IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DISTRIBUTION AND APPLICATION OF PROVISIONALATION
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Wilkins, of 60, Queen's Row,
Walworth, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DISTRIBUTION AND APPLICATION OF
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Wilkins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st October 1852.
I, EDWARD WILKINS, No. 60, Queen's Row, Walworth, Surrey,
5 Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DISTRIBUTION AND APPLICATION OF WATER OR
OTHER LIQUID MANURE TO PROMOTE VEGITATION" to be as follows:-

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Wilkins in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 1st April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, 1
EDWARD WILKINS, of 60, Queen's Row, Walworth, in the County of
Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and

page_text: grant unto me, the said Edward Wilkins, Her special licence that I,
the said Edward Wilkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Edward Wilkins, my executors, administra-
tors, 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 DIS-
TRIBUTION AND APPLICATION OF WATER OR OTHER LIQUID MANURE TO PRO-
MOTE VEGETATION," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edward Wilkins, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Edward Wilkins, do hereby de-
clare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement (that is to say):
My Invention consists in applying water or other liquid manure to
the ground or soil in which trees, plants, and flowers are grown or cul-
tivated, in such manner that the said manure may be brought to and
distributed at, under, or near to the roots of such trees, plants, and
flowers, and whereby the nutritious properties of the manure will be
more effectively applied in promoting vegetation than by the ordinary
method of applying it on the surface of the ground or soil.
I will now describe some of the modes which I consider to be best
adapted for carrying my Invention into practical operation by the aid
of the drawing hereunto annexed. Figure 1, represents a ground
plan of an apparatus for distributing liquid manure (its supply tank or
reservoir being omitted), adapted for the purposes of a hot-house bed
or flower bed, in which valuable plants are intended to be grown or
cultivated; and Figure 2, a section of the same apparatus, with its
supply tank or reservoir complete. The same letters refer to similar

page_text: parts in all the figures. This apparatus consists of a frame b, b, b, b,
made of wood, earthenware, or other suitable material; its bottom and
şides being water-tight. Within this frame, and a few inches from its
water-tight bottom, I place a perforated (or it might be a porous) false.
bottom a, a, upon which the mould or soil forming the bed is to
be placed. c, is a pipe leading from- the supply tank or reservoir into
the space a*, between the perforated false bottom a, and the water-tight
bottom b. A cock or plug may be inserted as at c*, for drawing off the
liquid manure from the space a*, when it is desirable to stop its further
distribution. The supply tank or reservoir (which may be constructed
of wood, metal, slate, earthenware, or any other suitable material,) I
prefer to construct as follows:-c, c, e, represents its outer walls and
bottom; f,f, a false bottom (perforated with a number of small holes),
placed a few inches above the bottom of the tank or reservoir. Upon
this false bottom f, I place a quantity of dung, road sweepings, or any
other good manure, and then fill up the tank with water or other
liquid manure, which, being allowed to remain for a few hours,
will become impregnated with the nutritious qualities of the materials
placed upon the false bottom f,, and in passing through the false bottom
into the space fx, will be sufficiently filtered to pass off through the
pipe c,. for distribution. When it is desired to apply liquid manure
to the ground or soil on the perforated false bottom a, of the distri-
buting apparatus, the cock or tap d, is to be opened, and the liquid
manure allowed to flow into and fill the space a*, when the cock d, is
to be shut. The capillary action of the mould or soil will draw up the
liquid manure from the space a*, through the false bottom a, and
it will thus be applied and distributed directly under or near to the
roots of the trees, plants, or flowers in course of cultivation in the bed.
Although I have, in the drawing, shewn the supply tank or reservoir as
placed above the level of the distributing apparatus, yet it will be
evident that it may be placed in any other convenient position, accord-
ing to the circumstances of each particular locality. If placed under-
ground or below the level of the distributing apparatus, the liquid
should be raised from the space f*, below the false bottom f, by means
of a pump...

page_text: Instead of mixing water with.dung or other manure in the tank .or
reservoir, as described, water alone, or water previously mixed with
other manure, may, if desired, be put into the tank or reservoir, in
which case the perforated false bottom may be dispensed with; or the
water or other liquid manure may be supplied to the. distributing appa-
ratus in any other convenient manner.
The false bottom a, may be made of perforated metal, tiles, glass,
wood, or earthenware, and in some cases porous clay without perfora-.
tions might be found useful.
An economical distributing apparatus may be constructed by forming
a frame of the requisite size and depth for the intended bed with clay;.
and when such clay has become dry and hard, I put in stones, shells,
or such like loose matters, to the depth of a few inches, and cover the
same with mould or soil to a depth suitable for the plants intended to
be cultivated in such bed. A supply of liquid manure being conveyed
in any convenient manner to and amongst the stones, shells, &c., in the
lower part of the frame, will thus be gradually distributed at, under, or
near to the roots of the plants or flowers in course of cultivation in the,
bed. And in some cases it might be found useful to form a frame,
having a water-tight bottom, and sides formed of clay, wood, earthen-.
warc, or other suitable material, and to fill the same with mould or soil.
to the required depth for the intended bed. A supply of liquid manure.
being conveyed to the lower part of the frame by means of a plug or
pipe, or poured upon the surface of the ground or soil forming the bed,
will partially sink to and be retained on the bottom of such frame, and
thus be brought and gradually distributed under or near to the roots of
the plants or flowers growing in the bed.
I will now describe a mode of applying my Invention to the cultiva-
tion of mangold wurzel, turnips, lucerne, and other plants and trees
which are usually grown in rows or ranks. Along the whole length of
the field or ground intended to be cultivated, and extending under and
from end to end of each row or rank, I lay down (at such a depth as
may be best suited to the nature and size of the roots of the plants or
trees to be cultivated in each particular case) angular troughs of the
shape shewn in the drawing by the Figures 3, and 4; Figure 3, being

