708 



F A R M E R S ' REGIS T E R 



[No. 12 



means of an engine and pump for that purpose ;* 

 but I hat it is also possible to give it a discharire, 

 by boring downwards, the following extract froni 

 the Agricultural Report of IL^rlTbrdsliire will 

 show: — " The waler was raised by a steatn-en- 

 gine about sixty yards, from a col'liery in York- 

 shire, which had been wrought several years ; the 

 proprietors bored down to the depth of" about ten 

 yards liirther, to ascertain the depth and thickness 

 of a seam of coals, which was supposed to lie 

 below those then wrought ; the workmen employ- 

 ed, bored from the bottom of the pit, next the en- 

 gine pit, and when they had bored to the above 

 depth, and taken out the rods, the water irom the 

 works, which usually ran across the botiom of this 

 pit to the engine-pump, ran down the hole they 

 had then made. As soon afterwards as the 

 steam-engine was set to work at the stated period, 

 (about one hour in twelve,) the engine-pump 

 .contained little or no water; it had escaped 

 through this hole, and continued to run through 

 the same ever afterwards, and rendered tne en- 

 gine useless. This instance of water, at so great 

 a depth from the surface, finding a passage^al a 

 further depth often yards, and immediaielv be- 

 low, ie very singular and striking. The situation 

 was nmch higher than the m^xt adjoining valleys, 

 and the level of the sea. ExperimenTs of this 

 sort seldom fall to the lot of man to make, there- 

 lore such instances are rare and unconmion. But 

 in large tracts of level land, where lakes or mor- 

 asses have been formed, and which cannot be 

 drained by cutlinnr open drains, or driving levels 

 through rocks, but at an expense lor which the 

 lands, when drained, would never conjpensate. 

 the abov^e instances warrant experiments beinir 

 tried with boring rods, which, if not successllil, 

 may be tried at little expense."' 



In working quarries of lime and freestone, fre- 

 quent interruptions happen Oom water at a certain 

 depth; and, as the stone commonly improves in 

 quality, the deejjer it is wrought, "it becomes a 

 matter of importance to get rid of the water at 

 that depth. To remove this inconvenience, the 

 usual method is to apply machinery of the pump 

 kind, or to bring up deep and expensive levels 

 from the nearest declivity, or by opening a new 

 quarry, which, when it comes to the saine depth, 

 is liable to the same inconvenience ami obstruc- 

 tion. By the fcillowing method, hoivever, all 

 quarries of limestone, ti-eeslone, marl, Reliable 

 to such obstruction, may be completely cleared of 

 water at little expense, and the ground asljoining, 



* In situations where a proper command ot water 

 fun bs obtained, and where the entrance to the mine 

 is likewise favorable for such purpose, all water that 

 may be collected by drains, and by boring in the up- 

 per groumis, will not only relieve the minerals from its 

 obstruction, but ni;;y be useful in adding- to any natu- 

 ral stream that miolit be employed in working an en- 

 gine-pump; and so would be less expennVe than 

 working it by steam. Machinery may also be driven 

 by water for bringing out the minerals; as is done at 

 ^he Duke of Buccleuch's coal-works near Lan.rholm, 

 in Dumfriesshire, which are a perfect examnle'of the 

 above, and of the superior powers of water and ma- 

 chinery, when properly combined— where a command 

 of llje former can be obtained, and when the latter is 

 .constructed on pioper principles, and conducted with 

 that care and ingenuity which ara necessary in such 

 undertakings. 



at the same time, laid dry by the drain which is 

 to draw off the water from the quarry. Immedi- 

 ately under the rock, there is generally a bed of 

 retentive clay, that upholds the water received 

 and retained by that rock; and where the rock 

 terminates at the surface ol" rhe declivity, it is also 

 overlapt by a coveriim of clay, or other imper- 

 vious soil, through which the water can have no 

 natural discharije, and iherelore stands up to such 

 a level in the bed of stone, as renders it difficult to 

 be wrought at that depth. 



In the first place, endeavor to find to what side 

 the rock hns its dip or inclination, and fdlow this 

 to its termination near the surface, by tracing it 

 along the descent, which the aid of the spirit-level 

 enables one easily to do. Having thus discover- 

 ed the point to which the termination of the rock 

 approaches, cut a drain there through the clay, 

 which will give a discharge to the water as soon 

 as it meets the rock. To render it more eflijciual, 

 the drain sliould be cut a good way into the rock, 

 which, at that place, is crenerally of a soft and 

 loose nature, and not difficult to excavate. See 

 Plate No. XVI. Figs. 1. and 2. 



It often occurs, that in the disposition of beds of 

 stone, they vary considerably in their nature and 

 texture, so that a porous part of the rock may be 

 succeeded by a stratum of so close and compact a 

 quality, that no water can get admission into it ; 

 and, indeed, it is almost always the case, that the 

 deeper it lies, the more solid in consistence most 

 kinds of rock are. When this happens, the nat- 

 ural consequence is, that the more porous part of 

 ihe stone is full of water, kept up by the reteniive 

 nature of that below. It is often the case, also, 

 that under this lower compact bed of stone, there 

 may he sand, gravel, or other dry porous matter, 

 capable of absorbing water; and when such is 

 the case, an easy discharge may be given to the 

 water, by boring throufrh the close bed of stone to 

 the absorbent strata underneath. See Plate No. 

 XVI. Fig. 3. 



The success of both these experiments, is proved 

 by a comnumication from the late iVlr. Eccleston 

 of Scaiisbrick, an ingenious member of the Board 

 of Agriculture, whose property lay in the neigh- 

 borhood of Ormskirk. He states, that, "In stone 

 quarries, wells (pits) occasionally are sunken to the 

 open bed, which have proved serviceable. The 

 above was practised in a stone delf neai Ormskirk 

 with success. But in order to lay the delf more 

 efreciually dry to a greater depth, i\j r. Elkington 

 having viewed the country, marked where he 

 thought the rock terminated, or tailed out, and, at 

 the lowest level, set out a drain to be cut up to the 

 rock, part of which work is executed, and a very 

 considerable spring comes from it : but, on ac- 

 count of the great depth (sixteen feet), it will not 

 be finished befiire he has seen the work airain. 

 The drain he has laid out, is about ten feet lower 

 than the bottom of the stone-quarry, and when 

 comi'leted, will lay that head of stone dry, ten 

 feet lower than the present floor. JMost rocks, 

 where they terminate, are succeeded by broken 

 loose stones, of the same nature as the rock; and 

 they are frecjuently (not to say always) succeeded 

 by sand, which, when a thick bed, and of a run- 

 ning nature (quicksands,) often cause great ex- 

 pense to cut through lo the tail end of any rock." 

 In such cases as this, where there is a chance of 

 meeting with quicksands, boring, or sinking pits 



