136 



FARMERS' REGISTER— SPLITTING ROCKS. 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 SPLITTING ROCKS WITHOUT GUNVOAVnER. 



Ill the early periods of civilized life, in several 

 parts of Asia and Africa, when architecture be- 

 came an object of special study and practice, the 

 mode of procuring- the most durable materials be- 

 came desirable. It is natural to suppose tliat va- 

 rious expedients had been resorted to, for splitting 

 blocks of stone from the solid rock. The idea, 

 however, occurred of applying intense heat, by 

 laying the fuel, on tire, in a longitudinal direction; 

 and in the case of the rock being limestone, the 

 part burnt being scraped away, a hollow was form- 

 ed, and the heating resumed. This operation con- 

 tinued a certain length of time, say a few hours, 

 the embers and ashes were moved aside, and water 

 poured into the channel, the splitting of a conside- 

 rable portion of I'ock proved, generally, the result. 



From the remains of some ancient fortifications 

 in Europe, particularly those in Scotland, it ap- 

 pears evident that the blocks of stone of such im- 

 mense size, could not have been split by any other 

 means than by fire and water. Those castles situ- 

 ated in several parts of the highlands of Scotland, 

 bear evident marks of such a process as here al- 

 luded to. The blocks are square, but show no 

 mark of a hammer or chissel upon them. The 

 particular sort of stone (basalt) in some of the 

 castles on the north and w estern coast of Scotland, 

 seem to agree in quality to that of some mountains 

 situated several miles off; and tlie rocks, to this 

 day, bear evidence of having been broken off b)^ 

 this process of splitting. Though abundant evi- 

 dence seem to support this practice in ancient 

 times. The introduction of gunpowder in Europe, 

 most probably superseded this ancient practice of 

 contracting matter by heat and expanding the 

 same by cold water, so the practice has been, for 

 ages, forgotten, until some accident or expedient 

 revived it lately. It seems that in some instances, 

 if the fire train be judiciously managed, the rock 

 will split to an amazing extent. The success of 

 the split might be further ensured by forming a 

 longitudinal ridge, hollowed out by picking in the 

 intended direction. This ridge sulliciently heated, 

 say for a few hours, then the water poui'ed into it 

 will accomplish the desired oliject. 



Contractors of public works will find it advan- 

 tag'eous to try the experiment; a few trials will 

 enable the workmen to become adepts in this new 

 art. The result will generally prove more exten- 

 sive than that produced by gunpowder; besides, 

 the operation of boring is very tedious and ex- 

 pensive. 



It is a frequent occurrence, when stone of any 

 sort is heated and accidentally wetted, the mass in- 

 stantly cracks. Whatever direction can be given 

 to the heat and the pouring of the water, the crack 

 is sure to follow, and extends in proportion to the 

 intenseness of the heat. 



This practice bears some analogy to that adopt- 

 ed in some parts of Europe, in hewing mill stones. 

 A block of stone is hewn in the form of a colunm, 

 and about five feet in diameter, out of the solid 

 rock. At about the usual thickness of a mill stone 

 several tiers of dents are dug all around this co- 

 lumn; the tiers, dents, or ridges, are at regular 

 intervals, corresponding with the required thick- 

 ness of the mill stone. These dents being com- 

 pleted, a set of wedges are made of poplar, or any 

 other soft wood, ajid' dried in an oren. These are 



then rammed into the dents, at regular distances 

 around the block. After the wedges are fixed, 

 their projecting ends are wetted. 'To ensure the 

 expansion of the wedges by the moisture, it is de- 

 sirable to have a hollow scooped out of the upper 

 surface of the wedge in the fixed state, so as to 

 receive a small portion of water. The water thus 

 penetrating through the dried and contracted pores 

 of the wood, will soon expand to such a degree as 

 to split the block at every tier of wedges. 



It frequently happens that this operation of 

 wedging is the last. When the men cease their la- 

 bors in the evening, the wedges remaining fix- 

 ed over night, the workmen invariably find, on 

 their return in the morning, the tiers of stone split 

 through. By this simple means immense labor is 

 abridged to a mere fraction ; the force of expan- 

 sion is here exerted to an amazing extent. The 

 principle, too, is exhibited with advantage. Were 

 men of public spirit and enterprise to give this plan 

 a fair trial, the result would amply reward them. 



Canals and rail roads can, by these means, be 

 constructed through hills and vallies, at a fraction 

 of the usual expense. a traveller. 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE 

 FER31ENTATTON OF JIANL'RES. 



It has been often said that the experiments in 

 agriculture which result in failure and loss, if cor- 

 rectly reported, would be scarcely less instructive 

 than the smaller number which prove successful 

 and profitable. All will assent to the truth of this 

 opinion, but few are willing to act in accordance. 

 I propose submittino; a report of this character to 

 the readers of the Farmers' Register, in which 

 errors, caused by ignorance and inexperience, are 

 at least as conspicuous as correct views ; and as 

 much of value was lost, as secured by my opera- 

 tions. Still, I am persuaded that even from my 

 erroneous management and mistakes, I have re- 

 ceived profitable lessons, and that my facts and 

 observations may also be useful to other farmers, 

 even if my deductions are not altogether correct. 



Circumstances enabled me last winter, for the 

 first time, to devote a considerable amount of labor 

 to the collection and preparation of vegetable mat- 

 ters for manures. Having but little confidence 

 in the truth of my own opinions as to the best 

 management of manures, and not more in any or 

 all of the innumerable writers on this subject, I 

 determined to test my opinions by experiments, 

 and to record my observations minutely for my 

 future use. This journal of my operations, with 

 but few alterations in form only, will constitute 

 the present communication. Entertaining the 

 opinion that the fermentation of coarse manures is 

 necessary, but that great and needless loss is caused 

 usually by that process, it was my aim so to con- 

 duct the fermentation as to avoid as much as pos- 

 sible the usual loss of its products. 



A new site was chosen for the barn and thresh- 

 ing machine, the most convenient for making ma- 

 nure, as Avell as for storing the grain crops. Be- 

 tween the barn on one side, and the place intended 

 lor the stables and corn cribs on the other, a space 

 of fifty yards square was marked off for the win- 

 ter cow yard. In October 1832, the middle of this 

 space was dug out to the depth of fifteen inches, 

 and the earth moved in carts and deposited on the 

 outer twelve feet of the square, so as-to form, when 



