390 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[July J. 



all is ready the plug is drawn, and the salt water 

 rises. 



In this description 1 have endeavoured to give 

 a part of the information which you want. Some 

 non-essentials have been omitted for the sake of 

 brevity, but any workman of common capacity 

 will supply them, when required, in the course 

 of an experiment. You will find some tautolo- 

 gies in reading, for which i offer an apology by 

 saying that 1 wanted to be clearly understood, 

 and that I have written hastily and have no 

 time to review and prune. 



The art of boring is now f-vji well understood, 

 that persons of skill can be hired to bore any 

 depth, at the following prices, and probably for 

 less: For the first 200 feet, 2 dollars per foot; 

 (or the next 100 feet, 3 dollars per- foot; forthe 

 next 100 feet, 6 dollars per foot; and forthe 

 next 100 feet, 6,50 or 7 dollars per foot. At 

 these prices the undertaker boards and pays his 

 .own hands, and the owner of the soil furnishes 

 the auger. And thus a hole may be bored 500 

 feet deep for less than two thousand dollars, and 

 I make no doubt has been often done for twelve 

 or thirteen hundred dollars by persons using 

 proper economy. 



It is said that some person, whose name 1 

 have not heard, has obtained, or .is about to ob- 

 tain, a patent for a mode of boring by horse pow- 

 er. This, I am sure, m;iy be easily done ; and I 

 have been told by an acquaintance, that he once 

 saw an auger at work by water power, with on- 

 ly one hand to manage it ivhen in operation. 



I have no time at present to say any thing up- 

 on the question of subterranean hydraulics ; and, 

 if I had, you and the " Farmer" can get much 

 better ini'ormation by consulling books and men 

 of science. I am satisfied the same laws govern 

 the gravitation of water below and above the 

 earth, and that the jet of a stream is not and 

 cannot be higher than its source. 



The lower point of a cavern half filled with 

 water may be slruck in boring, and if the super- 

 incumbent air is comprest, its expansion will 

 force the water upwards until an equation of 

 force is produced between the powers of gravi- 

 ty and rarefaction. The jet of such a fountain 

 may be much higher than the source of its feed- 

 ers, but when the air blows out, the water must 

 subside. The whole effect being produced by 

 a well known law of the science of pneumatics. 



No actual experiment, within my knowledge, 

 juslifips a belief tiiat flowing ^vater can be pro- 

 cured on a hill by boring, unless there is a 

 neighbouring hill, higher, from whence the 

 stream is fed; and yet I believe that the discov- 

 ery is a much more important one than the "Far- 

 mer" is aware of. Good water, even if olitained 

 by boring an hundred feet below the surface of 

 a valley, is better than a bad spring on the top 

 of a mountain. I am satisfied that thousands of 

 valuable lives are annually lost to the country 

 by drmking bad water in the sickly seasons, 

 who might be saved, and the sickness of other 

 thousands prevented, by expending !> few hun- 

 dred dollars in making experiments. Living 

 streams of pure fresh wafer, cool and healthy, 

 are found every where below the surface. 



The inhabitants of low, flat countries, whose 

 springs are only swamp water, filtered through 

 mud and s.ind, would be certain of getting Dure 

 streamy by sinking gums and boring; a^id the 

 expenraents would often end by 'slinking the 



gums — as'it is known that good water is often 

 procured in the gravel, thirty or forty feet be- 

 low the surface. The quantity is sometimes so 

 great that it is diflicult to head a gum at the 

 bottom. It is known that pure fresh water is 

 often found below streams of salt water, and I 

 am satisfied that people living on the seaboard 

 may find fresh water two or three hundred feet, 

 Of more, below the surface of the sea: and when 

 found, the salt water may be tubed out, and the 

 fresh water obtained — as it will always rise in 

 the tube and gum, to the level of the salt water 

 surface ; and if fed from neighboring heights, 

 will rise to the level of its source. I am told 

 that, in some of the islands, the entire popula- 

 tion of towns are supplied b}- importations of 

 fresh water, which is preserved in tanks and 

 cisterns, and made fit for use by filtration. 



These good people might supply their wants 

 from native fountains and subterranean streams, 

 by boring. Two thirds of the inhabitants of our 

 cities might bore with success on their lots, and 

 supply their kitchens with pure water, instead 

 of the filthy drainings taken from their re- 

 servoirs. 



It has been said that there is no good water 

 on Thompson's Island, (Key West,) and I shall 

 believe it, after an experiment is made, by bor- 

 ing four or five hundred feet, and not before. — 

 I will admit, however, that such small flat bod- 

 ies of land, surrounded by the sea, are not like- 

 ly to afford fresh water, at any convenient depth; 

 but I should not despair of getting fresh water 

 upon all islands having hills and mountains. 



