388 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[July I, 



CONTINUA riON OF EXTRACTS FROM THE AD- 1 Had not the canal of New York eclipsed almost 



DRESS OF ROBERTS VAUX, Esa. I all similar undertakings, a distingushed place 



{From page 378.) | might be claimed for Pennsylvania, as a patron 



Next in importance to the iraprovement of ; of inland navigation. The works on the Schuyl- 



the land by judicious modes of cropping, and the I kill, now completed, extend one hundred and 



application of restoratives suited to the various j eleven miles. Forty miles of the Union canal 



qualities of the soil, are roads, bridges, canals, I are nearly finished, and when the latter reaches 



and the rendering of streams navigable. The I its termination, the aggregate will not be much 



husbanilman will toil in vain, if the products of ^ short of two hundred miles. To enconragp and 



his labour cannot reach a market by a moder- 1 promote in future the formation of canals, wher- 



afe expenditure of time and money. The ne-jever the geological features of the territory in- 



cessity of facilitating the intercour.se between ' vite, or will admit of such improvement, is at 



the interior remote parts, and the sea board of once the duty and interest of alt who seek the 



Pennsylvania, was early perceived by many of 

 her enlighieried citizens, who, in the prosecu- 

 tion of Uieir designs, had to contend with diffi- 

 culties similar to those which impeded the ex- 

 ertions to renovate her husliandry. Some im- 

 provements had been made during the provin- 

 cial age of Pennsylvania, by the removal of ob- 

 structions to the descending navigation of rivers ; 

 but the first turnpike constructed on this side of 

 the Atlantic, is that which-vvas completed be- 

 tween Philadelphia and Lancaster in 1794. 

 Since that period, more than n thousand miles of 

 artificial roa<i have been made of stone in vari- 

 ous parts of the commonwealth. Bridges of 

 great magnitude and beauty have also been 

 thrown across our principal rivers, at an ex- 

 pense of more than a million and a half of dol- 

 lars, whilst the utility and cost of those of an 

 inferior grade, in nearly all the counties of the 

 state, cannot be readily estimated. It is now al- 

 most halt a century since the noble design was 

 formed of uniting the Delaware and Su-:quehan- 

 nah rivers, by means of the waters of the Schuyl- 

 kill and Svvatara. Tiie failure of so grand a 

 scheme, with great pecuniary loss to those who 

 engaged in it, vitally affected the interests of 

 our agriculture ; but the lock navigation rapid- 

 ly progressing to completion on Ihe same route, 

 penetrating as it will to a remote interior point, 

 hitherto inaccessible by such modes of commu- 

 nication, [iromises to all our diffprent interests 

 results of the greatest ma^jnitu'de. The differ- 

 ence between transporlalion upon a good turn- 

 pike and upon a conitnrvn road, is familiar to 

 every one; but tlie Wiflerence is immense be- 

 tween even the best turnpike and a canal. A 

 single horse will draw, with ease, twenty-live 

 tons, two miles and a half per hour upon the lat- 

 ter ; but to move an equal weight upon the for- 

 mer, at the same rale, would require forty hors- 

 es. What a va.st saving must here be made in 

 animals and in provender, and a largo part of 

 this, too, for the benefit of the husbandman ; be- 

 cause his stock may be less, and his saleable 

 produce greater, and he may be enabled to car- 

 ry many new articles to market, by all the dif- 

 ference of consumption. Canals will also pro- 

 mote the use of oxen instead of horses, to the 

 acknowledged profit of the farmer. 



The introduction of coal will constitute a new 

 era in Pennsylvania. It vviil enalile the farmers 

 of a large district to convert grounds occupied 

 by wood to the production ol' valuable crops, 

 and lime and other manures will be transported 

 by canals, to points which they could never oth- 

 erwise have reached. Canals will likewise 

 greatly contribute to promote the policy of the 

 stale, in the subdivision of property ; and by 

 giving additional means for sustaining a large 

 population upon a small surface, must create new 

 towns, new manufactories and new markets. 



permanent welfare of our agriculture. In ad- 

 dition to the early aids afforded to the husband- 

 ry of the stale, I ought not to omit the impor- 

 tant fact, that the selection and introduction of 

 valuable domestic animals was not disregarded, 

 even when the minds of the early benefactors 

 of agriculture were directed to the primary du- 

 ty of increasing the products of the land. Some 

 excellent breeds of sheep, and swine, were 

 brought from abroad, many years ago, and great 

 pains were taken to spread them among our far- 

 mers. But the great importance of this subject 

 has been but recently urged with oBect upon 

 their notice. Our useful fellow citizen and as- 

 sociate, .lohn Hare Powel, whose indefatigable 

 labours deserve the highest commendation, has, 

 at much expense, imported some individuals of 

 the best families of cattle and sheep known in 

 Europe. His judicious and liberal design is to 

 prove, that all the beasts which administer to 

 our necessities, or conduce to our comforts, ought 

 to be chosen and bred in reference to their res- 

 pective qualities : The horse, for the various 

 employments to which that noble and generous 

 tuiimal is so admirably fitted : The ox, whether 

 for labour or lor the shambles : Sheep, whether 

 most profitable for the fleece, or caicass : The 

 cow, as adapted to the dairy, or otherwise more 

 advantageous, as circumstances and interest may - 

 dictate. To this laudable pursuit combined with 

 rural affairs generally, he has succeeded in a- 

 wakening the attention of a body of respectable 

 and intelligent cultivators of their oi-.n farms, in 

 various counties of the state, who, constituting, 

 "• The Agricuhnrul Society of Pennsylvania^''' will 

 no doubt contribute largely to the general good. 



