THE MANUFACTURE OF AN IMPROVED MANURE OR FERTILIZING COMPOUND
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"THE MANUFACTURE OF AN IMPROVED MANURE OR FERTILIZING COMPOUND."
A communication from abroad by Réné Charles Marie De Molon, of Paris,
France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th September 1879.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "THE MANUFACTURE OF AN IMPROVED MANURE
OR FERTILIZING COMPOUND." [A communication from abroad by Réné Charles
Marie De Molon, of Paris, France.]
A successful harvest frequently depends upon whether the phosphate of lime in
the earth dissolves quickly or otherwise, and it is undeniable that natural phosphate
of lime or apatite, and phosphate of lime obtained from bones, fossil, nodules of
gault, or the lower oolite dissolves much more quickly in non-calcareous earth rich
in organic matters than in calcareous earth, which contains only a small quantity
thereof.
Certain crops, buck-wheat for example, reach maturity in three months, whilst
others, such as wheat, require nine months.
If then the question of the greater or less solubility of phosphate of lime is of
less importance for certain soils and certain crops, it is evidently of more importance
for others.
It is to provide for these various conditions that in England phosphate of lime
in the form of super phosphate is generally used, and in France and other countries
the transformation of natural phosphate of lime into super phosphate, and into
precipitated phosphate, is increasingly advocated by certain chemists and writers
on agricultural matters.
The reagents employed in the manufacture of super-phosphate dissolve the
phosphate of lime, separating it from its base, and thus facilitate the assimilation

page_text: thereof by plants; in this alone consists the action of these solvents, for they them-
selves contain no useful element for vegetable nourishment.
If then by means as simple as natural all phosphates can be rendered assimilable
and at a cost much below that which is necessary when employing high priced
chemical reagents, which are moreover expensive and dangerous to transport from
place to place, an exceedingly useful result will be achieved.
Manure of all kinds, whether mineral, animal, or vegetable, can only serve to
nourish plants when it is dissolved in the earth, and its dissolution therein is effected
under the influence of the action of atmospheric agency, more especially carbonic
acid, accumulated in the soil and being constantly produced therein by the decom-
position of organic matters which it contains. Particularly with regard to phosphates
this carbonic acid dissolving in the water in the earth performs the work of the
acids employed in the manufacture of super-phosphates, and gradually dissolves the
phosphates.
If then phosphate of lime prior to its employment for agricultural purposes, can
be submitted to an action similar to but more energetic than that which it undergoes
in the earth, it will evidently be brought into a most favorable condition to be
assimilated by plants.
Phosphate of lime mixed with stable dung before its fermentation fulfils this
condition, but though this operation may be usefully carried into practice on a farm,
it cannot be employed to provide a commercial product which would bear the cost
of carriage or conveyance to a great distance; moreover farmers have never enough
stable dung for their own use; therefore in order to find a sufficient quantity of
organic matters capable of producing by their fermentation when combined with
pulverized phosphate of lime a sufficient quantity of carbonic acid to produce the
desired action, it is necessary to look beyond the production of the farms or even of
the continent.
In carrying this Invention into practice, the vegetable substances which I
ordinarily employ are marine plants, such as varec or sea wrack, which is found in
great abundance on the coast of Normandy, Brittany la Vendée, and Gascony, also
on the coasts of England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and other countries,
I mix in successive layers in a closed shed or barn, or in pits, pulverized
phosphate of lime with sea-wrack in suitable proportions to ensure fermentation,
the proportions varying according to the nature of the phosphates employed, to the
dampness and the variety of the wrack, and to other circumstances. The mixture
is allowed to ferment for from six weeks to two months, according to whether the
season is more or less warm. If after this lapse of time the decomposition of the
organic matter is not complete, I mix the compound over again, and a new
fermentation is produced which entirely decomposes the wrack, the latter dis-
appearing altogether.
If the fermentation does not reach a sufficiently high temperature to decompose
the organic matters, it can always be readily increased by introducing into the
mixture any substances capable of expediting fermentation and raising the tempe-
rature of the same, such substances, for instance, as excrement, fish, or fish refuse and
the like, or it may be increased by effecting the fermentation in a larger mass of the
materials.
The fermentation having ceased, and the organic substances being decomposed, it
is sufficient to cause the manure thus produced to pass into a pug mill or separator
of any suitable kind to bring it into a pulverulent condition, and it may be sifted
if desired to remove any few parts which may not have been decomposed. In this
condition the manure will retain all its constituant principles, and may be conveyed
or transported over the longest distances without injuring the material in which it
is enclosed for packing.
