52 



FARMERS' REGISTER— SLIDE OF ALPNACH. 



warning enough to guard against every danger. 

 A sufficient guide to sho\v when the large and soft 

 grained corn (such as mine was,) ia fit to gather, 

 is the sluick liaving lost its green color, and the 

 grain being firm, and clear of milk ; and on rich 

 and warm soils, corn is often in that stale by the 

 20th of September. The advantages of this plan 

 are these : 1. The whole labor of moving of the 

 corn and stalks, is much less than in any of the usual 

 modes of first carrying them to shocks, and cart- 

 ing them home after the wheat is sowed ; 2. The 

 shucks and stalks are saved for food or for manure, 

 when more full of sap, and much richer lor both 

 purposes than they can be alter exposure to the 

 weather, until late in November, even if a wet 

 season does not keep them much lo!iger in tlie 

 field ; 3. The whole field is cleared for ploughing, 

 and sowing wheat, so as to allow that important 

 operation to be performed in the best and cheapest 

 manner. Clear space is also given for applying to 

 wheat whatever manure may be on hand and rea- 

 dy for use. It may not be practicable or desira- 

 ble to gather the whole crop of corn in advance of 

 our wheat sowing ; but if only one third is so ma- 

 naged, it will permit the preparation for wheat to 

 be advanced ten or fifteen days, and at a time 

 when, on corn farms, horses are generally without 

 employment. e. r. 



May 4ih, 1833. 



From Di\bbage's Economy of Macliineiy and Manufactureg. 



Amongst the forests which flank many of the 

 lofty mountains of Switzerland, some of the finest 

 timber is found in positions almost inaccessible. 

 The expense of roads, even if it were possible to 

 make them in such situations, would prevent the 

 inhabitants from deriving any advantages from 

 these almost inexhaustible supplies. Placed by 

 nature at a considerable elevation above the spot 

 on which they are required, they are precisely in 

 fit circumstances for the application of machinery; 

 and the inhabitants constantly avail themselves of 

 it, to enable the force of gravity to relieve them 

 from some portion of their labor. The inclined 

 planes which they have established in various for- 

 ests, by which the timber has been sent down to 

 the v/ater-courses, must have excited the admira- 

 tion of every traveller; and these slides, in addition 

 to the merit of simplicity, have that of economy, as 

 their construction requires scarcely any thing be- 

 yond the material Avhicli grov.^s upon the spot. Of 

 all these specimens of carpentry, the Slide of Alp- 

 nach was by far the most considerable, both fi-om 

 its great length, and from the almost inaccessible 

 position from which it descended. The following 

 is the description of that Vv'ork given in Gilbert's 

 Ahnalen 1819, and translated in the second vol- 

 ume of Brewster's Journal : 



"For many centuries, the rugged flanks and 

 the deep gorges of Blount Pilatus were covered 

 Avith impenetrable forests. Lofty precipices encir- 

 cled them on all sides. Even tlie daring hunters 

 were scarcely able to reach them; and the inhabi- 

 tants of the valley had never conceived the idea of 

 disturbing them -with the axe. These immense 

 forests were, therefore, permitted to grov/ and to 

 perish, without being of the least utility to man, 

 till a foreigner, conducted into their wild recesses 

 in the pursuit of the chamois, was struck with 



wonder at the sight, and directed the attention of 

 several Sv/iss gentlemen to the extent and superi- 

 ority of the timber. The most intelligent and 

 skilful individuals, however, considered it quite 

 impracticable to avail them.selves of such inacces- 

 sible stores. It was not till November 1816, that 

 M. Rupp, and three SAviss gentlemen, entertain- 

 ing more sanguine hopes, drew up a plan of a 

 slide, founded on trigonometrical measurements. 

 Having purchased a certain extent of the forests 

 from the commune of Alpnach for 6000 crowns, 

 they began the construction of the slide, and com- 

 pleted it in the spring of 1818. 



"The slide of Alpnach is formed entirely of 

 about 25,000 large pine trees, deprived of their 

 bark, and united together in a very ingenious 

 manner, without the aid of iron. It occupied 

 about 160 workmen during eighteen months, and 

 cost nearly 100,000 francs, or £4,250. It is 

 about three leagues, or 44,000 English feet long, 

 and terminates in the Lake of Lucerne. It has 

 the form of a trough, about six feet broad, and 

 from three to six feet deep. Its bottom is formed 

 of three trees, the middle one of v/hich has a groove 

 cut out in the direction of its length, lor receiving 

 small rills of water, which arc conducted into it 

 from various places, for the purpose of diminishing 

 the friction. The whole of the slide is sustained 

 by about 2,000 supports ; and in many places it is 

 attached, in a very ingenious manner, to the rug- 

 ged precipices of granite. 



"The direction of the slide is sometimes straight, 

 and sometimes zig-zag, with an inclination of from 

 10 to 18°. It is often carried along the sides of 

 hills and the flanks of precipitous rocks, and some- 

 times passes over their summits. Occasionally it 

 goes under ground, and at other times it is con- 

 ducted over the deep gorges by scafiblding 120 

 feet in height. 



"The boldness Avhich characterizes this work, 

 the sagacity displayed in all its arrangements, and 

 the skill of the engineer, have excited the wonder 

 of every person who has seen it. Before any step 

 could be taken in its erection, it was necessary to 

 cut several thousand trees to olitain a passage 

 through the impenetrable thickets^ and, as the 

 workmen advanced, men were posted at certain 

 distances in order to point out the road for their 

 return, and to discover, in the gorges, the places 

 where the piles of wood had been established. M. 

 Rupp was himself obliged, more than once, to be 

 suspended by cords, in order to descend precipices 

 many hundred feet high ; and, in the first months 

 of the undertaking, he Avas attacked with a violent 

 fever, which deprived him of the power of super- 

 intending his workmen. Nothing, however, could 

 diminish liis invincible perseverance. He was 

 carried every day to the mountain in a barroAV, to 

 direct the labors of the workmen, Avhich was ab- 

 solutely necessary, as he liad scarcely two good 

 carpenters among them all ; the rest having been 

 hired by accident, without any of the knowledge 

 which such an undertaking required. M. Rupp 

 had also to contend against the prejudices of the 

 peasantry. He was supposed to have communion 

 v/ith the devil. He Avas charged with heresy, 

 and every obstacle Avas throAvn in the Avay of an 

 enterprise, Avhiclithey regarded as absurd and im- 

 practicable. All these difficulties, hoAvever, Avere 

 surmounted, and he had at last the satisfaction of 

 oliserving the trees descend from the mountain 



