Vol. 0.— No. 19. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



I45» 



ported products: and e.-iperiiiienls on their natiirn- 

 lizulion will not appear misspent to any one who 

 adverls to the distunt mitriations of trees and 

 Ouita at present the most common amongst us. 

 T!ie i'nach is i'rom Armenia ; the Cherry from the 

 mountains of Persia; tlie Currant from Zanto ; the 

 while (English) Walnut from Persia in Cliina. 

 The Grape has travelled over Europe from the 

 east ; and Coffee comes from a corner in Abyssinia ; 

 (we think it must have been the H.ippy Valley.) 

 Science mav i^ieatly proinolc this insensible mi- 

 oration of valuable plants and trees; and we hope 

 That this laudable aim of the government may be 

 well seconded by its agents and citizens in distant 

 olim.ites. jVttc York Staksman. 



Fromlhe Naiituc/it't Iiiiiiiirer, 



The National Gazette of October 13th has the 

 I'ollowing conmiunication 



" The water ifi the lower part of the city of 

 New iSrunswick is what is commonly called brack- 

 ish icaler : it is unpleasant to the taste, and in the 

 opinion of some, injurious to health. This has in- 

 duced a few gentlemen in ihat part of the city to 

 seek for a more pure supply by the modern prac- 

 tice of boring- for water. Tiiey selected their spot, 

 perforated the earth to the depth of two hundred 

 and twenty feet, and then inserted, ia the perfora- 

 tion, a tube of one hundred feet in length, reach- 

 ing down to a body of solid rock, called the red 

 .ihcll rod;. The upper end of the tube is inclosed 

 in a wooden pent-stock, from whirh there issues a 

 continual stream of water of { I should think with- 

 out having measured it ) from half a gallon to a 

 gallon by the minute. 



"The tide regularly ebbs and flovvsintheRarilan, 

 and rises at this place about six feet, and the sur- 

 face of the ground where the perforation is made, 

 is elevated about eight feet above the high water 

 mark. In this situation the stream issuing from 

 the pent-stock corresponds e.xactly, and continuiil- 

 }y, with the rising and falling of the tide in the 

 Raritan. When the tide is at ebb the stream is 

 small ; when it rises the stream increases, and 

 when it is high the stream is at its greatest flow, 

 varying at about one to three at the different 

 states of the tide. 



'•Now, the risingof the waterin the tube is itself 

 a plienomenon not easily explained upon the 

 known principles of hydraulics. Can it come from 

 the river, when the point of discharge is from 

 eight to fourteen feet above the surface of the 

 water in the river ? And if it should be attempt- 

 ed to account for it by supposing that it is conduct- 

 ed from higher grounds by dipping strata of rock, 

 or clay, or other subslanc'e impervious to water, 

 and that when such strata are perforated at any 

 given d'jptu the water pent up between them will 

 rise as high as its surface in that confined state, 

 does not this e.xclude the possibility of its having 

 any communication with the river, or being in any 

 way affected by it ? 



The fact is as above stated. Can it be account- 

 ed for upon any settled principle of philosophy ? 

 If water cm be had by boring, in all situations, it 

 is one of the greatest discoveries in modern times; 

 and if it has u tide in the bowels of the earth, it 

 presents a plienomenon unknown to philosophers 

 both of ancipnt and modern times. " 



The facts here communicated, are interesting 

 as they elucidate the structure of the earth's sur- 

 face. 



Geology has taught that the crust of tlie eatth 

 is composed of successive strata, or layers, differ- . 



ing in den-iity from granite rock to clay and sand : 

 these, many of them impervious to water, are plac- 

 ed regularly above one another, granite uuifornily 

 occupying the lowest place. These strata ore 

 not uniformly horizontal, but dip or incline from 

 the liori,',on in various degrees ; — the more i^upcr- 

 ficiul are also often discontinued over a groat 

 space, or are cut off by declivities, precipices, or 

 watercourses ; and the most solid are often dis- 

 placed or broken up, apparently, by some convul- 

 sion of nature. 



To account for the phenomena of the weil in 

 the above communication, it is necessary to con- 

 sider the natural effects of a fall of water on the 

 surface of the earth constructed us above describ- 

 ed. 



