lift" 



134 



THE GENESEE FAKJIEE. 



that puts it in motion. The same mechanical power that will force up water twenty- 

 five or fifty feet by a vis a tergo action, as in a common forcing pump, will lift it by 

 applying the power on the upper side of the metallic or wooden body that raises the 

 column of water. The motion of the body that really lifts the water is the same in 

 either case. 



"Application of Wind as a Power fok Raising "Water. — A garden engine, manufactured by 

 Downs & Co., Seneca Falls, State of Xew York, enabled me to preserve many vakiable plants, shrubs, 

 and trees, during the severe drouth of last season. It was equally important as an implement of 

 wai'fare in a contest I waged with the cherry and pear slugs, and some other depredating insects. 

 The force with which it throws tobaccu water, and otlier medicated washes, is sure to reach those 

 enemies, however securely they may be concealed. Its principles are simple, and the workmanship 

 excellent. No gardener can well dispense with its use. 



"To pump from a well the requisite supplies of water was a work of no small labor. It led to 

 the investigation of a metliod of working a pump by means of the wind. The praetieabilty of the 



plan I am about to suggest, does not remain to be 

 tested by experiment. During former years, a small 

 wind-mill was in successful operation upon the farm 

 of Mr. Anderson, five miles west of Asldand, Ohio, 

 on the road leading to ilansfield. It worked a pump 

 that amply furnished a large stock of cattle, which 

 otherwise could obtain no water. Two days only 

 did it cease to perform its duties during more than 

 two years, and that intei'uption was occasioned by 

 the meddling of mischievious boj-s. It is still in 

 operation for ought I know. The cost of this simple 

 machine, including pump, did not exceed fifteen 

 dollars. 



" By reference to Plate I, the principles on which 

 it was conetrueted will be at once comprehended. 

 The direct application of the power, without the 

 intervention of any geering or machinery, obviates 

 much friction, hence a small amount only of power 

 is required. The diameter of the wheel should not 

 exceed four feet, a few inches less is preferable. It 

 is firmly fixed by its hub on an iron axle formed 

 of a square inch bar. The sails or buckets are 

 secured, at their outward ends, to a wooden rim, 

 like that of a lai-ge spinning wheel. An inch and a 

 half crank is raised on the axle at B, which, at that 

 point, is cylindrical, and upon wliieh is adjusted the 

 upper ends of the piston-rod of tlie pump C. This, 

 when in motion, of course commands a play of 

 three inches. 



" The hodij of the Mill. — A piece of pine plank, D, 

 is suspended from the cross-girt of a frame, E, by 

 an iron bolt, F, ftu-nished at its lower end with a 

 large head, G, and a wa-^her, and secured by a key, 

 H, at the ujiper end, admitting of an easy circular 

 motion of D around the bolt. This motion is 

 coincident with that of a swivel on the piston-rod, 

 I. The rudder, or vane, will necessarily throw the 

 wheel, at all times, into the wind. The axle. A, is 

 PLATE I. suspended from the body by two strajis of ii-on, 



throi>gh which it passes at L, L, where it is cylindrical without regard to jDerspective and propor- 

 tion, but will perhaps illustrate the subject sufficiently. 



" A breeze which merely agitates the leaves of the trees will set the machinery in operation. A 

 reservoir of some six or eight hogsheads was kept nearly filled, and when, in windy weather, a 

 suri)lus of water was raised, it was returned to the well by a waste ))iiic, M. In the hands of an 

 ingenious mechanic it might, no doubt, be greatly improved. Iron, in some of its parts might bo 

 substituted for wood. 



"A well, suitably located, will furnish water enough for an ordinary garden, and without labor, 

 by aid of this mill. IIow much it would Improve our flowers, fruits and esculent vegetables, cannot 

 be estimated, but would surely effect a revolution in our present modes of gardening hero in tlie 

 West, where we sullVr much every season from droutli. Ptiblie tanks, inns, tanneries, and thousands 

 of prairie farms, require its aid. Downs <fe Co., or some other active firm, would render the com-. 



