258 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[iVIarch 11, 



that are fast oblnining a name in our political an- 

 nals and are in otiier ways intcroslinjf. 



I feel that I must yet give my views on this 

 great undertaking farther to the norlh west : and 

 in the first place, yon can draw the Concord wa- 

 ters to you nearly on a level or so as to eflect 

 your object, with more or less drop, by locks 

 at the lower end. You may expect opposition 

 from the Middlesex Canal, as taking- from them 

 what water they may want in a dry time ; this 

 will he idle, for the moment you strike the 

 Nashua, which has water to spare, and is more 

 elevated, their water can be supplied them in 

 return more abundantly, than it had been taken 

 from there. 



If an attempt is made to go direct to Lancas- 

 ter, Bolton hill intervenes in a manner,! should 

 think, not to he cut through, and all the south 

 looks forbidding. To the north, you will be 

 more on the air line of your canal. It may be 

 found best, to lay an aqueduct bridge over Con- 

 cord river, which must be unqueslionahiy lower 

 than the Nashua river, but I should rather re- 

 gret it, as both the Concord bianches may, at 

 some not far distant period, lieeome important 

 feeders to the canal : it would be an obstruction, 

 to mount by one or two locks into the canal. — 

 The same observation will hold good, as to the 

 Nashua river. 



When once arrived at Na-hua river, with one 

 two, three or more locks, besides your discharg- 

 ing locks at Boston, you will have to construct 

 at orn?ar Fitchburg. a number of conjoined 

 Jocks, to ascend to your summit level. And here 

 let me press upon you, the importance of hav- 

 ing your locks as much in conjunction as possi- 

 ble, to avoid waste of water, — waste of time to 



bability furnish a sufficiency of water if dug] building stone, must be unfolded of a nature to 

 tolerably deep, without a recurrence to either be useful to the arts: such i-.s lijne and marble, 

 of the outlets of the ponds ; 3 et these can be j sonp stone, coal, slate, indurated or stone clay, 

 drawn upon if needed. i\Ir Crawshaw and the ^yhile sand for your glass houses, &.c. Besides 

 duke of Bedford were both obliged to dig tor | it should be remembered, that many heavy e.\- 

 their water; the first excavated an immense pen«es incurred by the New York canals" yon 

 cistern, from which the water was raised by a will not be exposed to, or at least not in a like 



steam engine, to start his boats iVom tlie sum- 

 mit level ; and the duke commenced his ujion a 

 dry parched plain, yielding no water ; he enter- 

 ed at the base of a much more elevated plain, 

 previously ascertamed to be bedded with vast 

 seams of coal, and a suiEciency of water. For 

 some lime, the coal was brought out by horses, 

 at length, water was found in abundance to fur- 

 nish his canal for many miles. 



At the town of Gardner, your chief ditTiculfy 

 appears to be overcome, tor here, you meet a 

 small arm of Millers river, which ivill probably 

 be found useful, and frona this, you will htive the 

 benefit of this river, until its junction with the 

 Connecticut. Part of Miller's river may prove 

 a canal ready made at your command, but much 

 consideration should be exercised, whether to 

 use it in this way on account of the freshets. 



I observed, almost all the canals seen by me 

 in England, that happen to follow the course of 

 rivers, assume tVequently the sides otthe ravine 

 formed by the river, occasionally crossing the 



degree, viz. her immense Dam across the North 

 river, her very costly Aqueduct bridges, and her 

 Black Rock contest for several miles with the 

 hard primitive rock at the upper outlet of her 

 works. 



The question now occurs — how are the mon- 

 ey means to be brought about, to ciTcct this 

 groat object? Of this you are I'ar better able 

 to judge than I can be ; yet no harm can arise 

 in making the supposition of its cnstino- three 

 millions, though 1 should not be surprised if it 

 does not exceed two millions. It would be ve- 

 ry desireable, that the State should assume the 

 whole, and had not her financial concersis been 

 so indifferently managed ever since I can re- 

 member, and such frauds committed upon her 

 as mu=t take nvich from her courage in n oney 

 concerns, she would most |irobal)lv umlerlake it. 

 [ler citizens would. I think, willingly stibniit to 

 extra taxes to meet the occasion, until they 

 could be relieved by the income. As real es- 

 tate is to be most essentially benefitted by the 



^anie to oll.iin a better level or easier digging, canal, would it not be a t'ea-ible fax, to levy two 



per cent, on all transfers of the s 



and at time* ascending the high banks, but rarely 

 occupying ih.e river itself. 



The waters of Miller's river are under your 

 control, to be drawn out where you most need 

 them, a short cut will however probably be made 

 near the mouth of this river through Montague, 

 to straighten your canal, and save distance to 



each, and have stood in the vale belo.v admirin.- ' i""| '*'''' !' ",'-^"'' 'l^."""' "'," '"'"'^ advantage. 



ime, to be col- 

 lected by the Registers, and no deed be record- 

 ed until the money is paid. At the same time, 

 those offices need to be made more secure. 