From the Jlmerican Farmer. 



ON BORING FOR WATER. I 



Washington, Jan. o\st, 18:25. 

 Mr. Skinner, 



Sir: 1 send you John Trimble's essay on bor- 

 ing for salt or fresh water. Mr Dutty, of Wheel- 

 ing, (Virginia.) has bored about 900 feet for salt 

 water, on the bank of the Ohio river. He 

 works his auger with horse power, which very 

 much reduces the expense of boring. 



1 am, &,c. DAVID TRIMBLE. 



To the Editors of the jYational Intelligencer. 

 Gkntlemen, 



You have been twice called upon lately, by 

 "A Fanner," for information on the subject of 

 boring for fresh and salt water. He refers to a 

 paragraph in an English paper, in which the 

 art of boring is claimed as a recent discovery 

 made in England : but the fact is, that we sa-j- 

 ages of the west have had it in use for more than 

 twenty years before it was exported to that 

 kingdom. We all know that John Bull has a 



habit of claiming all use.ful inventions as his own, 

 and, therefore, I was not surprised when I saw 

 the attem[)t thus made to impose the discovery 

 upon the world as of British origin — but I am 

 astonished that any American should have been 

 inclined to believe, (as \ our querist is,) that the 

 accounl of hcring is a hoax. The art (I repeat 

 i(,) has been practised on the western waters for 

 more than twenty years; and, I presume, that 

 not less than two hundred experiments have 

 been made, terminating at various depths, of 

 from fifty to five hundred feet. I assure you 

 and your readers, that I was, myself, jointly 

 , with others, interesleil in an experiment for salt 

 water, in which the boring terminated at about 

 three hundred feet, and was present durin" the 

 greater part of the operation. The original 

 inventor is unknown to me, but his discovery 

 has saved the western people some millions of 

 dollars, by reducing the price of salt ; and, as 

 the subject is of much importance to those who 

 are not so fortunate as to have pure fresh wa- 

 ter springs near their dwellings, I shall give a 

 hasty reply to your inquiry, hoping, howevtr. 

 that some one better qualifipd will supersede 

 me, by giving you a full statement of Ihe whole 

 process. 



In boring for fresh water, the expense and 

 trouble of sinking a gu/n would be a mere (rifle, 

 as solid rock would generally be found near tiie 

 surlicp ; but experiments for salt water arc usu- 

 ally made along the banks of large streams at 

 low water mark ; and, at such places, it is indis- 

 pensably necessary to sink a gum through the 

 sanl and gravel to the rock, so as to exclude the 

 fre^h water, which would olherwi-e defeat the 

 operation. 1 shall, therefore, begin by describ- 

 ing the manner in which gums are prepared and 

 sun!;, and shall then describe the auger and mode 

 of boring. 



The experiment is commenced with an iron 

 bar, (square or round,) about thirty feet long, 

 and nearly two inches in diameter; the point 

 should be of steel, well hardened, and at the 

 end a s(ron<r loop must be made for the handle. 

 With this bar (which is called the searcher oir' 

 searching anger.) the sanil or soil is perforated 

 until the point strikes the rock : it is then drawn 

 up and measured, which gives the length of the 

 gum that must be sunk. 



The gum is prepared in the following manner: 

 Find a [loplar or syc.imore (the latter is best,) 

 of the length required ; it must be -1 feet in di- 

 ameter at the small end ; saw both ends square, 

 and bore a hole through the centre of 2 or 3 

 inches in diameter. Recm a funnel at one end, 

 in which if a fire is properly built, and the op- 

 posite end, a little elevated, Ihe blaze will be 

 drawn along the pole, and enlarge it from end 

 to end. The fire may he \'ed by putting in small 

 poles or split wood, and Ihe log must be rolled 

 over from time to time, to equalize Ihe action 

 of the blaze, until a calibre is formed of not less 

 than 3 feet — 3^- feet is better. If it burns too 

 fast at the ends, slack the tire with water. 



The §■!»)» (such is the name it noiv lakes,) is 

 carefully hauleil In the place where the expe- 

 riment is intended to be made ; a strong iron 

 hoop should be driven on the small end to pre- 

 vent it from cracking when the head is wedged. 

 A few feet may be dug in the ground at the 

 place perforated with the searcher, and the small 

 end of the gum is laid over it. A strong frame 

 with four perpendicular posts firmly braced ancj 



