1825.] 





Weil Caftened in groiint) or mud sills, is then 

 planred al the hole, and the gum is elevated un- 

 til it is brought to an exact perpendicular; in 

 which position it imi^t he kept wl^ile sinking, 

 and great care is n-quired at the commence- 

 ment to prevent it I'rnm working ohiiqnely. A 

 strong pliltnrm must he placed on the top of the 

 gum, with projecting heaios covered wuh plank, 

 leaving:! sqiiiire of about three feet over the 

 centre, through which the interior operation is 

 conducted. 



A sand auger with bngs, is then used, to cut 

 and draw up ihe sand and gravel, which must be 

 thrown on the platform, the weight of which is 

 generally sufficient to force the gum down. 



1 shall refer your readers to tlie Patent Office 

 at Washington, where they may (i.id a descrip- 

 tion of the stone chisel and sand anger with bags. 

 The patents were granted to Mr Richard Deer- 1 

 ing, of Greenup county, Kentucky, and his de- ' 

 scription and directions how to use th.-m will I 

 be Letter understood than mine. The process' 

 is continued with the sand auger until the "um 

 sinks to the rock. ' ° 



A tube, or conductor, is then ni.nde, by getting 

 a log as long as the g.im, and about 9 or"]2 inch- 

 es in diameter, through uhich a hole must be 

 bored or not less than six inches in calibre ; and 

 Ibus prepared, it must be put in the gum and 

 plumined lo its centre. And an auger is then made 

 similar to those used in blowinij^ rocks, with a 

 square shank, less than two inches in diameter, 

 and about 12 inches long. On Ihe end, a screw 

 IS cut, which IS (Irmly screwed into a socket 

 formed on the end of a similar bar, which should 

 be about twelve leet m length; on the upper 

 ^ end ot Ibis bar which is railed " the diclcen" a 

 similnr screw is cut, which is, in like manner, 

 screwed into a similar socket made with rnncave 

 clamps, which is lirmly rivetted to a round pn!-,, 

 niade ol ash timber, twelve feet in len.'th and 

 . about two inches in diameter. This is called 

 the second Joint of the auger, the iron bar bejn<r 

 the hrst. On the upper end of this pole, or 

 second joint, a siir.ilar clamp is fastened; with a 

 screw upon it, which is screwed into a socket 

 fastened wjth clamps on another pole This 

 pole, or joint may be 15 or 20 feet long, and 

 thus the joints of the auger may be extended to 

 any length required. A short joint must be 

 made, ol iron, with a swivel at the top and sock- 

 etat the boltom, which is screwed lo one of the 

 joints and a rope, of twelve or more feet in 

 length IS (aslened to the swivel. 



A spring-pole is then procured, of twenty or 

 more feet in length, (pine is much the best,) 

 (he large end of which is fastened to a post, 

 firmly planted in the ground: a platform is 

 made on the frame first described, about l'> or 

 15 leet above the top of the gum, and a ful- 

 crum is fastened to the frame about 3 feet above 

 the platform; the spring-pole is placed on it at 

 an elevation of eight or ten degrt^es; and the 

 point of the pole should project over the gum. 

 Ihe auger IS then letdown the six inch tube 

 or conductor, and .suspended to the spring pole 

 by the rope, the pole being sprung down a tew 

 inches, and the rope made fast. Two men stand 

 on the platform, facing each other, on adverse 

 sides ot the pole to spring it, and an operator 

 stands on the top of the gum, (which should now 

 be covered,) holding the auger gently in hand, 

 and turning it as the pole springs up. He must 

 turn to the right or the joints will unscrejv, and 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



the auger must be carefully plummed to the cen- 

 tre ol the lube or conductor, so as to work free 

 and not rub. 



The auger first used must have a bit of about 

 SIX inches, and with this the operator must bore 

 through Ihe soft shelly substance usually found, 

 imtil he comes to the hard solid rock, into which 

 be will penetrate twelve or eighleen inches. 

 The auger is then taken out, and the conductor 

 also in which it was inserted. Thus far the 

 sinking and boring may be conducted with the 

 gum full of water; but if any has risen, it muM ' 

 now be pumped out, and a head, previously' 

 made to tit the bottom of the gum, must be put 

 in: this may be m two or more pieces six iiich-i 

 es thick, and in its centre a round hole must be I 

 cut, of rather more than six inches in diameter;'; 

 a lube must be prepared long enough to touch 

 Ihe rock at the bottom of the six inch hole, bor- 

 ed as before described, and to rise six inches 

 above the interior head of the gum ; this tube 

 must be nearly six inches in .size, with a hole 

 3^- inches, bored through its centre. It must 

 be carefully wrappe./) with hemp, from one end 

 to the other, until it fits the hole in the rock i 

 tight enough to require driving; it must then ' 

 be put in the hole and driven ^hnme, and Ihe' 

 joints and edges of the head must he wedged 

 and corked until all fresh water is excluded. 

 This must be carefullv done, so as to make Ihe 

 head water proof, and leave all fast and firm; 

 and as this is Ihe most difficult part of Ihe whole 

 experiment, I would advise the undertaker to I 

 have the work well done and eflectually secured. [ 

 It the water is troublesome, two or more pumps! 

 mav he used to keep it down. 



