THE CULTIVATOR. 
31 
lies by them ! But this is too plain a case; the pigs 
have the tceth-ache, and they are broken off, too ! neither 
the wet nor the dry weather has caused the mischief 
here ! And yet the pigs, like the cotton, have only 
their teeth broken off 11 Poor Sambo ! we leave him to 
explain to the world the rationale of this root and teeth 
breaking policy. 
N. B. Cloud, M. D. 
Macon Co., Ala., Nov. 1, 1843. 
(To be continued.) 
LETTER OF MR. ELLSWORTH—BOMMER’S PATENT. 
We invite the attention of the readers of the Cultiva¬ 
tor to the annexed letter of the Hon. Mr. Ellsworth, 
chief of the Patent office at Washington, on the subject 
of patents, and the claims of Mr. Bommer in particular. 
There is no subject in the whole range of agriculture, 
of more interest to the farmer, than that of manures; 
and any improvement in its manufacture, by which its 
quantity and quality may be increased, will be received 
by them with favor. That manures made in the way 
recommended by Mr. Bommer, or according to the pa¬ 
tent claimed by him, are of superior quality, no one ac¬ 
quainted with that method can doubt. But if, as Mr. 
Ellsworth seems inclined to suppose, it is only the 
French method, with some unimportant additions, so 
far as the making of the manure, or its quality is con¬ 
cerned, that method should be generally known, that all 
may avail themselves of its advantages, and we thank 
Mr. Ellsworth for enabling us to give the specifications 
a place in the Cultivator. . We have given the large 
pamphlet, just published by Mr. Bommer, and contain¬ 
ing an ample account of his method and its advantages, 
a copy of which he has kindly placed in our hands, an 
attentive perusal, and can safely say there are few if any 
publications on the subject there discussed, whatever 
may be their pretensions, which combine such a mass 
of practical instruction on the preparation and use of 
manures. Of the legality of the patent under which he 
is acting, we do not express an opinion; but we know 
that the method used by him, and described in the 
pamphlet, a copy of which is furnished every purchaser 
of a right, will make manure in any quantity, and of the 
best quality for almost every kind of cultivated crop. 
Of the French method as described in the specifications, 
we are not competent to judge, having never witnessed 
its effects; we should, however, prefer purchasing Mr. 
B.’s book, in which the whole process is detailed. 
LETTER FROM MR. ELLSWORTH. 
Washington City, Patent Office, Nov. 3 , 1843 . 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I noticed in your last 
number of the Cultivator, just at hand, a particular notice 
of Bommer’s process,—also his advertisement announ¬ 
cing “ Bommer’s manure method, secured by letters pa¬ 
tent,” and referring to “ documents recorded in the pa¬ 
tent office,” to prove his rights. This advertisement has 
greatly increased the burden of answering requests for 
copies of “ Bommer’s Patent.” Whilst I have studious¬ 
ly avoided expressing an opinion on cases pending or 
decided, yet as special reference is now made to the bu¬ 
reau to sustain the advertisement, and fearing that the 
public may be misled by my silence, I hasten to state the 
facts as they appear of record. Mr. Bommer, on the 12th 
of May, 1843, presented an application for a patent for 
making manure. This application was duly examined, 
and rejected for want of novelty. No appeal was taken. 
'The application was withdrawn, and $20, the usual sum 
allowed on withdrawals, paid to Mr. Bommer on the 6th 
of July last. No other application has been made by 
Mr. Bommer for a patent for similar purposes * It may 
not be improper to state that Messrs. Baer & Gouliart, in 
June, 1843, obtained a patent for an alleged improve¬ 
ment on the method of making manure, patented in 
France by Juaffret, which said method, however, has not 
been patented in the United States, and is therefore free 
. * Mr. Bommer informs us that on finding his own claim re¬ 
jected, he was induced to make an arrangement with Baer & 
Gouliart, by whom his claim was again presented, and the pa¬ 
tent secured in their names —Eds 
to the public. How far the public are restricted in the use 
of foreign inventions, may be ascertained by referring 
to the claim of the American patent, which, you will per¬ 
ceive, is restricted to the preparation of the heap and the 
mode of applying the lye to the same; the ingredients —in 
other words, the lye itself, not being claimed. That no in¬ 
justice may be done to the parties concerned, I send you a 
copy of the American patent, and only add that Mr. Bom¬ 
mer has become an assignee for several states, under this 
last mentioned patent. 
