176 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



the idea of depending on simple boring alone as 

 a regular syslemetic method ol' obtaining a supply 

 of water; and il is but right to say, that the meth- 

 od, in many instances, has been remarkably suc- 

 cecesslbl; but it should be borne mind, that the 

 supply, copious as it is called, has scarcely in any 

 one instance exceeded what would be retjuired lor 

 a moderately extensive manuliictory, or lor the 

 domestic use of a vpry small village; morever al- 

 though considerable success has attended many 

 of the experiments made to obtain water in this 

 way, yet it is most certain that, as regards the ob- 

 taining of an abundant supply by the simple pro- 

 cess of boring alone, in a majority of cases, the 

 method lias completely failed; and, after a very 

 jieavy and useless expense and loss of time have 

 been incurred in these failures, resource has at 

 length been had, either partially or wholly, to 

 sini<ing a well. 



The most rational plan for obtaining a good 

 supply of water from under ground is in the first 

 place to sink a well to about half the depth at 

 which it is supposed the spring of water exists: thus, 

 if the spring is judged to be 100 yards below the 



he required for his engine and manufactory, be- 

 sides losing a considerable portion of the power of 

 his engine, which is expended in drawing the wa- 

 ter to the suface. 



Wiihm a quarter of a mile of the above-de- 

 scribed well was situated a brewery lurnished with 

 a similarly-constructed well, li'om which a consid- 

 erable supply of water had been obtained; it is, 

 however worthy of remark, that no sooner did our 

 engine commence drawing water from the riew- 

 Ibrmed well, than the brewers immediately lost a 

 great part of the supply they had previously been 

 accustomed to derive iiom theirs; the consequence 

 was, they were under the necessity of sinking it 

 deeper, and of putting up more powerful pumps, 

 in order to obtain their former supply. 



We mention the above lact to show that, al- 

 though there is no question but it is possible to 

 find a spring of water in almost any situation, 

 yet the springs do not furnish that inexhaustible 

 supply oi" water which some persons imagine; in- 

 deed a bare consideration ol what is accomplished 

 in mines and collieries must convince us of the 

 truth of this fact; were the springs of that inex- 



surliice, then the well may made 50 yards deep; i haustible nature some pretend, not a single mine 

 this being properly built up and secured, the en- or colliery in the universe could be worked to any 

 gine erected, and suitable pumps fixed, the re- moderate extent whatever. 



inainder of the depth to the spring may be pierced The second instance of failure in boring, which 

 through by the process of boring, and in this way has happened in our own practice, we shall now 

 a copious supply of water is Irequently obtained, | proceed to relate. About twenty years ago a canal 



and, as may be readily judged, the quantity ot 

 water obtained will vary according to the greater 

 or less depth to which the well is Ibrmed; but at 

 the same time it should be observed, that the 

 deeper the well, the greater will be the expense of 

 raising the water to the surface. 



If necessary, we could here enumerate a long 

 list of losses, failures, and consequent disappoint- 

 ments, which have attended the process of boring 

 within our own observation ; for the present how- 

 ever, we shall confine ourselves to two instances. 



About four years ago we erected, almost in the 

 heart of the metropolis, a 14-horse condensing en- 

 gine for a manufacturing purpose. As a good 

 supply of water was wanted for that and other 

 objects, the proprietor of the establishment thought 

 he could obtain this necessary element on his own 

 premises, and make himself independent of the 

 water-companies. We recommended him to sink 

 a well at once; but contrary to our advice, he de- 

 termined to try the process of simple boring, the 

 situation of his premises being judged very favor- 

 able lor that purpose. A hole was consequently 

 bored to about 100 yards deep, and after some la- 

 bor and expense, water was obtained, but the sup- 

 ply was so scanty as not to be half sufficient for the 

 14-horse engine, several attempts were made to 

 remedy this, but without efiect; the hole was at 

 length abandoned, and a well was then formed, 

 though not so deep as it should have been; boring 

 was then resumed to the depth of what was con- 

 sidered the main spring; pumps were put down 

 the well, and water was again obtained; but even 

 after all, the supply was barely sufficient for the 

 engine. The result of this business was, that the 

 proprietor, after having his premises in confusiori 

 for nearly two years, in the end expended double 

 as much money as would have formed a jiood 



was cut in the neighborhood of London which pass- 

 es over a very hilly tract of land, and in the sum- 

 mer months there is great difficulty in obtaining a 

 sufTicient supply of water for the upper level. It 

 is true the canal passes very near some copious 

 brooks and streams, which with little expense or 

 trouble miijhthave been made available to supply 

 every deficiency twenty times over; but from some 

 circumstances the proprietors of the canal were not 

 permitted to take advantage of these facilities, and 

 as the rain-water they were enabled to collect from 

 the hills was inadequate, they were under the ne- 

 cessity of resorting to the bowels of the earth to 

 supply tlie deficiency. Eor this purpose, a large 

 hole was bored down at the side of the canal, to a 

 depth of two or three hundred feel, to what was 

 understood to be the main spring; the water speed- 

 ily rose and flowed over the surface; however, it 

 was soon discovered, that the quantity obtained by 

 this means was so very small as to be of no prac- 

 tical utility: a well of large dimensions was then 

 sunk down about SO feet, the boring still continu- 

 ing to the original depth; pumps were fixed, and 

 machinery worked by horses; the supply of Avater 

 by this means was increased tenfold, but still was 

 inadequate for the purpose required. We were 

 then employed to erect a steam engine with suita- 

 ble pumps. &c., and the well was sunk to double 

 the original depth; a much more copious supply 

 was now obtained, and the navigation thereby 

 gieatly assisted; but after all, the expenses at- 

 tending these works, and the pumping up the 

 water from such a depth; and that too still inade- 

 quate in quantity, are evils of such a serious mag- 

 nitude, that these joined to other circumstances 

 attending this property, will probably belbre long 

 cause the whole of the concern to be abandoned. 

 We could add many other instances of the total 



productive well, and the interest of the money ex- failure of what is called the simple boring system; 

 pended is considerably m.ore than he would have of works begun and never finished to any useful 

 had to pay to any water company for all the water | purpose; of others pertinaciously carried on for 



