nourishment to and of promoting or stimulating the growth of plants. The
fertilized material thus produced I term "Jadoo fibre."
The fibrous material which I prefer to use in such manufacture is peat moss.
I can, however, use other suitable fibrous or spongy absorbent material, such, for
instance, as ordinary moss, cocoa-nut fibre or clippings of sponges. 1 impregnate
such fibrous or spongy material as hereinafter described with a fertilizing
composition mainly consisting of soot, bone-meal, gypsum, phosphoric acid and
water, or their chemical or functional equivalents.
My said invention also comprises an improved process of manufacture of my
fertilized material, which process consists in immersing the peat moss or other
fibrous or spongy material in water acidulated with dilute phosphoric acid, boiling
it therein together with the fertilizing composition, and then draining and partially
fermenting the product.
I have ascertained, moreover, that the aforesaid fertilizing composition and also
the residual liquor remaining after the manufacture of my improved fertilized.
material are very advantageous for use in a diluted form for watering plants or for
fertilizing soil.
In manufacturing my improved fertilized and fertilizing materials, I find it
advantageous to proceed as follows, that is to say :-I first put, say, 50 gallons of
water into a suitable boiler or cauldron, and into this I pour about 8 ounces of dilute
phosphoric acid, more or less according to the strength of the acid. I then place
in a suitable vessel cr holder the following ingredients in or about in the proportions
stated, viz. :-
10 lbs. of soot.

page_text: according to the absorbent character of the fibrous material employed, and is well
stirred up during that period, after which it is taken out and put into a cask or
other suitable vessel having a perforated bottom. In this cask it is well pressed
down and the liquor is allowed to run out through the holes in the bottom of the
cask into a catch-pan below; or other suitable means may be employed for draining
off or separating the liquor from the said peat moss. The liquor thus drained off
is replaced in the boiler and the latter is refilled with fresh water, adding about
two ounces of phosphoric acid, and a fresh charge of peat moss is put in. These
operations are repeated a third time, or a greater number of times if desired, when
the whole of the peat moss which has been subjected to the treatment above
described, is put into a heap in a pit and allowed to ferment by itself, the
temperature being taken periodically with a "cotton heat" or other suitable
thermometer. When the temperature reaches or exceeds 120 degrees Fahrenheit,
or thereabouts, the fertilized peat moss is taken out, spread abroad and allowed to
remain for about two hours, and is then replaced in the heap; this operation is
repeated until the thermometer no longer registers more than 120 degrees.
The liquor remaining after the above process is completed may be collected and
sold for use in watering plants and for similar purposes, when diluted.
I can also, if desired, manufacture a liquid fertilizer separately, in the manner
above described, using the ingredients above mentioned in or about in the proportions
stated, and checking the fermentation of the liquid at a certain point by adding
sulphur to it.
The boiler employed may be of any suitable construction which will permit of
the materials being boiled without overheating in any parts, and of the treated fibre
being readily and conveniently removed after such treatment.
In some cases I find it advantageous to provide a cage or a trellis-work or
perforated extension to the wall of the aforesaid vessel or. holder, so that the treated
fibre may be the more readily removed in bulk.
It is, moreover, obvious that I can, if desired, somewhat modify my process of
manufacture, provided the peat moss or other material is immersed in a solution or
fluid containing the several ingredients at the required temperature for a period of
from 20 to 30 minutes. For example, I may pass peat moss continuously through
a long tank which is continuously supplied with the fertilizing solution and
maintained at the proper temperature by steam coils, jackets or in auy other
convenient manner.
In manufacturing my improved fertilized and fertilizing materials, I can substitute
ordinary moss, cocoa-nut fibre or clippings of sponge for the peat moss hereinbefore
mentioned. Moreover, lime and sulphuric acid, mixed together in proper
proportions may be substituted for the gypsum; a mixture of gelatine and phosphate
of lime for the bone-dust; and other chemically or functionally similar materials
may be substituted for these or the other ingredients mentioned; and the relative
proportions of the several ingredients may be somewhat varied without departing
from the nature of my said invention.
I have found that, by virtue of the invigorating properties of my fertilized
material, plants transplanted into the same do not "flag" as is usually the case with
plants which are transplanted into earth, it being only necessary to shade the said
plants a little, gradually exposing them to sun and air until they will stand full
effects without flagging. Moreover, plants grown in this material, and transplanted
into soil, do not flag, as they have a ball of the material round their roots to feed
'upon.
My improved fertilized material, moreover, possesses the advantages over earth,
that it is much lighter and does not necessitate the use of the heavy earthenware
pots usually employed; it is very valuable for sustaining the life of plants used for
decorative purposes, or placed in window-boxes or the like; it is more cleanly than
earth and saves much time and trouble in re-potting; it requires watering much less
frequently than earth, and does not give off any disagreeable smell; it suits all
kinds of plants, thus obviating the necessity for adapting the soil to the plant; it

page_text: saves much time in "bedding out" plants, as plants grown in Jadoo fibre instead of
earth do not flag when bedded out; it enables plants to grow in smaller pots than
are required when earth is used; and further it brings out the colour of the
flowers and the flowers have less tendency to fall off than when grown in soil.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. The fertilization of peat moss or other suitable material by boiling the
same in a weak solution of phosphoric acid together with a composition of soot, bone-
meal and gypsum or equivalent substances, and then straining and fermenting or
partially fermenting the product.
Second. The improved process consisting in mixing together soot, bone-meal and
gypsum in or about in the above named proportions, introducing the mixture into a
boiling solution of phosphoric acid and placing therein peat-moss or other suitable
fibrous or spongy material, boiling the whole for about from twenty to thirty minutes,
and then straining the impregnated material, and allowing it to ferment or partially
ferment, substantially as hereinbefore described.
Third. The improved fertilized fibrous or spongy material prepared substantially
as herein before described.
Fourth. The improved fertilizing liquid produced substantially in the manner
herein before described.
Dated the 1st day of November 1904
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.