 If the State should demur — what should prevent 

 your city acting boldly ? and will "Congress hold 

 back? and cannot your citizens of capital pro- 

 cure means from abroad, if needed, for lar-^e 

 nniiertakings towards it? 



pray you not to cast your eyes solely upon 



the boats with one mast, to the amount oftwenty 



be brought down to Greenfield across Green riv- 



your travel,-and a cheaper attendance on your i ^'^^'■''^''^- ?'' P^h^M'^- ''.'Vl'.^e l'^^' to con- 



locks. With these views, 1 have seen at' Mr I ".""° ""'. *" ^^e mouth o Miller s river, into the 



Crawshaw'scannI, descending from the summit '*'°'^?^?'"''"- ^ hen look up the Deerlield river u" „, " , 



ofSouth Wales, fifteen locks conjoined often feel i '° ^^'lelburne, near where it joins ^orlh ,iver, "t'=>t is to come from the West, but recollect 



— ' " — •' ■- 1 -...^r,.,* !..._. — What an interest your fisheries have in this 



concern, and dream a little upon the effect to 

 be produced upon your intercourse with your 

 neighbouring towns, the Stale of N. Hampshire, 

 and particularly with the State of .Maine; and 

 imagine for a moment the eflect, through them 

 upon yourselves. 



It will not, 1 hope, be thought that all the 



red, 

 1 am 

 very far from any such idea, and have meant 

 only to offer, freely, what hints my mind sug- 

 gested, as my small contribution towards tlils 

 s:reat undei taking, being my only mite : but in 

 the hnpc that some more able hands will employ 

 themselves in the same way, and place before 

 the public eye better information than 1 have 

 in my power to furnish. If any one hint, I 

 have aflorded, should be fiMuul uselul, or if I 

 should at all stimulate the great work, I shall 

 be amply rewarded. 



Since writing the above 1 am pleased to see 

 that the Legislature has taken up the subject 

 so far as to order a survey to Connecticut river. 

 But would it not have been better to have car- 

 ried the survey through, allowing that the firs; 

 part only should be immediately undertaken' 

 Without this is partiall 



^- .i.iiiy, descending /rom the mountain to m'v j '''' ' 'h's/vould give a straighter line and be the 

 location, one hundred and fif'ty leei below them. I *''•'"» °' probably one or two locks. From this 

 The same plan was observedin Sweden, of con- ^ '" Ciiarlemonf, there appears a i)lenly of water, 

 densing their locks from Lake Wene'r, but i I '^"' *'^'''" 'hence, lam unacquainted with the 

 think, they were deeper, and I beiieve irom fif- S''°""<^ '"■■ 'he upper level, but imagine thai like 

 teen to twenty feet drop^ cut in the solid rock. I "" """" '''»'' P''""'"* in New England, it most 



Here, if would be \vell to take a variety ot'i P'"'"*'''-^ '^ '''Sh'.V saturated with water, pariicu- { views I have taken can be invariably cor 

 surveys of the summit level, throuo-h the towns'!'"''-^'' ''^'° "'® vicinity of high mountains, as this P'""''cnl^rly without the aid of surveys; 1 

 of Gardner, Templeton and Gerry to Alhol. Ifl^*" ^e'l •' i' cannot he found in suflicienl quan 



' lity, recourse must be had to your nearest sour 



ces, and I perceive, that in Hawley and Wind 



sor there are ponds, that probably may be di 



verted to your assistance. 



If I 

 upon an accurate survey, it should be found that! 

 you can obtain a level on this summit of several 

 miles through this moist mountain land, you 

 need not fear lacking water without a recur- 

 rence to the Nashua, as it comes out of Ash- 

 burnhampnnd. At any rate, this resource can 

 be held in reserve for your summit level, lo be 

 restored to the mills at Fitchburg after using it; 

 and the town of Gardner is mentioned" in 

 Morse s Gazetteer, as being remarkably suppli- 

 ed with water, and as dischargmg part towards 

 Massachusetts, and part to Connecticut. 



My object, in passing lo the south ofthe ponds 

 in Ashburnham (believing that the survey of 

 General Knox went through both of them) is 

 to preserve a straighter line to the canal, sev- 

 eral locks of ascent to the pond, and that an 

 equal number of descent on the other side of 

 Ih^ height of land will be economized : also to 

 preserve a much longer line of summit level 

 through moist spongy l;ind, that will in all pro- 



On your arrival at the town of Adams (wheie 

 are large marble quariies) I should consider all 

 your ditficuUy as surmounted, for from that posi- 

 tion, you have such a command of water, as 

 will enable yon to select the most advantageous 

 descent, to your promised haven of unbounded 

 resources. 



But is there notmuch within your native state 

 to encourage you, besides what must be visible 

 to every one from a connexion with Connecticut 

 river ? Let it be recollected, that geology 

 teaches us that all the secondary and '.illuvr" 



undpigiound formations lay regularly in their !"' ll'T' "'"%'' 1'''' '''',''-^' '^T'V''''^,'"'-)' ^"'"' 

 bed. ..r.t.l.in. f.„^ .v,A. iS ';>.\'''T ■'•'")' Z"™'' had junction. And ought there not 



beds, stretching from the N. N. East lo S. S. 



also be a commission appointed to muUe es- 



rll anLV ,?" T ^ "'--""ght nt a ,i^„es, not immediately- within the (.rovince 

 do?bt:7ba,sol T ;"-^'^'-''/".'' ^'"? "be of the surveyor? I most sincerely hope The 

 doubted, that some valuoble materials, besides! ,,,,k ^ay proceed lo a happy close, and that! 



