240 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



first season. This excessive stimulus, and the 

 abundant room ihe plants have to grow in, must 

 necessarily make then» exiremely vigorous, and 

 prepare them lor the production of gigantic 

 sprouts. 



In the third spring, the asparagus is fit to cut. 

 Doubtless all its energies are developed by the dig- 

 ging in of the manure in the autumn of the second 

 year ; and when it does begin to sprout, it finds its 

 roots in contact with a soil ol inexhaustible ler- 

 liliiy. Previously, however, to the culling, each 

 bed is covered m the course oT March very lightly 

 with dead leaves, to the depth, of about eight 

 inches ; and the cutting does not canunence till 

 the plants peep through this covering, when it is 

 carelully removed Ironi the stems, in order that 

 the finest only may be cut, which are rendered 

 while by their lealy covering, and succulent by the 

 excessive richness ofihe soil. 



In the autumn of the third year, after the first 

 cutting, the leaves are removed, and the beds 

 again dressed with fresh night-soil as before ; and 

 these operations are repeated year after year, la 

 addition to this, the beds are Imlf under salt wa- 

 ter annually at spring tides. 



Let any one compare the mode of culture with 

 ours, and there will be no room for wondering at 

 the difference in the result. The Spaniards use a 

 light sandy soil ; we are content with any thing 

 short of clay. They irrigate ; we trust to our 

 rainy climate. They know the value of salt water 

 to a sea coast plant ; we take no means to imitate 

 nature in this respect. They dress their beds with 

 the most powerful of all manures ; we are content- 

 ed with the black residuum of a cucumber Irame, 

 which is comparatively a caput mortuum. Finally, 

 they throw leaves lightly over their beds, by which 

 means they expose the young sprouts to the least 

 amount of resistance, and force them onward by 

 the warmth collected (i-om the sun by such beds 

 of leaves; we, on the other hand, compel the 

 asparagus to struggle through solid earth, capable 

 in the smallest possible degree of absorbing 

 warmth during the day— but, on the other hand, 

 ready to part with its heat again at night to the 

 greatest possible amount. 



Can any one wonder, then, at the poor results 

 obtained by our manner of cultivation 1 — or that 

 some gardener should now and then astonish his 

 neighbors by producing asparagus which we call 

 giant, but which at St. Sebastian would be called 

 second rate 1 



THE ARTESIAN WELL OF GRENOBLE. 



From the Mining Journal. 



At Grenoble, in the vicinity of Ihe French capi- 

 tal, it was considered advisable some years ago to 

 endeavor to procure good water by means of an 

 Artesian well. M. Mulot d'Epinay was the en- 

 gineer to whom the task was entrusted. On the 

 31sl of December, 1836, the bore had been car- 

 ried, after immense labor, to the depth of 383 

 metres, (a metre is 3 feet and 2-lOths English.) 

 The soil was a clay, very hard and compact. In 

 the month of June, 1839, the bore had reached 

 the depth of 466 metres, and the soil was still a 

 bed of clay, though a variety of strata had been 

 previously passed. M. JMulol kept a regular jour- 



nal of observations relative to the soils and strata 

 penetrated, and the temperature at different 

 depths. This record will be valuable when pub- 

 lished. At length, after a task of seven years one 

 month and twenty-six days' duration, JVl. Mulot 

 was rewarded by a degree of success (/roportioned 

 to the time and trouble expended. Water was not 

 only (bund, but Ibund under such circumstances, 

 and in such quantities, as will cause the well to 

 be one of the most useful works as well as one of 

 the greatest marvels of artisticat ingenuity in 

 France. The fluid burst out in a perlect torrent, 

 rising to the surface of the bore to the amount of 

 nearly three cubic metres in a minute, or 180 me- 

 tres in an hour, and 4320 metres in the iweniy- 

 fbur hours. Such is the Ibrce with which it flows 

 up the shaft, that it mounts more than thirty-two 

 English leet above the surliice of the ground. 

 Mr. Hemery, director of roads and bridges, has 

 calculated that the force of ascension of the water, 

 at the bottom of the shaft, exceeds, by fifty times, 

 the force with which water rises in a vacuated 

 tube of thirty-three feet. The orifice of the well 

 is fifty-five centimetres (about one foot eight in- 

 ches) in diameter, and at the bottom it is eighteen 

 centimetres in diameter. The shaft is in all 647 

 metres (or 1630 French feet) in depth, and the 

 sides are strongly plated with iron to a depth 

 of 539 metres. The dome of the Invalids, which 

 has an elevation of 300 leet above the ground, is 

 thus only about a fifth of the perpendicular mea- 

 surement of the Artesian well of Grenoble. 



Three times, during the operation, did the shaft 

 give way, but the indefatigable engineer was not 

 daunted, and at last he has had his reward. 

 The water, which the well pours fourth incessant- 

 ly, has converted one of the neighboring streets 

 into a river, but the workmen are at present em- 

 ployed in forming a channel for its proper convey- 

 ance from the spot. As might be expected, the 

 fluid was at first mixed with sand and earth, and 

 continued to be so for bome time. It is perfectly 

 sweet, however, and had no odor of a disagree- 

 able kind, or any other deteriorating qualities. 

 It is of such a temperature, that there is an ob- 

 vious smoke arising from it when it reaches the 

 surface. This is a feature not likely to continue, 

 and indeed easily removeable belbre use. The 

 whole cost of this great work of art to the city of 

 Paris is said to have been 160,000 francs. The 

 perseverance in this labor for such a period of 

 delerred success, is to be ascribed to the confi- 

 dence resulting from modern geological discove- 

 ries ; and the value of these is most splendidly 

 shown by the success attained. By an ingeni- 

 ous contrivance, M. Mulot has been able to raise 

 large quantities of sand fi-om the bottom of the 

 well ; thus clearing the water more rapidly, and 

 also adding very considerably to its lorce and 

 volume. This removal of the sand has been at- 

 tended with curious consequences in more re- 

 spects than one. After ceasing, in a great mea- 

 sure, to throw up sand, the well has begun to 

 throw up shells and petrifactions of various kinds, 

 the debris of a former world. The success ol the 

 operations at Grenoble has also induced engi- 

 neers to make similar attempts in other quarters. 

 One is begun on a large scale at Vienna. 



