PATKKA. 



crop of dot* good paiturag*. Attempt* are made occa- 

 itaBally to eon vert *omeporUon* of then pasture* to Ullage: but it u 

 oi often an a-lranUgeou* speculation. A few crops may be obtained 

 U fin* ; but the thin layer of rich earth, which i* at ft* surface, i* 

 oon exhausted, and nothing remain* but barren chalk. No art can 

 r**tor* the fin* turf which had been produced by age* of pasturage. 



Very poor pasture on sandy or gravelly loam* i* of very little value 

 to toe pioniietor Where the situation allow* of such land being 

 converted into plantation*, it will generally be found most advantageous 

 to do *o, but if there are mean* of improving them by ploughing, 

 liming and manuring, they may often be converted into good arable 

 farm*. A great part of Norfolk, which now bear* excellent crop* of 

 barley, wheat, and clover, wa* once only poor sandy pasture, where 

 the chief income to the proprietor arose from rabbit warrens. We 

 mast not always judge of the capabilities of a soil by the natural 

 graasn which grow upon it, before it has ever been stirred and culti- 

 vated. When loamy sand or gravel is left in a hard condensed state, 

 it will bear very little, but when it has been broken up deep, and 

 trenched and improved by lime, marling or claying, and manure, it 

 ^tffqm^. very useful land. The same may be said of cold wet pastures 

 on a stiff clay, the mean* of improvement then being drainage, 

 burning, and deep culture. The water checks the roots of tire better 

 tort of ^ussr*. and nothing thrive* in such pastures except rushes and 

 very eoane aquatic plant*; but when they have been carefully 

 drained when the surface hat been pared and burnt, and the ashes 

 spread over the land a very material improvement take* place, 

 whether it be left unbroken, to produce herbage, or be improved by a 

 couree of judicious cultivation, and laid down again to grass in a clean 

 and fertile state ; in either case, the posture, from being of little use, 

 and perhaps dangerous for sheep, which are apt to rot there, becomes 

 sound and good, producing excellent nutritious herbage, and will 

 continue to ever after. 



Pasture* are seldom improved with manure, which is generally 

 reserved for arable land, or grass land intended to be mown for hay : 

 but if richness is valuable in a pasture, it will well repay the expense 

 of manuring, especially with liquid manure, the drainings of dunghills 

 and the urine of cows and horses, which is collected in a tank when 

 they are kept in stalls. Peat ashes are also very useful, and have a 

 powerful effect in stimulating the vegetation of all the grasses. Salt- 

 petre and nitrate of soda are said to have the same effect. When it is 

 intended to convert land which has been in a state of heath or waste, 

 covered with fern, brambles, ling, and other coarse plants, into good 

 pasture, it is indispensable to begin by a course of arable cultivation ; 

 and it is only when the soil has been brought into an improved state 

 by tillage and manuring, and all the roots and seeds of noxious plants 

 have been eradicated, that grass seeds may be sown with any prospect 

 of obtaining a good sward. Most of these soils are poor and sandy, 

 and not very favourable to the growth of good grass. In this case 

 the safest mode of converting the land into pasture is by inoculating 

 it with pieces of sods taken from a good rich posture. [GitA.ss LAND.] 

 By this means, and subsequent depasturing with sheep only, very good 

 pastures have been produced on very poor soils ; and if in the course 

 of a few years they should degenerate, they may be profitably broken 

 up and cultivated on the convertible system of husbandry, after 

 which they may again be laid down for a certain number of years. 

 Wherever the soil consist* of a sandy or gravelly loam, this system 

 U the most advantageous. As to choice of manures, it is found that 

 ammoniac*! manures tend to the growth of the grasses, and that 

 phosphate and mineral manures tend to the growth of clover and 

 leguminous plant*. 



In the richest pastures, such as those of Lincolnshire and other 

 grazing counties, an acre will maintain and fatten an ox of 80 or 90 

 tone, and sometimes keep several sheep in store order besides. There 

 i* a marked difference between land that will fatten an ox, and that 

 which will only rear him. This can scarcely be discovered by simple 

 examination of the land ; but in found by experience. The same 

 appearance of grass ha* more proof, as it is called, in one place than 

 another. The bite may be very short, and the pasture appear bare, 

 and yet the value of it may be seen on the ribs of the cattle. Much 

 of the skill of a grazier consist* in stocking his pasture to advantage. 

 He should know the power of every portion of it, and stock it so that 

 the grass may not grow faster than it can be cropped by the cattle or 

 heep.and that the animals may always have the full quantity required. 

 Every animal want* a certain quantity of food to repair the doily 

 waste occasioned by the animal functions. If he has no more, he 

 make* no ptugi'et* : the more he can convert into flesh and fat beyond 

 this quantity in a given time, the more profitable he will be. Hence 

 the superior qualities of some animals with reipect to this point 

 Indicate the superiority of their breed, and afford the greatest net 

 profit to the grazier. In the name picture one beast or sheep will give 

 a reasonable profit, while another may occasion an actual loss. The 

 adaptation of the stock to the nature of the pasture i* consequently 

 an object of the greatest importance, and require* much judgment 

 and experience. 



