420 



FARMERS' REGISTER— FOUNTAIN WELLS. 



finest corn crops to be found — wheat and jye fol 

 lowed and were superior. 



I give tliis detail to show that the efficacy of 

 leaves, is decided, in their action on plants, as a 

 manure, when decomposed: for in the crops above 

 slated, they were the basis of the manure that 

 was applied, it being perfectly impossible for all 

 the dung, and lime, that was emplo3'ed tor the for- 

 mation of tlie compost, to have produced.half the 

 effect, when spread over the soil, or used as the 

 compost was applied. 



PI^AJNTER. 



From the Gardener's Magazine. 

 FOUNTAIJV WKLI^S. 



The facility in many, and the certainty in all 

 cases, with which fountain wells may be obtamed, 

 promises very great advantages. Besides the wa- 

 ter of the clouds, rivers, and lakes, it is had from 

 two other sources; viz. land springs and main 

 springs. The hrst are liable to fail when most 

 wanted, the second never. Land s])rings are often 

 found upon, and always at no great distance be- 

 low the surface of the ground. They are collec- 

 tions tiom exhalations ever rising from the interior 

 of the earth, and from snow, rain, and other con- 

 densations of water from the atmospliere. On 

 these last resources, land springs de|)end tor their 

 existence and supply. What is not quickly car- 

 ried away by rivers, brooks, and drains, sinks into 

 the earth, but being intercepted in its downward 

 course, by horizontally placed strata of rock or 

 clay, reposes thereon, and from there gradually 

 oozes away at the lowest point of the impervious 

 bed which prevented its sinking jterpendicularly. 

 Any shaft or opening sunk into this bed readily 

 admits a flow into it Irom the saturated soil around, 

 which is tlien easily obtainable by the pump or 

 bucket. Water so procured, always partakes more 

 or less of the predominating qualities of the soil 

 through which it percolates. Hence the different 

 mineral springs; and hence the various degrees of 

 brackishness, commonly called hardness, of do- 

 mestic wells. 



Main springs are sometimes seen gushing out 

 from the sides, but much more frequently I'rom the 

 bases of high hills. Sometimes they are reached 

 bv the common well-digger; but in general they 

 are located at a depth far beyond his reach by any 

 ordinary means. The water of main springs is 

 known by its high temperature; this being always 

 more or less, according to the depth from which 

 they flow; those nearest the surface are about 42° 

 Fahr. increasing to 56° or more. They are also 

 known by their quality, being, in almost all cases 

 freer from impregnation of salts, and are conse- 

 quently called sofer water. 



Whether the main springs are supplied fi'om the 

 same sources as the land springs, and that they 

 are less impregnated with salts or other qualities 

 in consequence of their receiving greater filtration 

 in their passage to the depths at which they are 

 found, is a question deserving consideration. But 

 that they do possess the qualities of high tempera- 

 ture and purity, is undeniable, and with these quali- 

 ties water is invaluable. For the kitchen, side- 

 board, dairy, and still-room, how necessary; in the 

 bath and dressing room how convenient; in the 

 brew-house how suitable; and in the laundry how^ 



profitajjle. To the gardener it is a useful auxilia- 

 ry, and to the dyer, &c. most important. In short, 

 the art of Ibrming fountain wells, by which may 

 be gained a constant supjdy of soft water, without 

 labor or expensive machinery, presents extensive 

 benefits, which are not yet even apprehended. At 

 present we are still ignorant how high such foun- 

 tains may be carried above the surface of the earth, 

 and how copious such jets may prove. The ascent 

 of water from such considerable depths, is in hself 

 amys'ery. When the anger is passed down into 

 a subterranean current or reservoir in a valley, 

 and the water flows up, it is accounted for bj^ say- 

 ing that the outlet is below the principal source. 

 But when such perforations are made on the high- 

 est ground, and Avhcre there appears no inclina- 

 tion or fi;dl of surface to the spot, it is diflicult to ac- 

 count rationa,lly for such a phenomenon. The 

 natural law tor water finding its own level, does 

 not apparently apply. Is it the pressure of the 

 atmosphere? the subsidence of the superposited 

 earth? Is it Irom the expansive power of subter- 

 ranean heat, or from the temperature of water it- 

 self? or what? 



Trom the [Oliio] Fanner's Reporter. 

 THE ARMY "WORM. 



Sir — The devastation committed on agricul- 

 tural labor, by the different tribes of insects, is such 

 as will probably render the study of their natural 

 history an object of importance to the scientific ag- 

 riculturist, which induces me to send you the fol- 

 lowing observations on the army worm, lor inser- 

 tion in the Reporter, if you should not be able to 

 supply us with any thing better on the same sub- 

 ject. Not being iamiliar with the natural history 

 of insects, nor accustomed to write on the subject, 

 I feel dilfident in submittint^ this paper to the pub- 

 lic; but I hope, if you should think proper to pub- 

 lish it, it may induce some one better acquainted 

 with the subject, to furnish a more full account of 

 this destructive insect. 



It is probable that there are diflerent varieties of 

 insects called army worms, as I recollect having 

 read, before I became a practical farmer, accounts 

 in the newspapers which differed considerably 

 from each other. I first became acquainted with 

 the insect I am about to describe, ten years ago; 

 but so far as my knowledge extends, they were at 

 that time confined to a few acres of ground, join- 

 ing a firm about a mile from my present residence. 

 This season they have been more extensively dif- 

 fused, having attacked nearly every farm in seve- 

 ral extensive settlements. Being absent on pro- 

 fessional business when they were first discovered 

 in our settlement, I did not see them until they 

 were fi-om a quarter to half an inch in length. When 

 I first discovered the worms, they Avere slightly 

 hairy, but they became perfectly smooth in the 

 latter stage of their existence. There is little 

 doubt that they change their skins several times, 

 though I obsen^ed the change only once, on the 

 23d of Ma}', when, like others of the caterpillar 

 tribe, their voracitj' increased; and aflerthis period, 

 when feeding, I could hear a noise resembling that 

 produced by the silk-Avorm in its latter stages. 

 The worm was beautifully striped on the back and 

 sides with red, yellow, v/hite, and black; but the 

 colors became duller as the worm increasedin age, 

 and in its last stage it bore a slight resemblance to 