This manure will contain in addition to the phosphate of lime rendered very
assimilable, all the elements of fertilization contained in the vegetable or animal
substances employed, that is to say, azote, carbon, mineral salts, potash, soda, and

page_text: magnesia. The said manure will necessarily produce the most satisfactory results
in all kinds of soil and upon all sorts of crops.
I wish it to be understood that although I have specifically mentioned varec or
soa-wrack as suitable for the purpose of this Invention, I may employ any marine
or other plants with which the said manure may be produced by the fermentation
and decomposition of such plants in presence of phosphate of lime, thus rendering the
manure assimilable. I may also make use under the same conditions of other
organic matters which will ferment and produce the same effect on the phosphate
of lime.
Any other substance considered useful may, when desired, be added to the said
manure.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th March 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "THE MANUFACTURE OF AN IMPROVED MANURE
OR FERTILIZING COMPOUND." A communication from abroad by Réné Charles
Marie De Molon, of Paris, France.
A successful harvest frequently depends upon the rapidity with which the
phosphate of lime in the earth dissolves, and it is undeniable that phosphate of lime
obtained from bones, fossil, nodules of gault, gaize, or the lower oolite, or from
phosphorite, or from apatite, dissolves much more quickly in non-calcareous earth
rich in organic matters than in calcareous earth which contains only a small
quantity thereof.
Certain crops, buck-wheat for example, reach maturity in three months, whilst
others, such as wheat, require nine months.
If then the question of the greater or less solubility of phosphate of lime is of
less importance for certain soils and certain crops, it is evidently of more importance
for others.
It is to provide for these various conditions that in England phosphate of lime in
the form of superphosphate is generally used, and in France and other countries the
transformation of natural phosphate of lime into superphosphate, and into
precipitated phosphate, is increasingly advocated by certain chemists and writers
on agricultural matters.
The reagents employed in the manufacture of superphosphate, dissolve the
phosphate of lime separating it from its base, and thus facilitating the assimilation
thereof by plants; in this alone consists the action of these solvents, for they them-
selves contain no useful element for vegetable nourishment.
If then by means, as simple as natural, all phosphates can be rendered assimilable
and at a cost much below that which is necessary when employing bigh priced
chemical reagents, which are moreover expensive and dangerous to transport from
place to place, an exceedingly useful result will be achieved.
Manure of all kinds, whether mineral, animal, or vegetable, can only serve to
nourish plants when it is dissolved in the earth, and its dissolution therein is
effected under the influence of the action of atmospheric agency, and more especially
by carbonic acid accumulated in the soil, and being constantly produced therein by
the decomposition of organic matters which it contains. Particularly with regard
to phosphates, this carbonic acid dissolving in the water in the earth, performs the
work of the acids employed in the manufacture of superphosphates, and gradually
dissolves the phosphates.
If then phosphate of lime, prior to its employment for agricultural purposes, can
be submitted to an action similar to, but more energetic than that which it undergoes
in the earth, it will evidently be brought into a most favorable condition to be
assimilated by plants.
Phosphate of lime mixed with stable dung before its fermentation fulfils this
condition, but though this operation may be usefully carried into practice on a farm,
it cannot be employed to provide a commercial product, which would bear the cost
of carriage or conveyance to a great distance; moreover, farmers have never enough
stable dung for their own use; therefore in order to find a sufficient quantity of
organic matters capable of producing by their fermentation when combined with
pulverized phosphate of lime, a sufficient quantity of carbonic acid to produce the
desired action, it is necessary to look beyond the production of farms or even of the
entire continent.
In carrying this Invention into practice the vegetable substances which I
ordinarily employ are marine plants, such as varec or sea wrack, which is found in

page_text: great abundance on the coast of Normandy, Brittany la Vendée, Saintonge,
Guyenne, and Gascony, also on the coasts of England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and
other countries.
I mix in successive layers in a closed shed or barn or in pits, pulverized phosphate
of lime with varec or sea wrack, in suitable proportions to ensure fermentation, the
proportions varying according to the nature of the phosphates employed, to the
dampness and the variety of the wrack and to other circumstances. The mixture
is allowed to ferment for from six weeks to two months, according to whether the
season is more or less warm. If after this lapse of time the decomposition of the
organic matter is not complete, I mix the materials over again, and a new fermen-
tation is produced which entirely decomposes the wrack, the latter disappearing
altogether.
