1844.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



103 



a business, requiring an apprenticesliip of practice am\ reading to be 

 master of. But such perfect mastery is not required in tlie Irisli 

 farmer ; let him be tauglit tlie primers of the business on the soil 

 where he lives, by men fully competent to teach and direct him, let 

 these agriculturists be men of intelligence, capable of understanding 

 the composition and management of the various soils they vpiU meet 

 with; they must be fully conversant with green cropping. Rotation, 

 house feeding, and soiling, the ingredients and application of manures, 

 draining, sub-soiling, and irrigation; the management of dairies, and 

 milch cows; and let them be located one in every parish where such 

 services are required, paid out of the county cess by the grand juries, 

 at or near the rate of £100 per annum, and be directly under the 

 surveillance of a committee of gentlemen in each parish, and of the 

 district inspectors appointed by the government board before referred 

 to. The cost will be for the whole country about £250,000 per annum, 

 to be continued for seven years; or in the whole £l,7o0,000, by 

 which time there will be sufEcient knowledge obtained by the people, 

 for dispensing with their further services. To assist in meeting this 

 sum, the police might be reduced in a few years, although at first it 

 would be unwise to do so ; but as the people increase in comfort, 

 there will be less crime, and less need of such large forces to prevent 

 it. 



The advantage to the tenant would be, increased comfort, increased 

 confidence with his landlord, and a prospect of continuous prosperity 

 and eventual independence. To the landlord the advantage would be 

 equally great, certainty of his income, peace and prosperity on his 

 estate, in which he will be a sharer, from the tie that would then exist 

 between the proprietor and occupier, and the increased value of his 

 property, from the improved condition of the tenantry. 



There is no interference with the rights of property in this ; the 

 benefits of proprietorship are increased. The necessity of supplying 

 the information proposed, is shown by the adoption of the means, to 

 an insignificant extent, certainly, by the agricultural societies. They 

 have done much good, but not sufficient for the object in view, (viz.,) 

 elevating generally the condition of occupiers of small farms; nor 

 can it be done by such means, the instruction must be more general 

 and more explicit, than the agriculturist has time and opportunity of 

 giving. 



Let me insist upon it, that all the tenants require is instruction, you 

 may teach them reading, writing, arithmetic, and even the higher 

 branches of education; but it is all useless as applied to the tenantry 

 of this country, if they are not taught agriculture. It is this by which 

 they are to subsist, by which landlords are to receive their incomes, by 

 which Ireland is to prosper, and therefore this instruction should be 

 provided by Government in the direct manner I have ventured to 

 suggest. Increasing the franchise will not provide food ; the equali- 

 zation of churches will not grow potatoes; nor will the Repeal of the 

 Union fatten cattle. But these effects are expected by a Repeal. 



Reduction of rents are not generally necessary, nor would it be 

 adequate to the wants of the people, and would be a decided injury to 

 landlords. Instead of reductions of lOs. per acre, which iu most cases 

 would be 30 per cent., teach them to swell their 3/. produce into 5/., 

 not by increase of prices, for that cannot be controlled, but by increased 

 production. Remember, that potatoes and milk are their only fare, 

 that with this they are contented, if they have sufficient ; that their 

 wants are few, and yet unsupplied ; their privations many, and unre- 

 lieved ; that a starving people may be made easily to rebel, perhaps 

 be as easily subdued ; that people in such circumstances deserve pity 

 as much as punishment for many crimes; that immediate suffering, 

 present distress, dread of the future, and remembrance of the past, 

 have caused the rapid progress of the Repeal movement, and that 

 you. Sir, with the English people, are alone able to relieve their dis- 

 tresses, to supply their wants, and this can be done by increasing the 

 demand for labour, by supplying the practical information they require 

 in the business of agriculture : then will plenty succeed poverty, hap- 

 piness displace misery, and Ireland become a great and prosperous 

 portion of the kingdom, a helpmate for England, and a blessing to 

 our country in the over ruling hands of God. 



Your very obedient servant, 



J. B N, C.E. 



Parsonstown, Ftb, 26, 1844. 



SUPPLY OF WATER TO BOILERS. 



Sir — In your Journal for last month there is a plan mentioned for 

 supplying high pressure boilers with water, which I think might be 

 effected in a more simple manner, thus; — 



Let a 6 c be a small tank, placed bv the side of the boiler, half above 

 and half below the proper water level ; let a, b, be ordinary slide 

 valves connecting the tank with the boiler, c a valve connecting the 

 tank with a reservoir placed above the level of the tank. 



The action will be as follows :— The valves a, b, being shut, and c 

 open, the tank will fill with water ; then c being shut, a and b opened, 

 the water will run out of the tank down to the level of the vyater in 

 the boiler ; the valves being again reversed, the same operation will 

 be repeated, the steam in the tank being condensed by the admission 

 of the cold water. 



If the valves be connected with the engine, so as to be reversed at 

 proper intervals, a self-acting and self-regulating feeder will be ob- 

 tained ; for it is evident the water in the boiler can never rise above 

 the top of the tank, and if the water falls too low, a whole tank full 

 will be admitted instead of half, thus quickly restoring the balance. 



The valve b should be large, and the communication with the boiler 

 not left open longer than necessary, in order to prevent the water m 

 the tank becoming heated by the condensation of steam; a board 

 floating loosely iu the tank would prevent the steam coming in contact 

 with the water. 



An apparatus of this kind placed on the top of a locomotive would 

 enable the boiler to be supplied by hand while the engine was standing. 

 I remain. Sir, your obedient servant, 



Henry Cark. 



Folkestone, February 8, 1844. 



An attempt is to be made this session to extend the patent law from four- 

 teen to twenty-one years. It is indeed to be regretted that, whereas the 

 copyright of authors dates from publication, when profit is supposed imme- 

 diately to commence, the copyright of inventors expires too frequently 

 before a profit can be realised. 



MAXTON'S LONG SLIDE VALVE FOR CONDENSING 

 ENGINES. 



By Mr. John Maxton, Engineer. 



The advantages of this valve are,— that it may be used without a 

 steam-chest, while it has all the advantages of a long slide valve in 

 shortening the passages to the cylinder, it works with much less fric- 

 tion than the common long slide-valve, the pressure being equalized, 

 and is much less expensive, and easier upheld, than the packed valve. 



In fig. 1, the piston is represented as descending in the cylinder, 

 the vacuum being formed under the piston by the passage A through 

 the valve towards the condenser, the steam being admitted above the 



