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Description: |
| Most of the patents prior to 1836 were lost in the Dec. 1836 fire. Only about 2,000 of the almost 10,000 documents were recovered. Little is known about this patent. There are no patent drawings available. This patent is in the database for reference only.
The patentee's address was also listed as Beaufort, SC.
“Description of a machine for scattering manure upon land, by means of a Manuring Wagon, patented by James Bowman, Beaufort, South Carolina, August 12th, 1829.
EVERY agriculturist is aware of the immense labour attending this process, as it is ordinarily performed; a labour so great as frequently to prevent its being undertaken, notwithstanding the manure may be at command. The scattering, when done by hand, is generally very irregular, the consequences of which are plainly to be seen in the unequal growth of the crop, as vegetation advances. These difficulties have been completely obviated by the invention of Mr. Bowman, who has satisfactorily tested the value of his machine, before applying for a patent; the facility, rapidity, and perfection with which it acts, not only excited the admiration of a number of intelligent planters in his immediate neighbourhood, who witnessed it, but far exceeded his own expectations. The plan was undertaken without the most remote idea of obtaining a patent, which was suggested only by the excellence of the instrument itself.
The accompanying engravings will afford a very correct idea of the construction of the wagon, and the apparatus for scattering the manure. Fig. 1, gives a bird's eye view of the body of the wagon, which is of the size commonly used for agricultural purposes. Its sides are inclined planes, meeting the bottom at an obtuse angle. In the bottom, near the hinder axle, there is an opening made, as seen at A, of about two feet in length, and eighteen inches in width.
Through this opening the manure is to pass, as it is scattered by the machinery seen in Fig. 2, which represents the hinder part of the frame of the wagon to which it is attached.
B is a revolving shaft, usually made square, and which crosses the bed of the wagon at a short distance from the axle. This shaft carries ten pins, made of iron, or of any other suitable material, and extending out a sufficient length to occupy the aperture left in the bottom of the wagon, but without touching its sides or edges. These are seen at C, and also in the opening at Fig. 1.
Upon the end of the shaft, E there is a cog-wheel, D, which is turned by a similar, but larger wheel, E, fixed on the hub of one of the hind wheels; and, of course, when the wagon is drawn forward, the shaft will revolve, and the manure be scattered. Mortise holes are represented upon the frame, on each side of the shafts; these are to receive wedges, by means of which the shaft may be thrown in or out of gear. An ordinary hand can drive the wagon, and shovel the manure towards the opening, and in this way perform the labour of several strong and able men.”
Journal of the Franklin Institute Vol. 7, Oct. 1829 pgs. 277-278
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