IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred George Lock, of Roseland, Millbrook, Hamp-
shire, Manure Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURES."
Sealed the 15th June 1866, and dated the 15th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alfred George Lock at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th March
1866.
I, ALFRED GEORGE LOCK, of Roseland, Millbrook, Hampshire, Manure
Manufacturer,. do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to supply to each cultivated crop the exact
constituents extracted by them from the soil, and of which they are composed,
by the combination in a soluble form of all their elements which they have
derived from the soil, and more especially for the use in such combinations of
soluble silicates of potash and lime; and also the obtaining the said soluble
silicates of potash and lime from such volcanic lavas and mineral felspars as
contain potash.
It is well known that all plants require for their perfect developement the
following elements to be present in the soil, viz., alumina, potash, soda,

page_text: lime, magnesia, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, oxide of iron, oxide of man-
ganese, silica, chloride of sodium, carbonic acid. Now almost all soils contain
a sufficient quantity of alumina, oxide of iron, and oxide of manganese; but
most soils are deficient in some one or more of the other constituents, but
which particular ones it would be impossible to correctly ascertain, except by
repeated experiments with manures compounded with and without each
separate constituent. I propose to make an universal manure suitable for any
soil for each particular crop by mixing together soluble silicates of lime and
potash, phosphoric acid, either alone or in the shape of ordinary superphosphate,
whether derived from bone or minerals, magnesian limestone in fine powder,
either dolomite or native carbonate of magnesia, or the same treated with
sulphuric acid and converted into sulphate of magnesia, which I prefer, or any
other available form in which magnesia can be obtained, soda, either as muriate,
or sulphate, or nitrate, or in any other available form, sulphuric acid, either as
superphosphate or sulphate of magnesia, soda, or ammonia, chlorine and chloride.
of sodium, as common salt, nitrogen or ammonia in any of its commercial
forms, and charcoal, either animal or vegetable, or any animal or vegetable
substance containing organic matter. All the constituents to be reduced by
grinding or other suitable means to fine powder and intimately mixed.
And what I more especially claim as my Invention is the using soluble
silicates of lime and potash in such mixture as manure, and also the obtaining.
the said soluble silicates of lime and potash from volcanic lavas or felspars
containing potash, which I propose to do as follows:-I take the volcanic
lavas or felspars containing potash, and reduce them to fine powder by
crushing, grinding, or other suitable means; I then mix them with caustic
lime in a wooden, leaden, or brick cemented tank, and by means of water and
suitable machinery work them into a paste. I allow this mixture to lie for 2
or 3 weeks, when I drain off the solution and evaporate it in suitable vessels
until I obtain the soluble silicate of lime and potash in a suitable state for
admixture. Or I take the mineral containing potash finely ground, mix it'
with chalk and water in a suitable vessel that can be closed, subject the mass
to heat, and boil it for a considerable time, throw the mass into a cooler, let it
remain some time, draw off the solution, and evaporate the solution (which
contains soluble silicate of lime and potash) to a proper consistency for ad-
mixture. Or I take the felspar or lava containing potash mixed with lime
and water saturated with carbonic acid in closed vessels, and allow it to remain
3 or 4 weeks; I then draw off the solution and treat as before mentioned.
.
The following are about the proportions in which I intend to use the various
substances to be combined for the articles aboye named; but I do not bind.