THE GENESEE FAEMEE. 



Irrigation and Town Sewarage. — The following remarks, made at a meeting of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society of England by one of the most enterprising farmers of 

 the age, will be read with interest : 



Mr. Meghi considered there was no practical difficulty in conveying town sewerage to agricultural 

 districts, except that farmers and landlords must first be convinced that town sewerage is the best 

 guano in a liquid state. lie had found practically that no amount of solid manure would effect, in 

 a given time, equal results with liquid manure, especially on pasture. He considered that, allowing 

 six individuals as amply manuring one acre, 350,000 acres would, if necessary, absorb all the 

 town sewerage of London with its 2,000,000 of inhabitants. Its cartage in the country costs 

 at least 6d. per ton per mile ; and as liquefied manure could be conducted at a twelfth or less of 

 that cost, that is the most desirable condition for transmission ; all solid manures might be fluidised, 

 and sink immediately to the roots of plants, as at his farm ; consequently the new fibres of growing 

 plants, deep in the soil, receive their food in an available condition. Mr. Mecui then referred to 

 Prof Way's papers on the power of soils to fix ammonia, and stated that in strong clay soils he had, 

 while irrigating, caused the drains, at five feet depth, to discharge manure-water having both color, 

 smell, and fertilizing properties, although he had hoped all these might have been arrested by the 

 soil. He conchuled his remarks by entering largely into the details of pipage, gutta percha tubing, 

 and the general management of irrigation with manure. Mr. Mechi then invited the members to 

 inspect his arrangements in their present improved state; and he should feel gratified in iinding 

 that any expenditure of his own, made by way of trial and experiment, should have eventually led 

 to sound and practical experience, of which others might so freely avail themselves. He hoped on 

 the 20tli of next month to meet many whom he then saw present, at his "gathering" at Tiptree, 

 whei'e the whole of his operations would be laid open to their inspection and friendly discussion. 

 In the course of his details, Mr. Mechi gave to the tnembers a most graphic account C'f the manner 

 in which, by means of his great tank, and the incessant action of currants of air, animal matter of 

 every form and degree of solidity was rapidly assimilated into liquid manure, and hurried off daily 

 with the i-esistless force of steam-power through his system of pipage over the land. The discus- 

 sion closed with an interesting detail of facts connected with steam-power ; price, number, material, 

 and coating of pipes; fre-sli or ripo manure; and action of silicates on strenghtening rye-grass and 



other siliceous plants. 



»«■• 



Artesian Wells. — A correspondent of the Memphis Appeal^ who suggests the pro- 

 priety of supplying that city with water by means of an Artesian well, furnishes the 

 following interesting extracts in relation to these wells : 



The origin of Artesian wells is very ancient — the first diggings of which we liave any record, 

 were made in 1126, in Artois, in France; hence their name. Artesian wells. Divers European 

 nations, among them are England, Germany, and France, claim the priority of the invention ; but 

 both the Chinese and Egyptians were acquainted with Artesian wells. 



The Artesian well is but a research made by means of the drill for a stream underground, whose 

 reservoir will give it sufficient force to cause it to ascend to the surface of the earth. The earth's 

 crust is composed of parallel beds, which are separated by joints well drained, and these beds have 

 been modified by the successive deposits of water which have coursed at difterent epochs the surfiiee 

 of the continents. The earth's regularly stratified horizontal beds have received successive shocks 

 which have dislocated and inclined them. Before determining the location of an Artesian well, it 

 is necessary to examine the section of country, the level of its rivers and valleys, and the dip of the 

 strata. With these given, the scientific man can determine approximately the necessary depth of 

 the well. 



The quantity of water to be obtained from a well depends entirely upon its geographical and 

 hydrographic conditions ; it may vary from ten gallons to twelve hundred gallons a minute, or 

 1,728,000 gallons every 24 hours. 



Artesian wells not only give soft water to cities, towns, and villages, but are equally valuable to 

 extensive fiirms and factories, guarding them against the long drouths which sometimes happen in 

 the summer time; manufacturers would not suffer for want of water — in the driest summer their 

 reservoirs could be constantly supplied ; and the extensive farmer could also derive an equal benefit 

 by judicious irrigation. 



Within a few years this means of obtaining water has been extensively prosecuted in Europe, 

 where there are now more than 301)0 wells. Venice, situated on the Adriatic sea, and entirely sur- 

 rounded by salt water, with a ])opulation of 125,000 souls, is supplied abundantly with Artesian 

 wells. The well of Grcnelle, Paris, furnishes water to more than 70,000 people ; the water in this 

 well flows 112 feet above the surface of the ground. The inhabitants of the town of Sheerness, 

 England, are supplied with water from two Artesian wells. The provinces of Modona and Bologna, 

 in Italy, for a long time have been supplied in the same manner, and so have some parts of London. 

 The famous Artesian salt well at Kissengen, in Batavia, was commenced eighteen ycart? ago, and 

 which, it was feared, would have to be abandoned as a failure, has recently given the most satisfac- 

 tory risults. llio town is located in a saline valley, 981 feet above the level of the Baltic sea. 



