IMPROVEMENTS IN WARPING' OR COURRING LAND ROG OR PEAT WITH EARTH OR SOIL
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wood, of Monkhill, near Pontefract, in the
County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WARPING' OR
COURRING LAND ROG OR PEAT WITH EARTH OR SOIL."
Sealed the 18th November 1868, and dated the 14th July 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wood at the
⚫ Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th July, 1868.
I, WILLIAM WOOD, of Monkhill, near Pontefract, in the County of York,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WARPING' OR COVERING LAND, BOG, OR PEAT WITH EARTH OR SOIL," to be as
follows:-
The "warping." of land or the adding thereto of large quantities of earthy
matters in order to form or produce a new soil thereon is practised on the low
lands bordering on tidal rivers and estuaries when a sufficient quantity of
earthy materials are held in suspension in the water, and where the lands are.
below the level of high tide; in such cases the river and land to be warped are
embanked; the muddy waters are allowed to flow on and off the land as the tide
rises and falls; or they are for a time retained within the embanked portions,,
and when the earthy materials suspended in the water have been deposited on
the land the water on a receding tide is allowed to flow off. These operations
are repeated until the desired quantity of deposit has been obtained.
When the land to be warped or covered with soil is above the tidal level

page_text: "dry warping" is sometimes practised, that is, the deposit left on the low lands
or other soil is carried usually in waggons on moveable tramways on to the
higher grounds; this, however, being an expensive operation is not very
frequently resorted to.
Now, my Invention in warping or covering land, bog, or peat with earth or
soil consists in the employment of water as the carrying agent for warping or
covering lands, bogs, or peats which are too high to be warped in the usual
manner, the water employed being raised by pumps or other lifting machines
actuated by steam or other motive power sufficiently high to overflow the land,
and when necessary retained within suitable embankments thereon; when the
earthy matters have been deposited on the land, bog, or peat, the water is then
to be run off or drained away. These operations are to be repeated until the
desired quantity of deposit has been obtained. In those cases where the
waters of contiguous rivers or courses do not contain sufficient earthy matters
in suspension to make it profitable or advisible to raise them alone artificially
and where it may be otherwise desirable, I incréase the quantity of matter
held in suspension by the water by adding earthy material thereto or by con-
centrating the warping water. To warp lands, bogs, or other surfaces where
no tidal muddy water is available, I add earthy or other material to ordinary
water, or to waters or matters of drains or sewers, and force the mixture
through pipes or conduits on to the land, bog, or other surface. When it is
desired to alter the nature of the surface warped, I depósit thereon à con-
siderable quantity of soil, peat, or other material of an alterrative or opposite
character by adding such soil or other material to the warping water. Where
it may be desired to warp or cover land, bog, or peat with dry matters, such as
light sands or soil, crushed or powdered dry peat, chalk, or clay, or other dry
light or powdery substances, a suitable quantity of the material to be deposited
is to be continuously mixed with sufficient air to keep it in suspension when
in motion, and driven through pipes on to the land or bog by means of an 'air
pump or blast machinery actuated by steam or other. power.
I
´SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Wood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WOOD, of Monkbill, near Pontefract, in the County of York, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant.
unto me, the said William Wood, Her special licence that I, the said
William Wood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others.
as I, the said William Wood, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at.
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully.
might make, use, exercise, and vend,, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WARPING' OR COVERING LAND, BOG, OR PEAT
WITH EARTH OR Som," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Wood, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within, six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that. I, the said William Wood, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
The warping of land or the adding thereto of large quantities of earthy
matters in order to form or produce a new soil thereon is practised on the low
lands bordering on tidal rivers and estuaries where a sufficient quantity of
earthy materials are held in suspension in the water, and where the lands are
below the level of high tide; in such cases the river and land to be warped are
embanked, the muddy waters are allowed to flow on and off the land as the
tido rises and falls; or they are for a time retained within the embanked.
portions, and when the earthy materials suspended in the water have been
deposited on the land, the water on a receding tide is allowed to flow off.
These operations are repeated until the desired quantity of deposit has been
obtained.
66
When the land to be warped or covered with soil is above the tidal level
dry warping" is sometimes practised, that is, the deposit left on the low
lands or other soil is carried usually in wagons on moveable tramways on to
the higher grounds; this, however, being an expensive operation is not very
frequently resorted to.

