S26 



SCIENCE ()!•' AOKICL'LTUIIE. 



Tart II. 



w.itrr ; Mid, i"i thii operation, the Cane clay below the mou is peculiarly favourable! being perfectly Ares 

 from •tone* and .'II other extraneom substances ; and at the same time, when motet, as slippery as soap, 

 mi that not only Is it easily dug, but its lubricity greatly facilitate! the progress of the water when loaded 

 with mou. The dimensions proper for the drain are found to be, two feel for the breadth, and the same 

 tor the depth. If smaller, it could not conveniently receive the spadefuls of moss; if larger, the water. 

 would iscipi, leaving the moss behind, 7*he drain lias an inclination of one foot in a hundred yards : the 

 more regularly this Inclination is observed throughout, the leas will the moss bo liable to obstructions in 



its progre ss with the water. The drain being formed, the operator marks off to a convenient extent, along. 



side of it, a section of moss ten feel broad ; the greatest distance from which he can heave his spadeful 



into the drain. This he repeatedly do. s, till the entire moss be removed down to tile clay. He then digs 

 a new drain at the foot ol tile moss bank, turn* the Water into it, and proceeds as before, leaving the moss 

 to pursue Its Course into the rivet Forth ; upon the fortunate situation of which, happily forming for 

 several miles the southern boundary of the estate, without the interposition of any otiier property, 

 depended ill some measure the very existence Of the whole operations. 



2185. When the most it entirely removed, the clay is found to be incumbered with the roots of different 



sorts of trees, often very large, remaining ill it as they grew : their trunks also are frequently found lying 

 beside them, as has been already Observed, A.U these the tenants remove, often with great labour. In 

 the course Of theil operation- they purposely leave a lew inches of moss upon the clay. This, ill spring, 

 when the season is favourable, they reduce to ashes, which in a great measure insures the first crop 

 The ground thus cleared is turned over, where the dryness admits, with a plough ; anil, where too soft, 

 with a spade. A month's exposure to the sun, wind, and frost, reduces the clay to such a state as lits it 

 lor the seed in March and April. A crop of oats is the tirst produce, which seldom fails of being plentiful, 

 yielding from eight to ten bolls alter one. Farm Mag., vol. xviii.) 



•J ISo To procure water for floating o/l'the most was found to be the greatest difficulty ; but it was readily 

 overcome by Mr. Whitworth, an eminent engineer, and Mr. George Meikle, of Alloa, a skilful millwright, 

 the son of the well known inventor of the thrashing-machine. 1'J'X) Mr. Meikle gave a model of a wheel 

 of his own and his father's invention, of an entirely new construction. This wheel is so exceedingly 

 simple, and acts in a manner so easy, natural, and uniform, that a common observer is apt to undervalue 

 the invention ; but persons skilled in mechanics view machinery with a very different eye, for to them 

 simplicity is the tirst recommendation a machine can possess. Accordingly, upon seeing the model set 

 to work, Mr. Whitworth, with that candour and liberality of mind which generally accompany genius 

 and knowledge, not only gave it the greatest praise, but declared that, for the purpose required, it was 

 superior towhat had been recommended by himself, and advised it to be adopted without hesitation. 

 litrm. Mag., vol. xviii. 1 



2187. The water-wheel at Blair-Drummond is twenty-eight feet in diameter and ten feet broad. It is 

 driven by water operating on the float-boards, in the same way as an ordinary mill-wheel. At the 

 extremities Ol the radii, or arms, of the wheel, immediately within the float-boards and circumference, is 

 fixed a double row of buckets, as they have been called, borrowing a word from the Persian wheel, to 

 which this part of the present machine has no resemblance, which are more like a section of Louvre 

 boards, or Venetian blinds, or a set of scales, opening upwards when at the bottom of the circumference, 

 and downwards when at the top. These receive two streams of water, which are poured into them 

 within the circumference, when below, which water they discharge when they ascend, and are inverted 

 by the revolution of the wheel into a trough or cistern so placed as to receive it above. By this means a 

 level is gained of 17 feet, which is sufficient to make the water run to the surface of the moss. The water 

 is conveyed from the cistern of the wheel to the moss for ;>54 yards below ground, in wooden pipes hooped 

 with iron, 18 inches in diameter within ; and afterwards rises from the pipes into an open aqueduct above 

 1400 yards in length, and elevated from eight to ten feet above the level of the adjacent grounds. 



2188. The wheel makes nearly four revolutions in a minute, in which time it discharges into the cistern 

 4<l hogsheads of water, and it is capable of lifting no less than GO hogsheads in a minute; but the pipes 

 will not admit such a quantity of water, nor would it be safe or expedient to drive the machine with a 

 force sufficient to raise so great a quantity. It is probable that the tirst idea of this machine was derived 

 from the Persian wheel ; but its superiority in many respects is so conspicuous as to entitle it to little less 

 praise than the tir>t invention. { Farm. Mag., vol xviii.) The wheel was completed and at work in October 

 1827, and the total expense exceeded 1000/. It has been twice rebuilt. The tenants voluntarily agreed to 

 pay interest on whatever sum it might cost ; but their generous landlord relieved them at once from their 

 engagement. 



iiiiJU. The details of the I&uir-Drummond wheel [Jig. 204 ) are thus given in the very copious and inter- 



esting account in the Farmer's Magazine, vol. xviii , from which the present is extracted Fie "04 a is 

 a sluice through which is admitted the water that moves the wheel ; I, h, two sluices through which' is 

 admitted the water raised by the wheel ; e c c, a part of one of two wooden troughs and an aperture m the 



