572 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



It rushes over the cliffs, and, with one bold leap, dii-ection, and the same slot and pin turn them more 

 falls one thousand two hundred feet, then a second j to the wind, always adjusting itself to the necessi- 

 ties of the occasion. 



of five hundred feet, then a third of over five hun 

 dred feet ; the three leaps making two thousand 

 two hundred feet. 



"Standing upon the opposite side of the valley 

 and looking at the tall pines below, the great height 

 of these falls can at a glance be comprehended. 



"About ten miles from the lower end of the val- 

 ley there is another fall of not less than fifteen 

 hundred feet. This, with smaller falls and a lake, 

 mark the head of the Yo-Semity valley, "which is, 

 therefore, about ten miles in length and from a half 

 to one mile in width. Although there is good land 

 enough for several farms, it cannot be considered 

 upon the whole as a good farming valley ; but 

 speckled trout, grouse and pigeons are plentiful." 



Farmers and others in want of a cheap motive 

 power, should look to the inducements offered of 

 putting up wind-mills upon their farms or premises. 

 It may be used very economically to })ump water 

 for irrigating or draining land, watering cattle, or 

 for household purposes to the tops of houses. It 

 may be used, and will operate very satisfactorily, 

 to thrash and clean all kmds of grain, to shell corn, 

 and grind wheat, rye, corn, or any other thing to be 

 ground, cut, or mashed, such as apples, roots, vege- 

 tables, etc. It is particularly adapted to churning, 

 working butter, wasliing, turning grindstones, saw- 

 ing wood, cutting straw, and stallvs, or fodder. It 

 will bore and mortise timber, drive small saw-mills, 

 lath-machines, turning-lathes, etc. etc., and if you 

 wish, it will ventilate your house exceedingly well. 

 It will not plow, harrow, cultivate, or mow, but 

 any work which can be brought to it may be per- 

 formed ; and it will perform readily, without wait- 

 ing to be caught, fed, or harnessed. The only food 

 these mills require is about one gallon of oil a j-ear. 



They do not require as much nursing and atten- 

 tion as horses or oxen, one coat of paint will keep 

 them clean and beautiful a year or more. The at- 

 tachments used to connect them to different ma- 

 chines, so as to do different kinds of work, cost less 

 than the harness and equipage of horses, and will 

 last more than twice as long. The expense for re- 

 pairs is much less than that for the shoeing and 

 preparing of teams for labor. The same amount of 

 power costs less, and the wind power will not die. 

 Wind-mills will work by night as well as by day, 

 and will run steadily without a driver. They are 

 generally ready to work the greatest number of 

 hours when their work is most needed, "siz., in the 



THE VERMONT WIND-MILL, 



INVENTED BY A. P. BROWN, OF BRATTLEBORO', VT, 



The advantage of using wind in preference to 

 horse or steam-power has not been duly appreciated 

 by farmers and mechanics. All the difficulties in 

 using wind-power to advantage are overcome in the 

 mill above represented. It is ingenious, simple, and 

 a most perfect regulator of its own motion. It 1 fall, winter, and spring. They do not regard the 

 spreads a wide sail to light breeze, and a small ten-hour system, but Avork early and late, summer 

 surface to a heavy one. An accelerated motion is 1 and winter. 



checked by the action by the mill itself as readily 

 as the steam-engine is checked by the action of 

 WatVs centrifugal governor. 



Its construction mil be readily understood by ref- 

 erence to the engraving. The radical feature in 

 which this machine differs from others is simply 

 this : it governs the obliquity of its own fans, k, to 

 the wind by means of the centrifugal force of those 

 fans. Each is fm-nished with a helical or spiral slot 

 and pin, made fast in the arm, as seen at i, fig. 2. 

 In case of acceleration, the tendency of the fans is 

 to overcome a suitable coiled spring, or a weighted 

 lever, and to move farther out on their respective 

 arms, and in so doing the spiral groove, or slot, 

 slides on the pin and turns the fan more and more 

 edgewise to the wind, presenting less surface. When 

 the velocity of the wheel is diminished, the spring 

 or weight immediately draws the fans in an opposite 



Any particular information concerning these mills 

 may be obtained of Fowler and Wells, 308 

 Broadway, New York, who are manufacturing ten 

 different sizes, ranging from $35 to $350 each. 



Granite Dust, a Rich Land Manure. — While 

 at Northbridge, Mass. on Wednesday of last week, 

 examining the granite quarries at that place, I had 

 a conversation with the workmen, engaged in dress- 

 ing out that stone, and inquired of them in refer- 

 ence to the effect of the/?ie dust ujion vegetation 

 when thrown on the ground. They informed me 

 that its effect upon grass was astonishing, and that 

 it has been used in gardens with great success. Tliis 

 is a very important fact in agricultural science. 

 Granite is composed of felspar, mica, and quartz, 

 and the felspar contains about fourteen per cent, of 

 potash. In my researches in New Hampshire I 

 found a very great abundance of felspar. It is ea- 

 sily reduced to an impalpable powder by means of a 