Yours, &c. H. L. Ellsworth. 
COPY OF BAER AND GOUILART’S PATENT. 
To all whom it may concern: Be it known, that we 
Charles Baer and John Gouliart, of the city of Baltimore, 
in the state of Maryland, have invented certain new and 
useful improvements in the manner of making manure, 
which has been for many years practiced in France, and 
has been there secured by Letters Patent under the name 
of “La Methode Jauffret,” and we do hereby declare 
that the following is a full and exact description thereof. 
In the method of Mr. Jauffret, a pit or reservoir is pre¬ 
pared of sufficient size to contain the quantity of prepared 
lye which may be required by the nature of the estab¬ 
lishment. This reservoir or vat is intended to be a re¬ 
ceptacle of water saturated with decomposed animal and 
vegetable matters, and is further to receive the ingredi¬ 
ents hereinafter named; such water is to be found on 
nearly every farm, and it may be augmented by the drain¬ 
ings of stables, by dish water, suds, and other substances 
of a like nature. 
Mr. Jauffret, however, finally prepares his lye, by 
which the fermentation of the articles to be converted 
into manure is to be promoted, in the following manner, 
under various modifications. 
For the conversion of from one to two thousand pounds 
of vegetable matter into manure, he takes about 
200 lbs. of night soil, 
200 
<C 
calcined plaster in powder, 
50 
cc 
wood soot, 
20 
cc 
wood ashes unleached, 
60 
cc 
quick lime, 
1 
CC 
common salt. 
1 
cc 
rough saltpetre, 
150 
cc 
lye or ferment drainings from a Jauf 
fret manure heap. 
These ingredients are in many cases to be replaced by 
others; this lye to be prepared 10 or 15 days before use. 
The quantity of materials abovenamed, for the conver¬ 
sion of from 1 to 2,000 lbs. of straw or other dry vegeta¬ 
ble stalks, -will answer for about double that quantity of 
green vegetable matter. 
In using this lye, the plan of Mr. Jauffret is to steep in 
it the vegetable fibres, which are to be acted upon by 
throwing them into the vat or reservoir containing it, and 
removing it thence at great labor so as to form a high 
heap in the vicinity of the vat, into which the drainings 
are allowed to run. 
We have thus given a brief outline of the method of 
Mr. Jauffret, the same appearing necessary to the under¬ 
standing of our improvements, which consist in our 
omitting altogether the excessive labor of steeping the 
materials to be acted upon in the lye, and elevating them 
from thence to the heap; and also in the preparation of 
a lye, which is equally effective with that of Jauffret, at 
much less cost, and which can be used immediately on 
its being made, thereby saving the delay of 10 or 15 days 
which “ La methode Jauffret” requires. 
We prepare a reservoir fb contain the lye as usual, and 
in the immediate vicinity of this, we make our stacks or 
heaps of vegetable matter, which is to be converted into 
manure. 
We give to the ground, where the heap or pile is to 
be made, an inclination towards the vat; if the ground is 
a firm clay, it may be merely sloped, and have shallow 
trenches dug on its surface to conduct the drainings back 
into the vat; or it may have a flooring of timber, brick 
or stone, as may be preferred, which may be so trenched 
as to conduct the whole towards a central drain. When 
our platform or flooring is of clay, we cover the trenches 
and whole surface of it with brushwood or rails, so as to 
