434 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No 7 



The attention of the workmen must be directed 

 not only to close the cracks vvhicli may appear in 

 the cover, but to keep the passages ieft by the 

 spars open by means of iron rods. The comple- 

 tion of the process is known l)y the cessation of 

 the flame. Wa'er is tiien introduced into the 

 Jovver passaws. whose steam in passintx throuirli 

 the incadescent hea()is decomposed, and lurnishes 

 hydroiren which esca|)es in flame. The heap is 

 then covered closely with earth, and left until it 

 cools. 



In this way coal which would otherwise be 

 lost, yields fifty per cent, of coke oiexcellent qual- 

 ity. 



When coal of the first variety (with the excep- 

 tion of cannel coal) is distilled in close vessels, it 

 yields trom seventy to eighty per cent, of coke, by 

 the combustion of about ten per cent, of coal. As 

 the best of the methods we have yet described 

 yields no more than fifty per cent., and the most 

 common of them no more than forty, there is ob- 

 viously a very great waste. In the neighborhood 

 of coal mines this is more than compensated by 

 the simplicity and facdity of this process. But at 

 a distance li'om mines a more economical process 

 is necessary, unless coke can be transported from 

 this vicinity, which is by no means easy, in conse- 

 quence of its friable character, and its being liable 

 to injury by bemg wet. The best apparatus for 

 this purpose is called the coking oven. This is 

 formed of a cylindrical wall about two feet in 

 height surmounted by a dome, li-om the summit 

 of which rises a chimney about eighteen inches by 

 twelve inches, having an iron shutter. The coal 

 is introduced throucrh the chimney, and spread bv 

 a rake over the floor, to an uniform depth of about 

 lour inches. Burning coals are then dropped 

 through l!ie chimney, and as soon as the iirnition 

 is fiurly commenced the door is closed. When a 

 blue flame begins to appear at the chinmev, the 

 top of it is closed by a plate of iron. In tiiis meth- 

 od about one-half more coke is obtained than by 

 the ordinary heaps. 



Large spheroidal kilns, and reverberatory furn- 

 aces have also been Uvsed, but their principal ob- 

 ject was the preparation of the coal tar. As this 

 article has not proved to be of any great value, 

 and is besides produced at gas-works in quantities 

 greater than can be consumed, it is unnecessary to 

 describe these kilns and furnaces. 



It may be here mentioned that turf or peat may 

 be carbonized as well as coal or wood. The fuel 

 thus produced is of very excellent quality, and may 

 be applied to the same purposes as that obtained 

 from wood or bituminous coal. Pits, as used in 

 preparing charcoal, have not been found well 

 adapted to the preparation of the charcoal of turf. 

 The little that has been made of good quality was 

 prepared in iron cylinders, but as this is too expen- 

 sive for manufiictm-ing purposes, it appears proba- 

 ble that if it should ever be necessary to carbonate 

 turf on a large scale it will be done in kilns hke 

 those described under the head of charcoal. 



AGRICULTURAL, CONVENTION. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



October ISth, 1836. 

 Shall we or shall we not have another conven- 

 tion'? It' we shall, when will be the best time of 



meet? How caira suflicient interest be excited 

 to secure a numerous assemblage of agricultu- 

 rists I Which course will he best to pursue — the 

 hereto'ore niterlv vain ami self-deirrading lieuging 

 a wilfully deaf legislature to do something for our 

 liist declininir aoriculture — or, zealously and ac- 

 tively TO exert ourselves, independently of legisla- 

 tive aid, for its resuscitation ? 



These questions are propounded, at present, in 

 the earnest hope of eliciting, both li'om yourself 

 and other good I'riends to the great cause of agri- 

 cultural improvement, such opinions and sugges- 

 tions as may, and. I trust, will rouse all the plan- 

 ters and farme.'-s of our state from their long and 

 deadly lethargy, to a just sense of their present 

 condition; and to a unanimous determination no 

 longer to neglect the means, still in their power, of 

 arresting the general abandonment of our native 

 homes, for strange and tar distant lands. 



Having taken the liberty to lead the way in 

 asking the questions, I will also suggest a few 

 such answers, as I hope will be satisfactory, toge- 

 ther with some brief arguments in their favor, by 

 way of inducing others, much better qualified 

 than myself; to aid in exciting all the true friends 

 and real lovers of our good old mother Virginia, 

 to exert themselves publicly, and with effectual 

 activity to save her from the desolation and ruin 

 with which she is so seriously threatened, by the 

 abandonment of her soil and the desertion of her 

 chddren in her hour of need. 



To the first question I answer, aye! a response 

 which I most earnestly hope will be re-echoed 

 from every quarter of our state. My argument 

 for it is, that as all agree in the necessity of doing 

 sometJiing, there is no better way than to hold a 

 convention of the friends of agriculture, to ascer- 

 tain first what is best to be done, and then to de- 

 vise the ways and means of doinff it, instead of 

 trusting it to others, who, even if they know how, 

 have never manifested the slightest inclination to 

 do any thing in our behalf. The best time to 

 meet, I should sugijest, is in ten days or a fort- 

 night afier the meeting of the legislature ; before 

 the usual party quarrels and buttles get iLiirly, (I 

 ought rather to say, foitUij,) under way ; for after 

 that, all matters of internal policy and state-inte- 

 rest are left, generally, to take care of themselves. 

 I name not this period from any expectation or wish, 

 that the convention should ever again apply to a 

 Virginia legislature — constiiuted as it now is of 

 agriculturists in name only, and not in principle — 

 for an)' aid whatever ; but because some members 

 of the latter, might also be members of the for- 

 mer, and would have more leisure, and possibly 

 more inclination to attend, before their minds and 

 tempers get bedevilled and distracted with their 

 party conflicts; and in humble imitation of the 

 highest authority in our country, I name the se- 

 cond Monday in December for the meeting. If 

 you also name it, in your Register, I am very con- 

 fident that it will be generally approved as most 

 convenient. Another reason is, that peradven- 

 ture, the convention might resolve on something 

 which wouki make it necessary to require at the 

 hands of their honors, at least a naked act of in- 

 corporation to carry it into efl'ect ; and a first ap- 

 plication in such cases, has always some advan- 

 tage, provided it be in regard to some matter 

 which cannot, by any possibility, be turned or 

 twisted into a party-question: for if it can, fare- 



