AN IMPROVED ARTIFICIAL MANURE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Tidmarsh, of Dorking, County of Surrey,
Agriculturist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED ARTIFICIAL MANURE."
Sealed the 1st April 1862, and dated the 9th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Tidmarsh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
October 1861.
I, THOMAS TIDMARSH, of Dorking, County of Surrey, Agriculturist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN. IMPROVED ARTIFICIAL
MANURE," to be as follows, that is to say :-
The object of my Invention consists in the formation of a manure which,
from the simplicity of the mode of manufacture, the cheapness and fertilizing
nature of the materials composing it, will render it both applicable to all kinds
of land, and capable of being manufactured by any farmer. To produce this I
collect any available vegetable or animal matters, such as peat, turf, twitch,
couch, stubble, bone, skin, or any such like, and by means of heat reduce
them to an alkaline ash. When cold I mix with about eighteen
hundredweight (cwt.) of this 6 hundredweight (ewt.) of night soil, five bushels
of quicklime, and about forty gallons of animal urine or farm-yard liquor; the
whole being intimately combined, is then broken up and pulverized, and is
now ready for use. When about to use this I apply it as follows:-If for wheat,
flax, or such like crops, I add for each acre of ground about one gallon of

page_text: vitriol to each ton of the manure, this I either drill in with the corn or apply it
as a top dressing.
For grass lands, roots, such as mangle wurzel, turnips, and such like crops,
if drilled or sown broadcast, the manure may be distributed by a drill, or as
most convenient. If there be indications of the "fly "attacking the crop, I
add in addition to the previous quantity of manure an equal additional
quantity, which I apply as a top dressing, and if possible when the ground is
moist either with dew or rain. For potatoes, I prefer to plant them in sets
and then put the manure over the seed before covering up.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Tidmarsh in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
TIDMARSI, of Dorking, County of Surrey, Agriculturist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Tidmarsh, Her special licence, that I, the said Thomas Tidmarsh,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Tidmarsh, 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 Invention for "AN IM-
PROVED ARTIFICIAL MANURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Tidmarsh, 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 Thomas Tidmarsh, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement, that is to say :-

page_text: The object of my Invention consists in the formation of a manure which,
from the simplicity of the mode of manufacture, the cheapness and fertilizing
nature of the materials composing it, will render it applicable to all kinds of
land, and capable of being manufactured by any farmer. To produce this
I collect any available vegetable or animal matters, such as peat, turf, twitch,
couch, stubble, bone, skin, or any such like, and by means of heat reduce
them to an alkaline ash. I mix with about 18 cwt. of this compound, 6 cwt.
of human night soil, 5 bushels of quicklime, and about 40 gallons of animal
urine or farm-yard liquor; the whole being intimately combined, is then
broken up, pulverized, and mixed with 35 lbs. of vitriol, or to make a ton
of the mixture, I take about 25 bushels of the ashes, and mix with it about
8 pails full of human night soil, adding 25 gallons of stable urine, then
combine the whole with 4 bushels of lime, and finally add about 25 lbs. of
vitriol. When about to use this, I apply it as follows:-If for wheat, flax, or
such like crops, I either drill it in with the corn, or apply it as a top dressing.
For roots, grass lands, such as mangel wurtzel, turnips, and such like crops,
if drilled or sown broadcast, the manure may be distributed by a drill, or as
most convenient. If there be indications of the fly attacking the crop, I add
in addition to the previous quantity of manure an equal additional quantity,
which I apply as a top dressing, and if possible when the ground is moist
either with dew or rain. For potatoes, I prefer to plant them in sets, and
then put the manure over the seed before covering it up.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and how the same is
carried out, I wish it understood that what I claim and wish secured to me by
the before in part recited Letters Patent is the sole use of a manure formed
with the ingredients and after the manner substantially as set forth and
described in this Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Tidmarsh, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
THOMAS TIDMARSH. (L.S.)