148 



in tapping tlie ground witli a large augor, and he possessed extraordi- 

 nary skill in discovering the exact place for performing the operation. 

 Elkington managed to dry soils which had, up to his time, been com- 

 pletely saturated with water. 



Another part of his system consisted in boring through a hard subsoil 

 into a gravelly or porous stratum, and letting the water run down in the 

 apertures thus formed ; many basins or hollow places have been effectu- 

 ally drained in this way. 



Artesian wells (so called from Artois, a province of France, w^here 

 they were invented) seem to have been constructed on a plan similar to 

 that of Elkington. A well of this description at Paris, when sunk to 

 the depth of 1500 feet, sent up a powerful jet of water, in which were 

 several fishes. That well has been finished recently, after having been 

 sunk to a depth of 1700 feet. It now sends up with immense force a 

 •column of water nine inches in diameter, which is conveyed in a copper 

 tube to a height of 122 feet above the surface, from which elevation it 

 is conveyed to the ground again, and distributed all over the city. 



The Parisian savans assert that the force which projects the water to 

 such a height must be volcanic, and an immense quantity of mud hav- 

 ing been thrown up by the jet, they conclude, that the auger has pene- 

 trated into the soft central mass of the earth. 



At all events, the long established theory of Artesian wells seems to 

 have been shaJcen and undetermined by the Parisian borers. 



In some parts of England, where from the nature of the land a pro- 

 per fall or outlet for drainage cannot be obtained, the purpose is an- 

 swered by sinking wells to the depth of 15 or 20 feet. These being 

 sunk through a hard subsoil into a porous stratum, swallow the water ; 

 and into them, drains are conveyed from the surrounding fields. In 

 certain parts of Michigan, such wells might answer a similar purpose. 



THB DEANSTON SYSTEM 



Is named from " Deanston," near Stirling, in Scotland, the residence 

 of Mr. James Smith, the celebrated drainer. 



Mr. Smith was not originally a farmer, but was brought up to the 

 manufacturing business. He took a farm near his factory, but found 

 the soil so wet that it was totally unfit for agricultural purposes. He 

 commenced to drain and improve it, and his efforts were crowned with 



