THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



495 



spot, lo the depth of about one-third of the ditch, 

 dropping them one in a place, so as not to liave 

 too many ends immediaiely together, which would 

 leave cavities ibr the admission ol ihe dirt. I ihen 

 put on a coat of clean pine tags, sulficiently close 

 and thick to prevent the dirt lioin reaching liic 

 stalks on the botiom, eiiglitiy packing them, and 

 then drew in the dirt, whiidi has a depth, (roni 

 the tags to the surface, eutficient lor common tilih. 

 To. finish it, I raised it a little, allowitiir Ibr its 

 sinking, and Ibr the purpoese of preventing iis be- 

 ing washed by heavy fdl's of water. 



The plan of this drain may be obje:;cted to by 

 some, on tlie score of durability. This certainly 

 is questionable ; but as to economy and expedi 

 tion none can object, as the whole of the work 

 may be dune by any hand capable of using a hoe 

 and a spade, as all Held hands are, without the 

 services of either ditclier, sawyer or carpenter. 

 Corn-stalks and pine-lags, I know, are very de- 

 s:ructible when exposed to the influence of the at- 

 mospherical air, but being placed at the di'|)ili 

 here required, almost totally excludes this agent ol 

 decomposition, and I am inclined to think their 

 duration would lar exceed the expectation ol' 

 many. I once observed, in a recently broken 

 mill-dam of long standing, green pine brush that 

 seemed lo have been thrown in for some purpose 

 during the construction, and buried there Ibr a 

 time, beyond recolleciion, ()erhaps (br ages, liiai 

 had so lar retained their oriainal state, thnt even 

 the color of the leaves was but slightly chanired. 



There is a path across the lower and main dram 

 of this ditch, over which loaded carls and team,^ 

 frequently pass ; yet whenever the flat above is the 

 least wet, there is always a stream of water pro- 

 portioned to its wetness issuinir from its ujcaith. 

 Tlie corn now standing on the piece of ground 

 drained by this ditch, not withstanding its being in 

 corn last year, and the unprecedented wet season 

 this, will multiply at leasi lour or five times ihe 

 product of the preceding crop. 



Th. N. Delk. 



Surry C. H., Nov. 8lh, 1842. 



ARTESIAN WELLS IN ALABAMA. 



To llie Editor of llie Fanners' Register, 



Greensboro, jJla., Oct. 28, 1S42. 



I have been intending fur some time lo endea- 

 vor to atone Ibr my ren;issness in other respects 

 by giving you some account of the Artesian vveils 

 which have been and are being bored in this part 

 of the country, as being a subject of great intrinsic 

 interest to one of the wealthiest regions of the 

 south-west, and indeed to all prairie countries, 

 which labor under the great inconvenience of a 

 scarcity of water. 



As you are no doubt aware, the prairies reach 

 nearly across the states of Alabama and Missis- 

 sippi, in a direction a little norih o!" west in this 

 state, and in a belt of some 3(^ or 40 milps, lying 

 principally between latitudes 32 and 33'^ north. 

 They are composed of a black calcareous clay, 

 in which the carbonate of lime is found in consi- 

 derable excess — in some instances as high as 60 

 per cent. The larger proporiion ol this descrip- 

 tion of soil is covered by a deiiae Ibrest of oak, 



ash, hickory, elm, cotton wood, and, in quite a 

 considerable portion, there are large forests of ce- 

 dar, ivhich no doubt vie in size and beauty with 

 ihe lor lamed ''cedars ol Lebanon." Someoflhem 

 square 2 leei at ihe but, and are of great height. 

 The most of this black- land countrj', particularly 

 where the oak and ash prevail, \\,s originally co- 

 vered with dense cane, ami hence the whole of it 

 is usually denominated the "canebiake," though 

 very lew vestiges o( cane are still remaining. 

 The general surliice of the country is undulating, 

 and the rotten limestone rock, vvhicli invariably 

 'orms Ihe substraium to. the soil, sometimes ap- 

 pioaches within a (ew inches o(" the lop, and is 

 iiequcnily entirely denuded by the washing rains, 

 which constitute the greatest obstacle to keeping 

 ihem in a permanently improving stale. 



The^greal It^nility of the soil, the propitious la- 

 titude lor ihe cultivation of cotton, and the facili- 

 lies or navigation afforded by the numerous rivers 

 issuing from the great spur of the Cumberland 

 mouriiains above, all contributed to bring this belt 

 of country info very eaily notice ; but the diificul- 

 ly of procuring water pit'spnied an insurmounta- 

 ble obstacle in the eyes of ihe first settlers, and aa 

 the soli is excessively wet and disagreeable in ihe 

 rainy months of winter, very lew of those who 

 had much regard lo comfort were at first induced 

 10 settle upon it. Wht-n the more wealihy class 

 of planleis, however, began to come in, the al- 

 lurements of gain were too tempting to be resist- 

 ed, and tliey cutubaled the inconvenience of the 

 want of a permanent supply of water, as they 

 oesl could, by cisterns, seep-wells, and such other 

 contrivances as suggested themselves lo diflerent 

 individuals. So great a desideratum, however, as 

 water was not long lo be enJured ; and the idea 

 of boring Artesian wells entirely through ihe rock 

 was, I believe, first successlully carried into 

 practice by a man named Cooper, a native of Con- 

 necticut, who possessed considerable mechanical 

 genius, and that particular turn of mind which is 

 always on the " qui viva'' for something new ard 

 striking. Not that the idea itself was really a new 

 one, lor Dr. Darwin, in his Phylologia, (Dublin, _ 

 octavo, 1800, p. 239,) notices several instances of 

 water rising much above the surlace, and says, 

 " the knowledge of this part of geology, concern- 

 ing the formation of springs, may be employed 

 Ibr many uselul purposes," '&c. Thus where wa- 

 ter, descending in high columns between the strata 

 of mountains, is dammed up below by the mate- 

 rials which fill up the valleys, if a hill be bored in 

 ihe valley deeper than the incumbent strata, it 

 Ifequenily rises much above the source of the 

 new aperture, and sometimes above the surface 

 of the ground. In sinking the King's well at 

 Sheerness, the water rose 300 leet above its source 

 in the wbII, as related in "Philosophical Transac- 

 tions," vol. 74. Again he says, " In the town of 

 Richmond, in Surrey, and at Islip, near Preston, in 

 Lancashire, I am informed thai it is usual to bore 

 for water to a certain depth ; and that, when it is 

 found, in both those places it rises so high as to 

 Jloto over the surface. And, there is reason to 

 conclude, that ii similar experiments were made 

 in many other places, such artificial springs might 

 be produced at small expense, both lor the com- 

 mon purposes of lile, and Ibr the great improve- 

 ment of lands by watering them." lie goes on 

 lo give many reasons Ibr eniertaining these opi- 



