52 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



THE HYDRAUIilO RAM. 



The hydraulic ram is a simple mechanical appara- 

 tus, constructed upon philosophical principles, and 

 is used very effectively in raising a portion of the 

 water from a spring or running brook above the 

 level of its fountain head. The following descrip- 

 tion, it is believed, will be easily understood. Sup- 

 pose a water pipe is laid along down the course ol 

 the stream througli which the water is required to 

 pass. The lower end of the pipe is closed, and 

 near that extremity is an orifice on the upper side 

 which is opened and closed on the inside by a pup- 

 pet valve shaped something like an inverted barrel 

 bung. There is also another similar orifice and 

 valve opening outward from the main pipe, ond 

 into an air vessel. Now let both valves be closed. 

 As there is then no means of escape for the water 

 in the pipe leading from the spring, it is brought 

 to a state of rest. The valve opening inward is 

 loaded, so that its gravity is greater than the pres- 

 sure of the water at rest in the pipe ; it conse- 

 quently falls into the pipe, leaving the orifice open, 

 through which the water immediately begins to 

 rush with increasing velocity, until its momentum 

 becomes such as to push up the valve to its place 

 in the orifice. The momentum of the water sud- 

 denly stopped in its course, is such as to lift up 

 the other valve opening outward into the air ves- 

 sel, through whicii the water ruslies, compressing 

 the air into a smaller compass, until the re-action 

 of the air is in equilibrium with the action of the 

 water, when the valve No. 2 falls back to its place 

 and prevents the water in the air vessel going back 

 again into the main pipe. The water in the main 

 pipe then having no escape, is again brought to 

 rest, whereupon valve No. 1 falls down again by 

 its own weight, and the process is again repeated. 

 From the air vessel a discharging pipe leads off to 

 the upper story of a house, or any other place 

 where the water is wanted, to which point it is 

 driven by the elasticity of the compressed air in 

 the vessel. Of course the amount of water raised, 

 compared to the whole, will be in inverse ratio to 

 the elevation of the discharging point above the 

 fountain-head. The momentum of the blow forc- 

 ing the water into the air vessel when the valve 

 closes, was well illustrated at the time the foun- 

 tain was first put in action on Boston Common, 

 where, it will be recollected, the momentum of 

 the water was so great at the sudden stoppage of 

 the jet, as to burst the pipes and deluge the Com- 

 mon. — Journal. 



Catiiea' JDepartmint. 



THOUGHTS AND DOINGS OF A HOUSE- 

 KEEPER. 



BY FRANCES 1). GAGE. 



Hi ! ho I hum ! I suppose I must get up ; if I 

 don't Biddy won't get that wasli-fire going in sea- 

 son. But 0, what hard work it is now-a-days to 

 get up. I am old and stiff. Well, well, I'm not 

 so young as I was twenty years ago ; but what of 

 tiiat ? I hope my years have been years of service, 

 and my elasticity has not gone for evil. How 

 beautifully that robin sings upon the peach-tree ; 

 poor felhjw ! it is cold this n)orning, and the snow 

 lies upon his perch ; ])ut his note is as gay and 

 cheery as in the balmy spring morning of last 

 week. The birds never grumble or make discord- 

 ant notes, and they never fail to shake off their 

 drnwsy slumbers with the first beams of sunsliine. 



Thank thee, dear bird of mine, for thy melodious 

 hint, that it is time to get up ; so away with morn- 

 ing reveries. 



lla! ha I Ponto ; always ahead of me; good 

 fellow ! And I stooped down and patted his coal- 

 black head, and he fri.sked his joy around me as if 

 we had been separated for a year, instead of only 

 one night-watch. Down, Ponto, down! Let me 

 tie my shoes and go to my work. 



"Well, Biddy, have you got the wash-fire start- 

 ed in the back kitchen?" 



"I have, ma'am." 



"That's right. You 

 night?" 



No, ma'am ; it was 



did not get home last 

 too dark intirelv to be 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WHITE CLOVER. 



Mr. Editor : — Will you have the goodness to 

 state through your paper, your opinion of sowing 

 white clover seed on our old pastures, Avhere they 

 are smooth and can be harrowed, in order to revive 

 them after the severe drought of summer, or being 

 killed by the severe cold of winter. What is the 

 price of the above-named seed 1 



Zenas H. Upham. 



Windham, Vt., Dec. 14, 1852. 



Remarks. — Will our associate, Mr. Holbrook, 

 reply to these inquiries ? 



5^" Georgia flour, of superior quality, is becoming 

 an article of merchandise in Charleston, S. C. 



wandering up the brae, my love, and so I was say- 

 ing that niver a bit you'd care if I tarried below, 

 barring I was home in season in the morning for 

 the work." 



Ha, Biddy, that crimson glow upon thy young 

 cheek tells strange tales. It was not the climbing 

 the brae in the dark, all alone, that kept you down 

 at Paddy Evan's. Some loving Dennis from thy 

 own green isle, has tempted thee, and thy eyes 

 are dim with the late night-watch, and the tremu- 

 lous sigh breaks up from thy heart. Thou art hu- 

 man, Biddy, and it is human to love : and maids 

 in the kitchen have hearts as softly impressible as 

 maids in the parlors, and as pure, too, for aught 

 I know. Biddy did not hear my thoughts. 



"Boil the praties with the skins on, ma'am?" 



"Certainly, child ; I do not tliink they are ever 

 so nice and sweet as when Ijoiled with the skins 

 on. Wash them nicely, and cut out carefully all 

 the defective parts, and boil them in clear vrater ; 

 but be sure, Biddy, not to let them boil too long — 

 turn off the water as soon as you can put a fork 

 through them easily." 



"And if the young gintlemen are ni)t ready for 

 them, then whafU I do?" 



"Let them set in the kettle, on the top of the 

 stove, with the lid tightly closed over theni ; it 

 will not hurt them much to stand a few minutes." 



The cherry-cheeked maiden went her way as if 

 she had learned something new — and may be she 

 had, for though the boiling of a potato seems to 

 lie a very simple thing, it's not half the girls, or 

 Wi>men either, that take pains to do it right. 



But I declare those boys are not up yet. 



"Will!" 



"Ma'am!" 



"Come down! it's time you was up. Wake, 



