438 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 7 



Roanoke River between the points already inclica- 

 ted, (Rock Lnndin<j; and Clarksville,) induces me 

 to believe that five locks at least are necessary, 

 and there are not less tlian twenty-five shoal 

 places where ihe water falls from one to three leet 

 in short rapids requiraig improvement. Sluices 

 have been formed through these tails or rapids for 

 batteau navigalion, but they are generally too 

 crooked and narrow for steam boat navigation. 

 In addition to this, between the ponds formed by 

 the several lidis, there are many secret or hidden 

 rocks near the surface in low water, which would 

 be destructive to steam boats, and must be re- 

 moved. The sluices at places where this mode 

 of improvemerjt is adopted, must be so extended 

 as to give the water a gradual tali of not more 

 than at the rate of ten feet to the mde. This rate 

 of inclination may be considered the maximum 

 tall that a steamboat will overcome, taking other 

 boats in tow. The sluices should be three feet 

 deep, and not less than thirty feet wide to navigate 

 them with safety. The kind of boat I would re- 

 commend for the river is 85 feet long, and 13^ feet 

 wide, vvilh the wheel in the stern : such a boat, if 

 built Avith my patent arciies, would not draw more 

 than 18 iiiches water. 



As to the cost of making the necersary improve- 

 ments on Roanoke River, lor stea.ii naviga- 

 tion, it would be impossible lor me to iorm any 

 correct estimate, having no adequate data upon 

 which to found such estimate for work in this part 

 of'the country. 



TIIOS. BLANCHARD. 



MUD WALI.S nEFENDED. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Reijisier. 



Richmond, ( Ta.) Oct. 23, 1836. 



An absence from home during the past sunmier 

 has prevented my reading,of late, jour interesting 

 journal as usual, and it is but a day or two smce 

 accident threw in iny way, the September No. of 

 the Register, in which I noticed, for the first time, 

 Mr. Herbemont's reply to my remarks upon Mud 

 Walls. 



Mr. II. sets out by accusing me, (such preten- 

 sions are never wanting to a warlike enemy,) of 

 " waging war" against him, and veteran as he 

 is — always read_v — betakes advantage, anticipates 

 the offensive, and opens his batteries upon me, 

 with the most merciless discharge of irony and sa- 

 tire. Now although my adversary has resorted 

 so unprovokedly to the "■»//mo ratiiP, and thus 

 placeil matters between us, according to all rule, 

 beyond the pale of treaty, 1 have still loo much re- 

 spect for the adage at which he hints, to answer 

 him in his own way, unless his temerity shall force 

 the necessity upon me. I even implore a truce, 

 and shall endeavor in the mean time to covfirm 

 peace by assuring Mr. H. that I intended no " at- 

 tack" or '"irony" by my remarks, and that in 

 speaking of him, and his article upon Pise, I re- 

 ally intended to do so with the utmost respect and 

 coiu'tes}^ — and if" indeed I have done otherwise, it 

 is purely attributable to my awkwardness, for I ut- 

 terly disclaim any "malice prcpense^^ in tlie whole 

 matter. 



Hiving thus made the honorable amend, I can- 

 not help remarking, Air. Editor, how discouraging 

 it is, to say the least of it, to liave one's mxiidcn 



essay so unmercifully assailed, especially by such a 

 veteran oi' the pen as my adversary. " J<Jst modus 

 inrebiis'^ — but verily, Mr. Herbemont has forgot- 

 ten this maxim oi moderation, in his attack upon me, 

 and what lie is pleased to call my mud walls : for 

 pushing his advantage to the utmost, he throws back 

 upon me the whole weight of what he is pleased 

 to call my "most undoubted highly respectable 

 name,'''' and not content with this, he proceeds to 

 infiict the "coup de grace,'''' in the form of the 

 most merciless irony by the superposition of my 

 "four'''' poor worn out, old field Virginia planta- 

 tions I mud houses and all ! I pray my adversary, 

 have niercj' ! I really never intended to give to 

 the public an inventory of my old fields: but in 

 truth, 'twas, indiscreet in me to be talking, ah I 

 publishing (that''s the rub — ) about four planta- 

 tions, old fields, or what not, in these atrrarian and 

 democratic days : it is I find, too palpable an inno- 

 vation upon the delicacy of public sentiment upon 

 such subjects. Well ! we must all pay for our 

 experience, and as I am young yet, I shall hope to 

 grow in discretion as I grow in years. But I must 

 confess that I had expected a little more forbear- 

 ance at the hands of a liberal and chivalrous gen- 

 tleman of South Carolina. But enough ! I now, 

 in the words of Mr. Ilerbemont, " most cordially 

 and in all sincerity offer him the hand of peace 

 and friendship, and beg to be considered by him 

 only as an liumble fellow-laborer in the field of 

 usefiilness." 



Mr. H. tells us that the Tower of Babel was 

 built of mud, and that there are sufficient remains 

 for this fact to have been ascertained by modern 

 travellers — and Mr. PI. takes credit to himself for 

 this, his heroic assistance, as he calls it, in enabling 

 me to establish the antiquity of mud walls. But I 

 can't say that I am less sceptical about these tra- 

 vellers'' stories than ]\]r. Herbemont himself. In 

 short, I am willing to let ihe facts stated by me at 

 ■first, stand just as they are — and will not permit 

 Air. H. or any one else to provoke me into a cru- 

 sade in their behalf, even to the Tower of Babel. 

 If the fiicts are wortli nothing let them go for no- 

 thing. 



PHILIP ST. GEO. COCKE. 



OBSERVATIOIVS ON ARTESIAN "WELLS, AND 

 ON THE CAUSES OF THEIR FAILURES. 



Translated for th(; Farmers' Register, from the ^nnalcsdc V^g- 

 riculture trancaise. for August. 1836. 



[At various times, we liave, in the Farmers' Regis- 

 ter, given information of new and important facts in 

 regard to Artesian, or overflowing wells — and have 

 urged the extended aj^plication of this important dis- 

 covery to new locations, and for new purposes, in this 

 country. In France, the art of well-boring has rapid- 

 ly extended, and is more and more engaging the atten- 

 tion both of practical and scientific men. In this 

 country, it has attracted but little attention, and has 

 been rarely put to use, except in the calcareous region 

 of Alabama, where pure, or spring water could in no 

 other way be obtained, and where the solid and homo- 

 geneous nature of the soft rock, (through which the 

 borings penetrate for several hundred feet,) has render-^ 

 cd continued tubing unnecessary, and has made the 





