1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



181 



render it unworthy a "second reading." I trust 

 that it may be acceptable: if so, I promise myself 

 the pleasure of again writing for a future publica- 

 tion, and to continue these letters upon the other 

 sections of Florida which I have visited, until, 

 Mr. Editor, my observations, or your indulgence 

 shall become exhausted. 



FAKQ. MACRAE. 



[It would be a superfluous declaration on our part, 

 that further communications from the writer above, 

 will be acceptable and gratifying, but for his expres- 

 sion of doubt on that head. His continuation of this 

 particular subject is requested as early as it can be fur- 

 nished — and future communications on any other sub- 

 jects, as the writer's leisure may permit. 



We share with our correspondent the regret that 

 more space in this journal has not been given to the 

 agriculture of "the far south," and to, the manage- 

 ment and lands of the newly settled country. But the 

 fault is not ours — and the acknowledged deficiency 

 will soon be filled up, if only a few more of the intel- 

 ligent cultivators of those regions, were, like our corres- 

 pondent, sensible of the general want of such infor- 

 mation, and would come forward and communicate 

 their own respective acquisitions. Such communica- 

 tions would serve as seed to produce many others in 

 due time — and the harvest of gain would be sufficient- 

 ly abundant to reward all who aided in the labor, 

 whether they commenced at the first or the "eleventh 

 hour." 



But while admitting the alleged deficiency of arti- 

 cles especially relating to the agriculture of the far 

 south, and still more of newly settled lands, it may be 

 justly claimed that we have paid far more attention to 

 those regions than their cultivators have to our work, 

 or to the promoting of their own interests by making- 

 proper use of it. Compared to the small amount of the 

 subscriptions, and of the more valued written contribu- 

 tions to the Farmers' Register from the southern culti- 

 vators and pioneers, at least as much of its contents 

 have been devoted to their peculiar interests, as to 

 those of any other part of our country. It is to be 

 hoped that more correct views are slowly extending — 

 and that southern planters, both on old and new lands, 

 will know that both their pecuniary and political in- 

 terests, may be better sustained by aiding the hitherto 

 weak, but zealous efforts of this journal.] 



From the Richmond Compiler. 

 HYDRODYKAMrC RAILWAY, OR THE APPLI- 

 CATION OF THE POWER OF RIVERS TO THE 

 RAPID AND CHEAP TRANSPORTATION OF 

 PRODUCE AND MERCHANDIZE. 



It has long been with me a matter of doubt, 

 whether the water used in the lockage of canals 

 was not in many cases an injudicious" application 

 of a valuable power, as in the case of a canal lo- 

 cated along the valley of a great river having con- 

 siderable fall in its bed, like that of the river James, 

 which has 1222 feet fall from the Covington to 

 tide-water, or about 4.74 feet per mile, rendering 

 at least one lock necessary for every two-miles in 

 the average. 



On investigating the subject, 1 find that the wa- 

 ter power of the river is of itself equal to the trans- 

 portation of a greater quantity of tonnage than 

 can be passed through the largest canal, and this 

 too with the astonishing rapidity peculiar to rail 

 roads. » 



I will therefore lay before you, in as succinct a 

 manner as possible, this new, though simple, de- 

 duction of science. 



The locks of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal 

 are 100 feet long, 15 wide, and, say we take one 

 of the most approved lift, 8 feet, the 'prism of 

 lift" will then contain 12,000 cubic teet of water, 

 which will weigh 750,000 pounds. Every time 

 the lock is emptied, this quantity is transferred 

 from a superior to an inferior level. If the valves 

 are opened simultaneously, I am informed that the 

 lock can be filled and emptied in little more than 

 two minutes; but say that it takes three. Now, 

 this water is power, and if it were applied to a 

 properly constructed "breast wheel," or where the 

 fall of water is greater, to a "pitchback," we 

 should have four-fifths of it available to set any 

 machinery we think proper in motion. Let it be 

 applied to an endless chain or rope, passing over 

 suitable rollers along the line of a railway, alter 

 the manner of the stationary system of steam en- 

 gines, we shall have a water power railway, en- 

 tirely free from the objections that can fairly be 

 urged to the stationary steam engines, of the ne- 

 cessity of keeping up the fire and steam, &c. 



When the stations are two and a half miles 

 apart, one-twentieth of the power, according to 

 Tredgold, will be expended in moving the chains; 

 but I will allow a tenth of the power to effect this 

 object on two mile stations, the chain being worked 

 but for one mile. 



We have then the four- fifths of 750,000 pounds, 

 (the one-filth being lost in the application to the 

 water wheels) equal, 600,000 pounds, which, 

 falling 8 feet in three minutes, is equal to 1818 

 pounds moved half a mile in the same time; which 

 is at the rate of 10 miles an hour. Deducting 

 from this the one-tenth, as that part lost in moving 

 the chain, leaves 1637 pounds. And as 10 pounds 

 are equal to the transportation of a ton, with the 

 commonest railway wagons, it follows that the 

 above power is equal to the transportation of 163.7 

 tons over half a mile of the road, while a boat 

 would be passing through the lock of the canal; 

 or it will transport 81.8 tons over a mile of the 

 road in the same time, which is at the rate of twen- 

 ty miles an hour! 



But the maximum rate of transportation on ca- 

 nals is 2| miles an hour, and as the mass moved is 

 inversely to the velocity, we shall at this rate be 

 able to transport 654 tons. 



The water used would be at the rate of 66.6 feet 

 per second. James River, even at Covington, in 

 a dry season, yielded nearly three times this quan- 

 tity, as appears from the Report* of Mr. Crozet, 

 who measured Jackson's River and Dunlop's 

 Creek in August and September, 1826. The mean 

 of the results obtained by this engineer is 177.6 

 cubic feet per second, or 10,656 ieet per minule; 

 and we have this quantity with 7.11 feet fall per 

 mile, the average down to Pattonsburg; before 

 reaching which, however, the volume of water is 

 more than double; and as we descend the river, 



* 5 Vol. Board of Public Works, page 108. 



