1837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



651 



the poles of the (galvanic magnets being changed 

 more than a thousand times per minute. 



Having in its construction but one wheel, re- 

 volving with no h'iclion except (i'oni its own shaft, 

 and from the wires connecting it Avith tiic galvanic 

 battery, the latter ol" which can scared)' be said to 

 impede the motion in any degree, the durability 

 of this engine must be almost without limit. 



There is no danger to be apprehended from fire 

 or explosions : and we understand it is the opinion 

 of scientific gentlemen who have examined it, that 

 the expense of running this machine will not 

 amount to one fourth as much as that ol" a steam 

 engine of the same |)o\ver. 



From the time when the Greek philosopher sup- 

 posed the magnet possessed a soul, its mysterious 

 power has been regarded with increasintr interest 

 and attention to the present day. In addition to 

 its utility in the com|)ass, thousands have labored 

 in vain attempts to obtain through its agency a ro- 

 tary motion. So intense has been the application 

 of some to this subject, that in the attempt they 

 have even lost that elevating attribute of our 

 species, reason. It was reserved for Mr. Daven- 

 port to succeed where so many had failed. 



He commenced his labors more than three years 

 ago, and prosecuted them under the most dis- 

 couraging and unfavorable circumstances — sus- 

 tained by a constitutional perseverance and a clear 

 conviction of ultimate success. He obtained his 

 first rotary motion in July, 1834 ; since which time 

 he has devoted his whole attention to improve- 

 ments in his machine. During this period it has 

 passed through five different modifications, and'is 

 now brought to such a state of siinplicity and per- 

 fection (having apparently the li^west possible 

 number of parts,) that the proprietors consider no 

 further important alterations desirable, except in 

 the due proportions of the different magnets, in 

 which they are daily improving. 



We were shown a model in which the motive 

 wheel was 5^ mches diameter, which elevated a 

 weight of twelve pounds. And to illustrate the 

 facilities for increasing the power of this engine, 

 another model was exhibited to us with a motive 

 wheel of eleven inches in diameter, which eleva- 

 ted a weight of eighty-eight pounds. Although 

 these models have been for some time in progress, 

 and we have occasionally been |)ermitted to ex- 

 amine them, we have wailed till the present |)eriod, 

 when the practicability of obtaining a rapid and 

 unlimited increase of power .seems to be placed 

 beyond a doubt, before expressing an opinion, or 

 calling the public attention to the subject. 



If this engine answers the expectations of the 

 inventor, (and we believe no one can assign a 

 reason vvhy it should not,) it is destined to produce 

 the greatest revolution in the commercial and me- 

 chanical interests, which the world has ever wit- 

 nessed. We may consider the period as com- 

 mencing when machinery in general will be pro- 

 pelled by power concentrated upon the plan of 

 this engine; when the vessels of all commercial 

 nations will be guided to their point of destination 

 and urged forward in their course by the same 

 agent, triumphantly contending against winds and 

 tides, with the silent sublimity of unseen, but irre- 

 Bistible power ! 



The prophetic ken of science is happily exhib- 

 ited by Dr. Lardner, in his Treatise on the Steam 

 Engine. His far seeing genius seems to have 



anticipated the inventioil'of which we are speak- 

 ing. "Philosophy,'' said he, " already directs her 

 finger at sources of inexhaustible power in the phe- 

 nomena of electricity and magnetism, and many 

 causes combine to justify the expectation that we 

 arc on the eye of" mechanical discoveries still 

 greater than any which have jet appeared : and 

 that the steam engine itself", with the gigantic 

 l)owers conferred upon if by the inmiortal Watt, 

 will dwindle into insiiinificance, in comparison with 

 the hidden powers of nature still to be revealed; 

 and that the day will come when that machine, 

 which is now extending the blesssings of civiliza- 

 tion to the most remote skirts of the globe, will 

 cease to have existence, except in the page of his- 

 tory." 



From the ingenuity, perseverance, and mechan- 

 ical skill of Ransom Cook, Esq. who has himself 

 made an important invention in this engine, and 

 has undertaken to bring the same into use, we an- 

 ti(,"ipate a speedy introduction of its merits to the 

 public. It is hoped that he may prove a second 

 Livingston to another Fulton. He is about to de- 

 part for our large cities, in some of which he con- 

 templates the erection of powers lor mechanical 

 purposes. 



Several individuals, agents of Messrs. Daven- 

 port and Cook, are also departing with models to 

 secure letters patent in the different countries in 

 Europe and South America. 



For tlie Farmers' Register. 



REMARKS ON THE AGRICULTURE OP NEL- 

 SON AND AMHERST. KG. I. 



A^elson, January, 1837. 

 Dear Sir: — All those who have received plea- 

 sure or instruction from the perusal of the Regis- 

 ter, will fi^el the force of the ap.olication you make 

 in your December number, for literary contri- 

 butions. Being myself one of that number, (al- 

 though, heretofore certainly not intending to write 

 on the subject of agriculture,) I regard it now as 

 proper to make an attempt at reciprocity for the 

 labors of others. And, in truth, there never was 

 a time when it was more mcumbent on those who 

 wish well to Virginia, to endeavor to show that the 

 cfTorts of the ao-riculturist may be compensated here, 

 and that there is no necessity to fly fr-om sterility at 

 home, to climates far more unfiivorable to health 

 and life, in order to procure the means of comfort- 

 able subsistence. If bills of mortality were accu- 

 rately kept for the south-western states, it would 

 be seen at what an enormous sacrifice of life those 

 countries are settled, by persons who leave cli- 

 mates where health may be enjoyed, and where 

 tolerable agricultural skill, with industry, would 

 furnish in abundance the necessaries of life. That 

 I know to be the case in the country lying on the 

 eastern side of the Blue Ridge, from my own ex- 

 perience — and yet scarcely any other presents to 

 the eye of the traveller, a more wasted appear- 

 ance. The old fields exhibit numerous galls and 

 gullies, whilst decayed fences show, in many 

 cases, the ground is abandoned, because, in the 

 language of the country, it is tonrn nut. Yet a 

 farm is occasionally seen in quite a different con- 

 dition, where the land, not in tillage, is covered 

 with good crops of clover and other grasses, and that 

 under the plough, from the burthen it bears, pro- 

 mising an adenuate return for the labor bestowed. 



