IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin King, of the Hall, Rushmere, Ipswich, in
the County of Suffolk, Agriculturist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE."
Sealed the 21st July 1865, and dated the 23rd January 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin King at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
January 1865.
I, BENJAMIN KING, of the Hall, Rushmere, Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk,
Agriculturist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE," to be as follows:-
In the manufacture of manure according to this Invention I use the fol-
lowing ingredients in the proportions stated, which may however be modified
as desired.
I first take from four to eight tons of animal excrement or dung which has
been previously placed in heaps for some months in order to become well
decomposed and sifted through a half-inch sieve. I next steep from two to
four tons of bones in water for from 12 to 24 hours, which are then mixed
with and 'entirely covered with acid and allowed to stand until the bones
become a jelly. In this state it is mixed with the excrement together with from

page_text: one to two tons of gypsum and a suitable proportion of sulphate of ammonia.
The whole of the ingredients are mixed in a boiling state, and again placed
in heaps until the manure becomes decomposed, when it is ready for use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin King in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
KING, of the Hall, Rushmere, Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Agriculturist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Benjamin King, Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin
King, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Benjamin King, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Benjamin King, 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 Benjamin King, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
In the manufacture of manure according to this Invention I use the fol-
lowing ingredients in the proportions herein-after stated, which may however
be modified if desired.
;
I first take four tons of animal excrement or dung which has been pre-
viously placed in heaps for some five or six months in order that it may become

page_text: well decomposed; this dung I sift through a half-inch sieve to render it suit-
able for drilling. I steep from two to four tons of bones in water by preference
dilute urine for from twelve to twenty-four hours; I then mix and entirely cover
them with sulphuric acid and allow it to stand until the bones become a jelly.
In this state the softened bones are mixed with the excrement together with about
from eight to sixteen hundredweight of sulphate of lime. The whole of the
ingredients are mixed in a boiling state and again placed in heaps until the
manure becomes decomposed, which will require at least a month before it will
be ready for use, and may with advantage be kept for a much longer period.
It may be again sifted if desired, in order to render it more suitable for
drilling in the regulated and proper proportion desired.
I give hereafter in a tabular form the proportions that I prefer to employ
for my compound manure, but which however may be varied considerably
according to the quality of manure it is desired to manufacture:-One ton
of bones, one and a half tons of animal excrement, six hundredweight of
sulphuric acid, four hundredweight of sulphate of lime.
I mix and prepare these materials in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin King, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
BENJAMIN KING. (LS.)