IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLYING MANURE TO LAND
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PHILIP
HENRY HOLLAND, of Chorlton upon Medlock, in the Borough of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Surgeon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of
February, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Philip Heury Holland, my exors,
adiñors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Philip Henry Holland, my exors, adññors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Philip Henry Holland, my exors, admors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPLYING MANURE TO LAND," partly communicated from abroad, and partly
invented by myself; in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso,
that I, the said Philip Henry Holland, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, to be inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso. I, the said
Philip Henry Holland, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The Invention consists of an improved method of distributing manures or
other substances.for. the improvement of land dissolved or suspended in liquid,
and also of an improved method of distributing water, upon land, by which I
am enabled to employ steam power for these purposes at a number of different
places in succession, and which is useful in cases where the quantity of liquid
manure or of other substances to be distributed on the land at one place is not
sufficient to render it economical to erect a fixed steam engine for the purpose.
By the Invention navigable rivers and canals are rendered more available
than heretofore as means of promoting the fertility of the adjoining lands; and
further, by the Invention sanatory improvements in towns will be powerfully
advanced, as by it the employment of excrementious and other refuse matter
of towns will be rendered more easy, convenient, and economical; and also
by the Invention the application of sewerage to land will be facilitated and
extended. Any kind of manure or marl, lime, clay, or other substances for the
amendment of the land, capable of being dissolved or suspended in water; may
be used by the Invention; but the manures which I principally employ are
urine and night soil, and sometimes guano. And in carrying out the Inven-
tion I mix the manures or other substances in such proportions and in such
quantities of water as I judge most expedient, so as to supply the land with
the respective elements of the intended crops. The manures and other sub-
stances applied to the land by means of. the Invention are mere equally
distributed and more equally divided than when applied in the ordinary
manner; they more rapidly sink into the soil and are absorbed, and there is
consequently less waste of manure and less escape of offensive gases. A further
advantage from the use of the Invention is, that by mixing the manures with
water on the spot I can easily vary the degree of dilution, according to the pre-
cise state of the ground, in respect to the quantity of moisture at the time.
The proportions I commonly employ vary from one part of urine or night soil
with from four to eight of water; but the degree of dilution may be varied
according to the constantly varying condition of the land, which may be
changed by rain or by a dry wind even at the very time of the application of
the liquid. The liquid manure used is formed by mixing the night soil, urine,
and other substances with such proportion of water as appears most expedient,
by means of agitation, by an instrument formed like a harrow, which I call an
agitator, which is moved to and fro by steam power through the liquid con-

page_text: tained in a water-tight compartment of a barge; but the agitation may be
accomplished by means of a jet of water, or by other methods; and the liquid
manure thus formed is pumped by means of an ordinary forcing pump worked'
by a steam engine contained in a barge' or other vessel floating on the water,"
and the liquid manure is conveyed through flexible hose pipes, made of oil cloth
canvass, to be distributed upon the land by a jet through a flattened nozzle;
but I do not confine myself to the use of this kind of pipe or of nozzle, nor to
distribution by means of jet, for the Invention' may be used with pipes madė
of metal, earthenware, or other substances, and the liquid may be distributed"
either through lateral perforations, or by means of nozzles of various shapes,'
or by simple shedding without any nozzle, as the case may require. Liquid
manure may be distributed by means of earthen pipes formed in moulds, 'con-
nected together by screw joints; and I employ a moveable steam engine and
forcing pump, which I place in a barge or boat floating upon a navigable river"
or canal, from which I can obtain a ready supply of water, and by means
whereof I can easily remove the apparatus from place to place; or the appa-"
ratus may be placed upon wheels, and moved from place to place upon a
railway or otherwise. By this apparatus I can readily add to the quantity of
moisture in the land; but I propose in some cases to diminish the degree of "
moisture by using the Tioveable steam engine and pump to remove water, by
pumping from a well into which the land drains may be run.
I do not con-
fine myself to the use of such manures as are above mentioned, nor to the use
of liquid manure formed as above described, for any substances for the amend-
ment of land or the nourishment of plants which can be dissolved or suspended
in water may be employed, and especially supplies of fertilising liquid may
occasionally be obtained from sewers, drains, and other conduits of sewerage.
There is a well-known economy from the use of liquid manure, which within
certain limits increases with the degree of dilution. The liquid form is that
in which the food of plants is prepared for their appropriation, and in
which it can be inore readily proportioned to their requirements, and more
equably distributed; also injurious and useless matter can be more readily
excluded, and the gaseous matters being dissolved in the water, which quickly
sinks into the soil, a very small proportion of such gaseous matter escapes
into the air, much loss of valuable manure is saved and much annoyance is
avoided; and by this method of manuring, fewer injurious insects or seeds of
weeds are carried upon the land. All these advantages attending the use of
liquid rather than of solid manure are much increased by means of the Inven-
tion, inasmuch as by it the degree of dilution of the manure may be increased
to any desired extent with but inconsiderable addition to the expensiveness of

page_text: the process, which is not the case when liquid manure has to be distributed by
means of horse and cart, the expensiveness of which greatly limits the degree
to which dilution can be profitably carried. Further, by means of the Inven-
tion liquid manure can be applied to the crops at any period of their growth,
and at all times injury done to the land or the crops by cart wheels and horses
feet, when liquid manure carts are employed, is entirely avoided. By this
apparatus, land or crops situated near to the banks of navigable rivers or
canals may be more conveniently and economically watered than by any other
method now in use, and by means whereof occasionally great losses from
droughts may be avoided.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best manner of
employing the same, I would wish it to be understood that I make no claim
to the use of liquid manure, nor do I claim the method of distributing it by
means of hose or other pipes, by pumps, or otherwise; nor do I claim the use
of fixed or moveable steam engines to work pumps for irrigation without the
use of hose pipes. But what I claim is, the employment of a moveable steam
engine and pumps floating in a boat or barge, or moved on wheels, for the
purpose of distributing manure or other substances for the improvement of the
land through hose or other pipes. I also claim the application of earthen
pipes with screw joints, made in moulds, for the collection, distribution, or
removal of liquid manures, or of substances suspended in water.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Henry Holland, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord, One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.