NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



37 



his falhcr's to meet a similar difficulty, which 

 had been attended ivilh invariable succes?, and 

 Lord Caernarvon immediately determined ujion 

 carrying it into execution. 



Following Mr. Loafs instruction?, we sunk 

 two wells, 30 ft. deep by 4 ft. diameter each, 

 which for greater perspicuity I shall call No. 1 

 and 2. They are a trifling distance asunder, 

 and were carefully clayed, to prevent percola- 

 tion into the surrounding soil, and lined with 

 bricks in the usual manner. A well secured 

 communication was made between the two 

 vvells, by a small leaden pipe inseitcd two feet 

 from ibe bottom. All the pipes from the roof 

 were directed into No. 1 ; and an oak floor, 

 bored lull of small holes, and supported upon 

 posts, was laid in at No. 2, just above the I'ipe 

 of communication. Upon this floor was first 

 placed a stratum of well washed coarse gravel, 

 then one of finer, next a stratum of coarse 

 sand, and finally one of the finest sand we could 

 procure, making altogether two feet in thick- 

 ness of silicious substances. The water, 

 which is received into No. 1, passses through 

 the leaden pipe into No. 2, and filtrates by as- 

 cent through the strata of sand and gravel, 

 the space below the level of the oak floor in 

 both wells, acting as a cespool, receives all sed- 

 iment. The pump is of course aflixed in the 

 tiltering well. Both wells are covered up, but ! 

 plenty of air is admitted to them, through ap- 

 ertures made for this purpose. 



You will immediately perceive, that the mer- 

 it of this plan consists altogether in the filtra- 

 tion by ascent, with a competent space under 

 the apparatus. The interstices of the sand are 

 thus never clogged, and its power is preserved 

 unimpaired for an indefinite period. The well 

 fully answers its intended purpose, and the wa- 

 ter is altogether excellent. I have been tempt- 

 ed to submit this statement to you from a per- 

 suasion that there are few houses, which may 

 not be made in this manner to supply excellent 

 water in sufficient quantiy for domestic con- 

 sumption ; and that situations abound, where 

 the filtrating well may be resorted to with equal 

 comfort and advantage. 



~ I am. Sir, 



your obedient humble servant, 

 J. R. GOWAN. 

 Highclere, jye^'bury, } 

 Berks, April 1, 1309.^ 



To THE EDITOR OP THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



I will state to you an experiment made on a 

 small piece of ground, which goes to establish 

 the fact, (hat plastering clover largely at the 

 time of turning it down and preparing it for 

 a wheat crop, is by far the most advantageous 

 to the crop, and much preferable to turning in 

 clover, in the usual way and plastering on the 

 surface, when the wheat is sowed, in the spring 

 of the year. As I have stated in my last com- 

 munication, the action of the plaster (thus ex- 

 cluded from atmospheric air) upon the clover, 

 covered over, is instantaneous, and putridity is 

 80 certain as to cause considerable gas, which 

 in its passage through the clod, impregnates it 

 -with all its manuring qualities, and the root of 

 the plant shoots down and feeds on a bed of 

 manure, &;c. About four or five years ago, I 

 purchased a small slip of land of IVIr. William 

 Patterson, in Baltimore county, a part of 

 which was old field, used by him only as a 



I sheej) pasture, because it laid so far from the 

 ^ mnin body of his bind that it was no object 

 j »',i(h him to belter ils condition. This ground 

 was originally gooil and of a kind soil, sui'h as 

 j is understood to be real plaster land, but J'rom 

 I constant cultivation lor many years (pronably 

 before ho got it) liad become- quitri oxli.tusted, 

 and produced what is comm^'nly called poverty 

 grass, so called from its t)eing the meanest ofall 

 grasses, having very little vegeial.lc sub- 

 stance in it, and is generally found on sails 

 which have been impoveri-hed by constant cul- 

 tivadon in the old fashionfd way. 



Three acres of this grouml 1 enclosed in a 

 field adjoining, and put in oats. In the fall ol' 