page_text: a top plan view of such a trough, and Figure 4, a cross section thereof
g, g, are the angular sides, and h, perforated boards, or metal, glass, or
earthenware plates, laid the whole length of such trough. The different
lengths of this angular trough should be joined together either by a
shoulder and socket, as shewn at i, i, put together with cement, or
in any other manner, so as to make its sides and bottom water tight.
The liquid manure is to be supplied either directly from a large tank or
reservoir, such as I have before described, or by having a plug or pipe k,
at one or both ends of each row or rank, into which the liquid manure
can be poured by means of a gutta percha or other flexible pipe, having
a cock near its end or nozzle, and will thus be carried by the trough
along the whole row or rank, and transmitted for distribution through
the perforations in the plate or board h, directly at, under, or near to
the roots of the plants or trees in course of cultivation in the field. Or,
instead of an angular trough, as described, a similar result might be
obtained by employing half-round drain pipes, suitably connected
together by water-tight joints, and having perforated boards or plates,
or tiles (perforated or not, but if not perforated, so placed as not
to fit quite close to the sides of the pipe,) laid therein and along
the whole length thereof, and having a plug or pipe at one or both
ends of each row for the admission of a supply of liquid manure.
section of such a pipe is shewn by Figure 5; 1, 1, being the half-round
drain pipe, and m, the tile or perforated board or plate.
A
Figures 6, and 7, shew the form of an apparatus suitably for apply-
ing my Invention to bulbous or tap-rooted plants; Figure 6, being a
top plan view, and Figure 7, a section. It consists of a trough formed
of clay, wood, earthenware, or other suitable material, and of such a
shape as that such trough may surround the bulb or tap root; and into
this trough I convey (by means of a plug or pipe r,) water or other
liquid manure. n, shews such a trough; o, o, being its sides, and p, a
perforated or porous false bottom, through which the liquid manure will
be distributed at the lower part of or under the root. q, is the opening
or space through which a tap root can descend in the progress of its
growth. In some cases the perforated or porous false bottom may
be
dispensed with. Boxes for window sills and for the tops of buildings

page_text: may, in like manner, be made with water-tight sides and bottoms, and
with perforated or porous false bottoms, and having pipes or plugs for
conveying liquid manure to the space between the false bottom and the
water-tight bottom, so as to apply it under or near to the roots of
plants cultivated therein.
All the above described arrangements are more especially adapted
for application to new beds and grounds not already planted, or for
grounds and beds about to be replanted. For grounds already planted
with hops, or for orchards already planted with trees, I adopt the fol-
lowing arrangement:-I lay down pipes or tubes of any suitable mate-
rial and size, (and connected with a tank or reservoir of liquid manure,)
either upon the surface or a little above the surface of the ground, and
extending from end to end of each row of trees or hops, or so as to be
near to each tree or each hop hill. I insert into the ground, in the
centre of or near to each hop hill, or near to each tree, a tube or pipe, of
any suitable material, of a funnel shape, and of a length sufficient to
reach below or near to the root of the tree or hops; and by means of
cocks or plugs in the pipes so extending over the surface of the ground,
I supply each funnel-shaped tube with liquid manure in suitable quan-
tities, and at suitable times, which is thus applied to and distributed at,
under, or near to the roots of the hops or trees in growth in the hop
garden or orchard. Or, I lay down troughs or pipes, such as shewn
by Figures 3, 4, and 5, between each row or rank of hops, trees, or
plans, and supply the same with liquid manure in a similar manner
to that described with reference to those figures.
In all cases the supply of liquid manure must be regulated at the
discretion of the gardener, and according to the nature and require-
ments of the trees, plants, and flowers to be cultivated; and in most
cases it will be advisable to adapt a plug or cock, or a small pump, in
order to draw off the liquid manure from the distributing apparatus at
such times as it may be desirable to stop its further distribution or
application. These details will, however, depend upon the nature
of the ground and other circumstances, and must be furnished accord-
ing to the judgment of the gardener or person having the direction of
the cultivation in each particular case; and should it be desired to

page_text: apply the liquid manure in a warm state, he will readily devise means
of warming it previous to its admission into the distributing apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Wilkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
EDWARD WILKINS. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
above-named Edward Wilkins, in
the presence of
CHARLES WAINWRIGHT,
Clerk to Mr Manning,
Builder,
251, High Holborn.