528 



ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1023 



basin to be partially filled from the high-level basin and be always 

 emptied during the latter part of the ebb tide. This arrangement 

 would also admirably suit local conditions, for the Memramcook is 

 exclusively a farming district in which much time and money is at 

 present expended in excluding the tides by means of dykes, and I have 

 been informed by farmers of this valley that they would only wish 

 to have the salt water flood their lands about once in 10 years for 

 the purpose of fertilizing them. The navigation of this river is prac- 

 tically nil, so it would hardly be necessary to provide any lock in the 

 eastern dam — two or three times during a summer a small vessel will 



Fig. 4. — Illustration of principle for obtaining continuous power from the tides 



lie at the Dorchester Island wharf for the purpose of discharging 

 goods, but these could be as well discharged below the dam and the 

 power company could well afford to pay for the short extra haulage. 



I will now call your attention to the next figure (No. 4) which 

 illustrates — in scheme but not to scale — the principle that I employ 

 to get continuous power from the tides, with a varying head to be 

 sure, but with the water always passing through the turbines in the 

 same direction and always with a head sufficient to make turbine 

 operation successful. The diagram shows the confluence of the two 

 rivers, with the necessary dams and gates to control the flow — the 

 gates J, J, etc., in the western dam would be automatic flap gates open- 

 ing upstream, allowing the high-level basin (the Petitcodiac) to fill 



