IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MARRIOTT BLASHFIELD, of Millwall, Poplar, in the County of Middlesex,
Roman Cement Manufacturer, 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 Twenty-seventh day
of September, (One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine), in the thirteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Marriott Blashfield, my exors, adñiors, and assigns,..
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
John Marriott Blashfield, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I
the said John Marriott Blashfield, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any
time agrec 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,
my Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said John Marriott
Blashfield, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the day 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, 1, the said
John Marriott Blashfield, do hereby declare that the nature of my 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:―
My Invention consists of manufacturing manure from mud (deposited by
rivers and other waters), by subjecting the same to the action of artificial heat,
and treating the same with acid, and also combining therewith other fertilizing
matters as hereafter explained. And in order that the said Invention may
most fully understood and readily carried into effect, I will describe the means
pursued by me.
**
be
I take mud, or, as I prefer it, river mud, or mud deposited on the banks of
tidal rivers taken at ebb tide, or that dredged up from the bottom of rivers,
and in all cases the cream or upper crust of the deposit, as containing the
I largest amount of valuable matter. I remove the same quickly to a convenient
place for carrying on my operations: I then sprinkle the mud with sulphate
of lime in order to prevent the escape of any valuable ingredients, such as
ammonia. The amount of sulphate of lime to be used in this operation will
depend on the character of the mud and its state of fluidity, but in most cases
for river mud one cwt. of sulphate of lime will be found sufficient for a ton
weight of river mud. Quick lime in the proportion of half cwt. to a ton
weight of river mud might be substituted for the gypsum, in order to aid the
drying of the mud, but as the addition of quick lime produces a loss of ammonia
I prefer to use the gypsum as stated above. After allowing the mud to drain
and become stiff, like unto plastic clay, I beat the whole together, and I dry it
over the floor of a brick vaulted chamber. The flooring of this chamber
should be of fire-proof tiles, with flues below the same communicating with a
furnace for heating them, and by a slow heat evaporate the whole of the
moisture, as near as can well be done from the mud. Care should be taken
to keep the drying chamber below one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit.
The mud may be dried by heated' air in suitable chambers or ovens, or by
steam, or by hot water apparatus, but for convenience and simplicity I prefer
the mode first described. After the mud has been so dried I grind the same
into powder, by preference between a pair of mill stones working horizontally.
After it is reduced to powder I treat the same with one fourth of its weight of
sulphuric acid of commerce, first sprinkling the mud with water from the rose
of a watering pot, about eight gallons to a ton, and to prevent loss from the
violent heating and effervescence which takes place in this treatment it is ad-
visable to do it on a close vault or chamber, and in small quantities at a time.
This process converts various of the mineral ingredients contained in or com-

page_text: posing the mud into new forms, more especially the carbonates which are:
present, and it fixes the ammonia and. prevents, its loss by. volatilisation.. In-
stead of first grinding the mud the sulphuric acid may be poured over the dried
lumps, or they may be thrown into a tank holding sulphuric acid in the pro-
5 portions named, the acid being either undiluted or diluted with water, but I
prefer the mode above described.. I then take phosphate of lime, or,bones;
burnt and reduced to powder, and add to them one fourth of their weight of;
sulphuric acid, by which superphosphate of lime is made; but as this article is.
variously made in commerce; the proportion of acid to the bones may be
varied, but I much prefer that which I have named. Of superphosphate of
lime so prepared I take four hundredweight, and add thereto three hundred-
weight of the sulphate of ammonia of commerce, and one hundredweight of
the sulphate of potash of commerce, and one hundredweight of the sulphate
of soda of commerce, and mix these substances with eleven hundredweight of
the saturated mud before described, the whole being equal to one ton weight
of new manure. To enable me to mix them thoroughly together, I prefer
grinding to a fine powder the salts I have named, and then mixing them
together with the saturated mud by passing them through a sieve, but it is of
great importance that they should be perfectly mixed or blended together, and.
that all the crystals of salts should be reduced to powder. It is of importance
to mix these salts with the mud as soon as possible after the saturation, or
before it has cooled, because I find that the heat causes the formation of soluble
silicates, which increases the value of the manure.
For certain kinds of manure I also add to the above salts, before being mixed
with the dried mud, a certain quantity of sulphate of magnesia of commerce,
so as to produce the animoniacal magnesian phosphate. When the mud is poor
in carbonates I add gypsum, so as to compensate for the deficient quantity of
this material formed by the action of the sulphuric acid on the mud. I also
add nitrates of soda or potash, or I use nitric acid instead of sulphuric acid to
saturate the mud. But as in all these cases the proportions vary considerably
according to the nature of the crops or other circumstances, I do not consider
it necessary to describe the exact quantities to be employed.
Now the whole of these bodies may be brought together either dissolved or
suspended in water, and then by artificial heat evaporated and dried, and then
reduced to powder, but I prefer as being more certain and convenient the mode
above described.
The above is the manure which I manufacture for general purposes, but
the quantities of the matters added to the prepared mud may be varied, and
other materials may be added, and others may be omitted, according to the

page_text: nature of the crop to which the manure is applied. And I would have it
understood that I make no claim to the preparation or use of the matters
herein mentioned directed to be combined with the prepared mud, such matters,
when separately considered, being well known and in use as manures or parts
of manures. But what I claim is, the manufacture of manures from mud by.
subjecting the same to artificial heat, and treating the same with acid. And I
also claim the mixing or combining the several matters, or any of them, with
mud prepared with acid, and subjected to artificial heat.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Marriott Blashfield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.