364 



FARMERS' REGISTER— THRASHING MACHINE. 



COOLEY S THRASHING SIACHINE — EASTERN 

 SHORE IMPROVEMENTS. 



To the Editor of the Farjners' Register. 



f'Fye, Queen jinn's County^ Eastern Shore, ) 

 Maryland, 23rrf September, 1834. \ 



A thrashing machine Avafe introduced last year 

 into tliis part of the country, made by S. Cooley, 

 of Philadelphia. I was so much pleased with ils 

 performance, that I purchased one, and have used 

 it with much satisfaction and success. I one day 

 made a trial of its power, and tin-ashed out one 

 hundred and twenty-six bushels of wheat in three 

 successive hours; and during the thrashing season, 

 it did good expeditious work. I think the horse- 

 jjower peculiarly valuable. It is strong and simple, 

 four horses carry it with ease. The thrasher and 

 horse-power may be removed from farm to tarm, 

 and it requires but small skill, and but little expense, 

 to set it up. Froin the structure of the horse- 

 ])ower, it cannot be convenientl}' used in a barn, 

 and the wheat falling on an earthen floor, is liable 

 to dust. I understand that the rice growers of 

 the South, have a method oi" hardening their 

 thrashing floors, and making them firm and solid. 

 Information of the means by Avhich it is done, 

 would be useful to all who use Cooley's machine, 

 and I solicit a conimunication on the subject 

 through your Register, either from yourself or 

 some other gentleman. 



I am pleased to say to you, that a spirit of ag- 

 ricultural inquiry, and im])rovement, is rising in 

 our part of the country, ana that your book on 

 calcareous manures, and your Register, has con- 

 tributed much to excite it. 



Mr. Jeremiah Nicols, of Kent County, by a 

 small alteration of one of Sinclair & Moor's wheat 

 ans, has chaffed more than two hundred bushels 

 of wheat in one hour. This I have his word for, on 

 which entire retiance is to be placed; and I have 

 also seen a certificate from gentlemen who saw 

 the fan work, who are entitled to the fullest con- 

 fidence. 



WM. CARMICHAEL. 



APPARATUS FOR ANALYSING MARL, AND THE 

 CARBONATES IN GENERAL. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



IFilliam and Mary College, June 27th, 1834. 



The apparatus which I am about to describe, is 

 intended to give greater accuracy and facility to 

 the usual process for determining the quantity of 

 carbonic acid in marl, or in any of the carbonates. 

 By the common method, the two vessels contain- 

 ing severally the marl and the muriatic acid are 

 placed in one of the scales of a delicate balance, 

 and there counterpoised by weights put into the 

 other scale. The acid is then poured upon the 

 marl, and after all the carbonic acid has been dis- 

 charged, the equilibrium is restored by adding 

 weights to one, or abstracting them from the other 

 pcale. In principle, this method is entirely free 

 from objection: but as usually conducted, it cannot 

 be relied upon as accurate. This want of preci- 

 sion arises, in the first place, fi-om the escape of 

 aqueous vapor, along with the carbonic acid which 

 ie discharged, thus makmg a greater weight ne- 

 cessary for restoring the equilibriimi, than is due 

 to the quantity of carbonic acid which has escaped 

 — and secon ily, from the greater weight of the 



vessels containing the marl and acid impairing 

 the sensibility of the balance, and thus rendering 

 it impossible to estimate the carbonic acid to small 

 fractions of a grain. The first of these objections 

 has long been obviated in the chemical analysis 

 of the carbonates, by causing the gas as it escapes 

 to pass through a tube containing dried nmriate of 

 lime; and the latter has been in some measure re- 

 moved, by a contrivance of the great practical 

 chemist Rose; which, however, as it is inconve- 

 nient and tmcertain m the manipulation, I shall not 

 here describe. 



The apparatus which I have devised, is, I think, 

 free from these objections, and enables the opera- 

 tor to proceed with great accuracy and despatch. 

 It has the advantage of being very easily con- 

 structed, and of being used wiih a baltmce that 

 can be procured at a verj' moderate price. More- 

 over, the quantity of marl which is necessary for 

 experiment in no case exceeding ten grains, 

 specimens for analysis may very easily be for- 

 warded by letter. 



The badance which I use with this apparatus, 

 is a small goldsmith's balance — such as may be 

 procured for a lew dollars in New York. It is very 

 light and turns, when unloaded, with the y'^th of 

 a grain. My set of weights obtained from Mil- 

 lington in Philadelphia, extends to tenths and 

 hundredths of the grain. 



The accompanying figure will convey a distinct 

 idea of the apparatus and mode of using it. One 

 of the scales is removed to admit of suspending 

 the apparatus by a double thread over the hook of 

 the beam. The other is made of something light, 

 as a piece of card. In this way all unnecessary 

 weight upon the beam is avoided, and its sensi- 

 bility preserved. 



A, is a light bulb of glass, blown very thin from 

 a common piece of tube, and about one inch in 

 diameter. A cork is fitted to its mouth, and through 

 this the tapered ends of the bent glass tubes, B 

 and C, are jjassed air tight; the extremity of the 

 latter extending some distance into the vessel. The 

 tube B, through which the gas escapes, is filled 

 Avith fragments of muriate of lime. The tube C, 

 which contains the muriatic acid, is furnished with 

 a light piston of cork or cotton, in the centre of 

 which is fixed a rod or handle, made of a small 

 stiff straw. This instrument, when charged with 

 marl and acid, does not weigh more than 120 

 grains. The whole load of the beam is therefore 

 240 grains, and it is still sensible to the yggth of a 

 grain. 



The mode of proceeding with the analysis is as 

 follows. Five or ten grains of the finely powdered 

 marl is introduced into the vessel A, and then two 

 or three drops of water added, to assist the diffu- 