A three inch bit (if the hole is intended to be 

 of Ihat size,) is now screwed on the bar, and Ihe 

 long tube or conductor is again let down and 

 p)«ced exactly on the top of the short lube, and > 

 the auger is put in and suspended to the spring- 

 pole, which must he gently sprung, until the aii-j 

 ger IS well plumbed, and works free without rub- j 

 bing. The conductor must be well braced, sol 

 as to keep it firmly to its perpendicular position ; ' 

 and the top head being laid on the gum, all is ! 

 ready for boring. j 



The operator may now turn the auo-er, and 

 (as the phrase is,) begin to bore for salt water, 

 and may bore, as many have done, for five hun- 

 dred feel in search of it. If the pole is pronerlv 

 sprung, {he full of the auger will be sufficient to 

 perforate the rock ; but if hard places are found, ' 

 the operator may give some additional force to 

 the fall, and those who are perfect in the art of 

 boring, can do so without much increase of mus- 

 cular exertion.— After working a few hours, the 

 po e men will find the spring of the pole, and 

 will then know how to make it v!ork free and 

 easy by changing its elevation, and by moving 

 I the fulcrum, if necessary. 

 I 1/the auger is permitted to work obliquely 

 at hrsf, the experiment will be lost— and there- 

 lore it must be well handled at the beginnino-, 

 and the hole bored for the first fifteen or twenty 

 feet, upon an exact perpendicular. Care should 

 be taken to prevent any substance from falling 

 into the hole, especially iron or steel. In the 

 experiment which I in part superintended, our 

 operator wrought the auger nearly two weeks 

 upon a single inch, and we were never able to 

 know whether his efforts were resisted by the 

 hardness of the rock, or the hardness of some 

 substance which had fallen into the hole 



t IS usual m salt water experiments to bore a 

 hole about three inches in diameter, and of 

 course Ihe bit of the auger must be of that size 

 but two and a half inches is common, and will do 

 nearly as well. The bit must be made by a 

 guage, and must be guagcd whoneversharpenod 

 ihe operator must have four or five of them 

 and in boring, must be changed every three or 

 [four hours; because the friction will reduce the 

 size of the bit. When a fresh bit is put on, Ihe 

 operator mu^t work gently until he recms the 

 liole down to Ihe bottom. 



In making the „ ints of the auger as before 

 described, Ihe head of the socket must be swelled 

 to about tivo inches, and a similar head or shoul- 

 der must be made on the screw ; and these should 

 fit close when the joints are screwed on. The 

 bar must be square, from (he head or shoulder 

 to the clamps, and two screw drivers are requir- 

 ed, (he hook (if which must fit the square of the 

 joints. In drawing or returning the auger, one 

 of them is hooked upon the lower joint and held 

 fast, and the socket of the upper joint is screw- 

 ed off and on with the other. 



The auger should always be drawn at nio-hl- 

 : because if any hard substance should get in'', by 

 'accident or design, it would perhaps be impos'- 

 , sible to draw it up. When drawn the joints 

 I should be placed in a perpendicular position, to 

 prevent them from springing. 



A sand pump must be used every (wo or three 

 feet, to draw out the borings. It is made by 

 getting a copper tube three or four feet in 

 length, and two inches in diameter, in the lower 

 end of which a valve is fixed, and at Ihe upper 

 end a screw is made to fit the sockets of the au- 

 ger joints. A hole is cut in the side of the tube 

 two or three inches below the screw, and it may 

 then be screwed on and let down, and being fill- 

 ed by ten er fifteen gentle strokes, is drawli up 

 an,i emptied. This may be done quicker and 

 easier by lying a long rope to the top of the 

 pump, a hole being made for that purpose. If 

 the rope breaks, the auger must be let down 

 with a hook screwed on to fish it up. 



In making e.xperiments, it almost always hap- 

 pens that one or more streams of fresh water are 

 struck before salt water is obtained, and, in such 

 cases, the fresh water must be tubed out after 

 the boring is finished. For this purpose, a tube 

 IS made ol copper, (with joints similar to those 

 ot Ihe auger,) the calibre of which should not 

 he less than one and a half inches— two would 

 be better. When a stream is struck in borin-^ 

 the auger is marked and the distance measured'* 

 and the tube must be long enough to descend be- 

 low the lowest stream that is proposed to be ex- 

 cluded. Before the tubing commences, the hole 

 must be 2vell reemed to the proper distance • 

 which being done, the lower end of the tube is 

 carefully wrapped with soft hemp, for two or 

 three feet, and is then let dow;i, or rather press- 

 ed down, until it passes a few feel below the 

 stream of fresh water. 



The upper end is wrapped in the same way 

 so as to fit the wooden tube at the botiom of the 

 gum, and the plate of copper should be tV.tened 

 on It and nailed to the wooden tube. If (his is 

 properly done, Ihe hemp will swell enour^h to 

 make it water-tight at both ends, and, if well 

 rubbed with tallow, will last for many years 

 The upper end of the tube should be plu<^<Ted 

 while (he workmen are fitting it in, and, vvhen 