Taking the earth to be a solid mass, (as 1 be- 

 lieve it is) according to the old theories, I am 

 of opinion that the chance of getting fresh wa- 

 ter every where, by boring, is about nineteen 

 to one in favour of the ex|)eriment ; and if there 

 is an vUcrior concave^ as dipt. Symmes suppos- 

 es, and he has offered more than sixty good rea- 

 sons for his belief, I should consider the chances 

 to be the same. 



If what is here said will enable you to an- 

 swer the laudable inquiries of the " Farmer," 

 you are at liberty to publish it; and I am very 

 Vespeclfully, JOHN TRIMBLE. 



Mount Sliriing, Ky. Not. 6, 1823. 



NKW ENGLAND FARMER. 



KRIUAY, JULY 1, 1825. 



Tilt Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Jour- 

 nal^ for June. Vilb. This useful and ably conducted 

 publication continues to present a fund of valuable in- 

 foimation to the Agricultural reader. No remarks of 

 ours can enhance the reputation of a work so well 

 known, and so highly and justly appreciited by all who 

 are acquainted with it. We shall, therefore, for the 

 present, merely copy the table of contents, which will 

 show that the topics of the last numberare well chosen 

 and we can assure our readers that they are ably dis- 

 cussed. 



" On the Improvement of our breed of Horned Cat- 

 tle by Importations. [This we intend to republish soon.] 

 On the comparative value of Oxen and Horses for Ag- 

 ricultural Labours. The Y'ellow Pine. Upon the De 

 terioration, or the Deception in Clover Seed in the Bos- 

 ton Market. Another present from Mr Knight to the 

 Horticulturists. On the Improveioent of 8oils. 



" On salt, as a .Manure, and as promoting the Health 

 and Fattening of Domestic Animals. On the use of 



Salt for Horses, bherp and Cattle. Extracts from An- 

 cient Writers on the Employment of Common Salt in 

 Agriculture, and in feeding Cattle. Extracts from more 

 Jlodern Writers on the use of Salt in Agriculture. Ag- 

 ricultural Intelligence. Comparison of the present sea- 

 son «iih former ones, and the Agricultural prospects of 

 the year. Flowering of various Plants, and early Gar- 

 den Products. Index to the Vlllth Volume." 



It will be seen by reference to an article on page 386 

 of this day's paper, that Samcel Wyllys Po.merot, 

 Esq. has been the successful candidate in obtaining the 

 premium of a Silver Cup, for the " best essay on the 

 natural history of the mule," &c. We are much grat- 

 ified with this information ; and from our knowledge 

 of the literary and scientific attainments of Mr Pome- 

 roy, are confident that the merits of his Essay fully jus- 

 tified the decision of the arbiters — We hope soon to be 

 able to present Mr Pomeroy's Essay to our readers. 



[cOMMUNtCiTION.] 



Charlestozen, June 23, 1825. 



Mr Fessenden — The season has come when 

 we are as usual, annoyed with various kinds of 

 mischievous insects, and I know of none more 

 so than the Slug. These filthy creatures attack 

 our Cherry and Plum trees in such numbers as 

 to threaten their destruction — indeed I have un- 

 derstood that one of my neighbours has lost a 

 large Cherry tree entirely by this enemy. 1 do 

 not know but you may have given some direc- 

 tions in your valuable paper how they can be 

 best destroyed, but if you have, 1 do not now 

 recollect it ; and indeed I, for one, think it would 

 not be an)iss to repeal at certain seasons, some 

 observations which have appeared in the Far- 

 mer, relative to these and similar subjects, as we 

 are more apt to put into execution that which 

 present circumstances render immediately neces- 

 sary ; and by thus getting a practical knowledge 

 of the subject, we shall be more likely to keep 

 it in memory for the future. — A few remarks 

 Mr Editor, from you or some of your corres- 

 pondents upon this subject at this lime I think 

 might be very useful. It is a dismal sight to 

 look into our gardens and fields at this season of 

 the year, and see the situation of many of our 



fruit trees, occasioned by this formidable foe. 



If he would be so good as to eat the leaf entire, 

 it would be some relief to us, but the only ob- 

 ject seems to be to satisfy his hungry appetite 

 upon the beauty of the tree, leaving it looking 

 worse than a " singed cat." 



The only weajion that I have yet used, Mr Ed- 

 itor, is thumb and finger ; and unless you can 

 point out a better one, I am determined still to 

 use if. but as this is a tedious as well as dis- 

 agreeable operation, I hope some plan will be 

 suggested that will be more likely to be gener- 

 ally pursued. 



I should be gratified to have the follovvin* 

 queries answered in the Farmer. 



What is the origin of the Slug? What is the 

 best method and the best time to exterminate 

 (hem? and will it be likely to be effected unle.ss 

 there is a general " turning out'" for the purpose ? 

 Have they not inneaspd of late years, and is 

 there not danger that they will become more 

 destructive than most other insects with wliich 

 we have to contend ? 



Yours, 



GENERAL GOOD. 