 the year 1 gave it a good deep ploughing, first 

 sowing two bushels of plaster to the acre on the 

 poverty grass, which was turned under as soon 

 in the spring as possible. I again ploughed it 

 and harrowed it down ; I then sowed it in oats, 

 and with two bushels of plaster to the acre, and 

 harrowed the oats and plaster in together, and 

 sowed clover seed. I had, as may be expected, 

 but a tolerable crop of oats from such poor 

 ground; the clover took finely and flourished 

 well during summer, and by the fall the ground 

 had a good covering, which rotted on the 

 ground during winter; (I permitted nothing to 

 graze on it during winter or fall.) In the 

 spring 1 again plastered it with the same quan- 

 tity, making in all six bushels of plaster to the 

 acre, in that short time. Wanting grass tor my 

 stock, I cut tliH next crop, which yielded more 

 than a ton to the acre — the second crop was 

 left on the ground as belore. The following 

 spring 1 again plastered it, and the clover was 

 very good — this crop 1 turned down en 7nasse in 

 the fall, first putting about two bushels of plas- 

 ter to the acre, at the time of ploughing under 

 — it was then harrowed the same way it was 

 ploughed, and sowed with wheat and harrowed 

 in, and if the fly had not taken, it should have 

 made a good crop of wheat. Last fall, in con- 

 sequence of a large quantity of blue grass ap- 

 pearing, I ploughed it down, intending to put in 

 corn this spring, (first sowing on the stubble 

 and grass about two bushels of plaster to the 

 acre) and if it is a good season, expect to make 

 ten barrels of corn to the acre, with the as- 

 sistance of plaster and ashes in the hill. I can 

 aver that this spot of ground has had no manure 

 except clover and plaster during the time. — 

 This experiment has convinced me that real 

 plaster land, although worn out, may be re- 

 claimed in a very short time, by this simple 

 process, and made to produce better than when 

 in its original stale ; in fact, I am convinced 

 by turning in clover and plaster in this way, 

 you may in a short time, make the land too rich 

 for wheat, and have a soil as deep as you can 

 plough it. To effect this in a short time, you 

 must be careful to suffer no stock of any kind to 

 range over or graze on it — it is true that this 

 mode of improvement requires patience, mon- 

 ey, labour, and time, but in the end, when 

 your soil is made, it wi'l with care and atten- 

 tion, cost but little to keep it in good plight, 

 and your crops in that state, will amply remu- 

 nerate you. It is the wish of the writer to im- 

 press on the minds of every farmer, to plough 

 his lands deep in the fall of the year, as the 

 most certain method to improve waste grounds, 

 and is the best preparation he can give it for 

 a summer's crop; the ground being in a 



loose, broken stale, absorbs durino' winter all 

 the rams and snows, which is of '(self, i,i „„, 

 minU, equal to a slight coat of manure. 



G.' W. 



From llu; Lorulon Mechanic's Wt'ckly ATajazlne. 



O.V DEAD LIME. 



It has long been observed by lime burner? 

 that if lime stone is imperfectly burnt in the' 

 first instance, no further exposure of it to fire 

 will produce quick lime ; but (he philosopical 

 chemists have doubted the truth of this observa- 

 tion. I\Ir. Vicat in a work hovvever, which he 

 has lately published upon morlar and stucco, 

 has confirmed the observation of the lime burn- 

 ers, lie found that in making quick lime in a 

 small furnace, if the small pie^ces of lime stone 

 which fell through (he grate into the ash pit, 

 before they were thoroughly binnt, were col- 

 lected and again put in the fire, even for seve- 

 ral successive times, quick lime was not obtain- 

 ed but a kind of lime technically called dead 

 lime, which will not slake with water; but 

 which upon being ground and made into a paste 

 with water, differs from common mortar by set- 

 ting under water. When chalk is burnt, and 

 the lime left to fall into powder by long expo- 

 sure to (he air, and then made into a stiff paste 

 with water, it sets very sensibly underwater; 

 so that the action of the air seems to produce a 

 dead lime, similar to that produced by (he in- 

 complete burning of lime stone, as being neither 

 pure quick lime, nor a complete carbonate of 

 lime, but a kind of sub-carbonate, which pos- 

 sesses the new and useful property of setting 

 under water. 



Mr. Raucourt De Charleville observed the 

 same effects to be produced as are described by 

 Mr. Vicat. He also made another observation 

 respecting the production of a cement whicb 

 sets under water. He had prepared a mixture 

 of quick lime and clay and left it dry ; some of 

 this was then broken into small pieces, and 

 burnt on a heated cast iron plate; and another 

 parcel in a small furnace, mixed with the char- 

 coal used as fuel. 



In these experiments it was observed that the 

 pieces of this mixture of quick lime and clay, 

 which were burnt on the heated plate, produc- 

 ed mortar that set under water ; but those burnt 

 mixed with charcoal, produced a mortar which 

 did not set under water. 



Mr. Clement, when he gave an account of a 

 mineral found by Mr. Minard in France, and 

 which was fit for the making of hydraulic mor- 

 tar or Roman cement, stated to be Mr. Minard's 

 opinion, that the cause of the Roman cement 

 setting under water, was owing to a sub-carbo- 

 nate of lime produced by the action of fire on 

 the natural carbonate, as the chemists say, or in 

 other words, to imperfect lime. 



JVew method of making Jelly. — Press the juice 

 from the fruit ; add the proper proportion of 

 sugar : and stir the juice and sugar until the 

 sugar is completely melted : — put it into jars; 

 and m twenty-four hours it will become of a 

 proper consistence. By this means the trouble 

 of boiling is avoided : and the jelly retains more 

 completely the flavour of the fruit. Care should 

 be taken to stir the mixture till it is completely 

 melted ; and fine sugar should be used. 



[A*. Jersey Advocate, 