page_text: Now, my Invention in warping or covering land, bog, or peat with earth or
soil consists in the employment of water as the carrying agent for warping or
covering lands, bogs, or peats which are too high to be warped in the usual
manner, the water employed being raised by pumps or other lifting machines
actuated by steam or other motive power sufficiently high to overflow the land,
and when necessary retained within suitable embankments thereon; when the
earthy matters have been deposited on the land, bog, or peat, the water is
then to be run off or drained away. These operations are to be repeated until
the desired quantity of deposit has been obtained. This plan of warping by
artificially raising the natural muddy water of certain tidal rivers or estuaries
is most advantageously employed when used for warping flat lands that are
but little above the level of the tides. In carrying it out I form embankments
round the land to be warped. having suitable sluices for the admission and
withdrawal of the water, which I raise so as to cover the land two or three or
more feet deep, either by one or more scoop wheels or by centrifugal pumps or
archimedian screws, but for low lifts I prefer the former. The water having
been raised on to the land is allowed to remain a sufficient time to deposit the
carthy matters in suspension, when it is drawn off and the operation repeated.
It is advisable to have two or more plots of land in process at the same time,
in order to use the motive power in raising the water on one plot whilst the
water on the other is depositing its earthy matters. The plan of artificially
using the natural muddy waters in warping land becomes less advantageous in
proportion as the earthy matters held in suspension by the water are less in
quantity, and also in proportion as the elevation of the land to be warped is
greater. In such cases, and whenever it can be conveniently done, I mix the
warp soil deposited on the lands below the level of the tides, or any other soil
which will mix easily with water, in such proportion to the water used as will
bring the mixture to such a state that it can be pumped and will flow freely in
the pipes when being prevented from settling in the mixing vessel by being
continually stirred by a rotary frame or stirrer worked by the engine; the
mixture is pumped or raised over a stand pipe of sufficient height, varying
with the height of the ground to be warped and the distance it has to be
taken, or into an air-tight receiver, when by the weight of the column in the
pipe or the pressure of the condensed air in the air-tight pressure vessel it is
forced through suitable pipes; I prefer flexible woven ones, laid on the ground
to be warped, and by means of openings in the main pipe or branches it is run
on to the land, when the earthy matters precipitate and the water flows off or
drains away, the pipe or pipes being moved during the operation by the
attendants from place to place as required, so as to cover the land with the

page_text: new soil as evenly as possible. This plan of warping or making a new soil on
land is not confined to tidal waters nor to tidal deposits, but may be carried
out wherever sufficient water and soil of a suitable description to mix with it
can be had in conjunction within a workable distance of the land to be warped.
When it desired to alter the nature of the surface warped, I deposit thereon a
considerable quantity of soil, peat, or other material of an alterative or opposite.
character by adding such soil or other material to the warping water. Where
it may be desired to warp or cover land, bog, or peat with dry matters, such
as light sands or soil, crushed or powdered dry peat, chalk, or clay, or other
dry, light, or powdery substances, a suitable quantity of the material to be
deposited is to be continuously mixed with sufficient air to keep it in
suspension when in motion, and driven through pipes on to the land or bog by
means of an air pump or blast machinery actuated by steam or other power.
In carrying out this portion of the Invention the same general principles
are followed as when the fluid used is water, but as air is so much lighter than
water the quantity or bulk thereof must be so much greater in proportion to
the quantity or bulk of matters moved. These matters must be dry, light, and
minutely divided, so as to become species of dust by suitable crushing,
grinding, or disintegrating apparatus; this is conveniently effected by a
disintegrator or machine consisting of two or more cylindrical iron cages
concentrically arranged one within another, and revolving with great rapidity
in opposite directions; the earthy matters being fed through a central opening
into the innermost cage, are by the action of the machine instantly thrown out
minutely divided; or it may be crushed or ground by rollers or stones, the
dusty matter being then fed regularly into a revolving blast fan by falling
through an orifice of any desired size at the bottom of a hopper, is by it driven
through pipes or conduits laid on or supported over the land, and by means of
openings therein or in branches therefrom it escapes on to the land, the pipes
being moved from place to place by the attendants, as required, to deposit the
matters evenly on the land.
•
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wood, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four
WILLIAM WOOD. (L.S.)