PATEN A (PaU*t, French), a small circular plate, or salver, 

 employed in the Roman Catholic church in the celebration of the 

 eucharut. From the earliest tune the form ha* scarcely varied. Patenas 

 were frequently made to serve as a cover to the chalice. They were 



PATRNT 



323 



uiually of gold, ailver, or latten : some which have come down to us 

 are richly ornamented with gem*, enamel*, or engraved work, and 

 vquiiuto example* of medimval art. 



PATENT. This term i* now ordinarily applied to exclusive right* 

 of manufacture granted by royal letters patent under the provisions 

 of the Statute of Monopolies, 21 Jac. I. c. 3, and subsequent statutes. 

 Prior to the Statute of Monopolies it had become not unusual for our 

 Tudor sovereigns to grant by their letters-patent to their favourite* and 

 to purchasers, exclusive right* of trading, in derogation of tin- >'!<! 

 common law ; and this statute was pitted to restrain such abuses, and to 

 settle and determine the circumstances under which encouragement and 

 protection should be afforded to inventors. While therefore the statute 

 commences with a declaration of the illegality of monopolies, it proceed* 

 to except therefrom " all letters patent for the term of fourteen year* 

 or under, by which the privilege of sole working or making any new 

 manufactures within this realm, which others at the time of granting 

 the letters-patent shall not use, shall be granted to the true and first 

 inventor thereof; so as they be not contrary to law, nor mischievous 

 to the state, nor to the hurt of trade, nor generally inconvenient ; " 

 and within the terms of this exception all valid patent* may still be 

 ranged. The grant of a patent is not a thing which the subject can 

 claim as a matter of right ; it is the free gift of the crown. The foi -in 

 of the grant is by letters-patent under the great seal, which being the 

 deed of the crown are considered as of public record. 



Before applying for a patent for an invention, two considerations are 

 necessary ; first, what is entitled to a patent ; and next, whether the 

 invention has the requisite conditions. 



In the first place, the machine, operation, or substance produced, 

 for which a patent is solicited, must be new to public use, either the 

 original invention of the patentee, or imported by him and first made 

 public here. A patent may be obtained for England, Ireland, or 

 Scotland, although the subject of it may have been publicly known and 

 in use in either or in both of the other two countries. 



In the second place, the subject of the invention must be useful to 

 the public, something applicable to the production of a vendible 

 article, this being the construction put upon the words " new manu- 

 facture" in the statute of James I. The discovery of a philosophical 

 principle is not considered entitled to such protection : such principle 

 must be applied, and the manner of such application is a fit subject 

 for a patent. 



Inventions entitled to patent may be briefly enumerated as 

 follows : 



1. " A new combination of mechanical parts, whereby a new machine 

 is produced, although each of the parts separately be old and well 

 known. 



2. " An improvement on any machine whereby such machine i< 

 rendered capable of performing better or more beneficially. 



8. " When the vendible substance is the thing produced either by 

 chemical or other processes, such as medicines or fabrics. 



4. " Where an old substance is improved by some new working, 

 the means of producing the improvement is in most coses pateutable." 



If the inventor think that the machine, operation, or substance pro- 

 duced comes under any of these enumerations, he may lodge with the 

 Commissioners of Patents for Inventions a petition to the crown for a 

 patent, supported by a declaration in lieu of an oath, that he is the 

 true and first inventor of the manufacture sought to be patented, and 

 that the invention is not in use by any other person to the best of his 

 knowledge and belief. With this petition and declaration must also 

 be lodged an instrument called " the provisional specification," the 

 object of which i* to describe the nature of the invention. The 

 applicant U then referred by the commissioners to one of the law 

 officers of the crown, who is at liberty to call any scientific or other 

 person to his aid ; and if the law officer shall be satisfied that the pro- 

 visional specification describes the nature of the invention, and certifies 

 his allowance of the same, the invention may, during six months from 

 the date of the application, be used and published without prejudice 

 t > any letters-patent to be afterwards granted ; or the applicant may 

 file with the petition and declaration a " complete " in lieu of a 

 " provisional " specification, inserting in the declaration an additional 

 statement, that the instrument particularly describes and ascertains 

 the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to bo 

 performed ; and in this case the applicant has, during the term of six 

 months, the like powers and privilege* as under letters-potent during 

 term the invention may be used and published, without prejudice to 

 the subsequent grant of letters-patent. 



The next step is for the applicant to give notice at the office of the 

 commissioners of his intention to proceed with his application, which 

 is then advertised by the commissioners ; and any person having an 

 interest in opposing the grant of the letters-patent will he. at liberty, 

 within a certain period, to lodge particulars in writing of their objection, 

 and to be heard in support of them. The period for objection being 

 expired, the specification and the objections are referred to the law 

 officer, who, if the application seems to him fit, may cause a warrant 

 to be made for the sealing of the letters-patent ; which warrant having 

 been sealed by the commissioners, has next to be, under the sanction 

 of the lord chancellor, sealed with the great seal of the United 

 Kingdom, whereby the grant to the applicant, of the exclusive right 

 of using the invention within the United Kingdom, the Channel 