If the fermentation does not reach a sufficiently high temperature to decompose
the organic matters, it can always be readily increased by introducing into the
mixture any substances capable of expediting fermentation, and raising the
temperature of the same, such substances, for instance, as excrement, fish, or fish
refuse and the like, or it may be increased by effecting the fermentation in a larger
mass of the materials.
The fermentation having ceased, and the organic substances being decomposed, it
is sufficient to cause the manure thus produced to pass into a pug mill or separator,
of any suitable kind to bring it into a pulverulent condition, and it may be sifted if
desired to remove any few parts which may not have been decomposed. In this
condition the manure will retain all its constituent principles, and may be conveyed
or transported over the longest distances without injuring the material in which
it is enclosed for packing.
This manure which I term phospho-organic (phospho-organique), in order that its
name may indicate correctly its composition, will necessarily produce the most
satisfactory results in all kinds of soil and upon all sorts of crops.
I wish it to be understood that although I have specifically mentioned varec or
sea wrack as suitable for the purpose of this Invention, I may employ any marine
or other plants with which the said manure may be produced by the fermentation
and decomposition of such plants, in presence of phosphate of lime, thus rendering
the manure assimilable. I may also make use under the same conditions of other
organic matters which will ferment and produce the same effect on the phosphate
of lime.
From the above description it will be understood that my Invention comprises
the action of organic, vegetable, or animal matters, fermenting in the presence of
phosphate of lime and rendering the latter assimilable as well as all the industrial
applications of this principle.
My improved phospho-organic manure has for its base the mineral elements
furnished by the earth (phosphate of lime), and the organic elements accruing from
the sea (sea-wrack or varec), but its fertilizing properties are not the result of the
simple mixture of these substances.
The fermentation of the varec or sea-wrack when combined with phosphate of
lime causes a change in the different united elements, and creates a new product
combining both, but which is neither the one nor the other.
This product contains besides the phosphate of lime, rendered very assimilable
all the fertilizing elements contained in the vegetable substances employed, that is
to say, azote, carbon, mineral salts, potash, soda, magnesia, and in fact all elements
that can contribute to the life and nourishment of plants.
It is therefore a perfect manure. Any other substance considered useful may,
when desired, be added to the said manure. The carbonic acid produced by the
decomposition of the organic matters above described, acting in its nascent state is
preferable in every respect to carbonic acid, produced by chemical or mechanical
means, as for instance, by the decomposition of limestone by acids or by heat, or by
the injection of air over an ignited combustible.
As my Invention however is partly based upon the action of carbonic acid on

page_text: phosphates of lime, to render the same assimilable, I render the said phosphates
assimiable by any means suitable for obtaining the said acid, whether its source be
the decomposition of organic matter, or it be obtained by the above mentioned
means.
The decomposition of the said phosphate by my process under the action of
carbonic acid, produced by the fermentation of organic matters is facilitated by a
considerable elevation of temperature, and by the formation of organic acids which
have likewise an analogous action on the phosphates.
Beyond the influence exerted by the carbonic acid on the phosphates a particular
action manifests itself during the operation; by reason of a current of air, either
natural or artificial, which is produced during the fermentation, the organic matter
(humic acids) fixes a certain quantity of the nitrogen of the air, and nitrogenized
quarternary compositions are produced of the same nature as those studied by
Messrs. Paul, Thénard, Berthelot, Bretscheider, and other learned men; these
compositions, whether identical with those studied by the eminent chemists just
mentioned, or ammoniacal combinations are effectual in increasing the abundance
of nitrogen in artificial manure so much so as to make it exceed that of the nitrogen
in sea-wrack. This Invention therefore comprises any process tending to increase
the richness in nitrogen of manures by causing the nitrogen of the atmosphere
or pure nitrogen to act on organic matters, naturally containing humus or organic
matters which are converted into humus artificially.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,
First. The employment of varec, sea-wrack, or other marine plants or organic
matters to produce by their fermentation in presence of phosphate of lime an
assimilable manure, partaking of the richness of its component parts, and capable of
advantageous commercial use, as above set forth
Second. The means whereby the action of carbonic acid is produced on the
phosphates of lime to decompose them, and facilitate their assimilation by plants, as
above set forth.
Third. The employment of air or of nitrogen to act on the organic matters to
increase their richness in nitrogen, as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
A
W ROB. LAKE, (L.S.)