Water falling rapidly, as in a heavy rain, will 

 first fill all the vallies, and then, breaking over 

 the lowest place in the margin of each in succes- 

 sion, will cut itself a channel to the sea, or the 

 great valley of our globe ; and hence the origin 

 of our rivers. But water falling more leisurely, is, 

 much of it, taken up by the absorbing surface of 

 the earth ; and when this surface is saturated, the 

 water continues to descend through it, by its own 

 gravity, till it arrives at astratum impervious to it. 



And now let us consider the necessary effect of 

 this obstruction: the several strata it has been said 

 incline, more or less, from the horizon ; the water 

 ariving at this inclined plane, then, will slowly, but 

 certainly find its way along its surface till it arrive 

 at a place where the stratum is discontinued or 

 broken through ; still impelled by its gravity, it will 

 now sink to thene.xtimpervious stratum and pass on 

 as before, till, arriving at a valley, a river, or, at the 

 margin orbottom of the sea,thestratum terminates, 

 and the little water course finds its outlet. 



It must be remembered that these subterranean 

 rills have their source in higher land, often in 

 mountains ; that the porosity of the strata tiirough 

 which they must make their way, will generally 

 cause their channels to be more or less obstruct- 

 ed ; and that in their progress, often of many 

 leagues, they may pass under other strata, which, 

 for a time, prevent their rising to the surface. 



Let this natural aqueduct, supplied with water 

 from elevated fountains, struggling to make its 

 way through an obstructed channel, be perforated 

 from above, as in the case on the Raritan, what 

 will be the necessary effect. Upon a knov.'n prin- 

 ciple in hydraulics, wafer must rise in the bore or 

 tube to the same elevation with its source. This 

 would be literally and invariably true, if the chan- 

 nel of the stream were perfectly obstructed below 

 the perfor;ition: this however, is not often the 

 case; otherwise, we should have no sprinjs, and 

 few continued streams; the obstruction is partial, 

 ani the water will rise in the tube till the weight 

 of the perpendicular column e.xactly balances the 

 amount of resistance in the natural channel of the 

 stream. 



I have said these rills may terminate on the 

 sea shore and under the sea; — they do t( rminate 

 in the neigborhood of the sea, on its shore, and 

 in marshes adjoining it; for here springs are most 

 numerous, and where a spring is, there is the 

 moutli of a subterranean stream. 



Now, the obvious effects of a flood tide on these 

 springs would be to impede the stream which sup- 

 plies them, to lessen the discharge at their mouths, 

 and, in the same degree to increase it at any 

 other outlet which may be made higher in its 

 course, as in the well at New Brunswick. 



That these liid(tcn streams are very numerous, 

 is proved by the multiplicity of springs, and by the 

 uniform success of the ingenious DrsEiiow in 

 "boring" for v/ater. 



Kindred streams thus pursuing their secret 

 course, often unite, and, finding little resistance, 

 rush on, till arriving at the foot of some. declivity, 

 they burst forth in torrents upon the surface ; as in 

 several places in Pennsylvania; or still barred 

 down by impcrvi.ius strata, they pass on under ci 

 ties, and far below the beds of mighty rivers, and 

 only find their e.xit at the bottom of the ocean- 

 Several instiDces are on record of fresh water be- 

 ing dipped up at sea, a.'id a striking one was re^ 

 cently reported by a sliip on the coast of Africa 

 several leagues iVoiu land. "The ocean," says 

 the Report, "was smooth, "11011 suddenfy the ves- 

 sel shot into troubled water, having the appear- 

 ance of being ruffled by some local cause over a 

 considerable siirface; the bucket v,fas lowered and 

 fresh water drawn up." This could have been no 

 other than the outlet of a great river, displacing 

 the salt water from its bed by the force of its cur- 

 rent, and by its specific levity rising to the surface. 



ELACKSTONE CANAL. 



Len,r,'th 45 utiles, breadth 18 feet at the bottom, 

 and 34 feet on the surface of the water. There 

 are 48 stone Locks, which overcome a rise and 

 fall of 4130 feet. — Depth of water in the canal 4 

 feet.— Locks 83 feet long by jO broad. Cost 

 $500,000. Estimated revenue .$5,5,000 to i£(JO,000 

 The supply of v,'ator is principally from the Black 

 stone river ; but there are several ponds, one of 

 which near Worcester, covers ii,,5G0 acres, v.'hicli 

 in case of need can he used as feeders. 



This canal commences in the harbor of Pro- 

 vidence, Rhode-Iisland. and extends to Worcester 

 in Massachusetts. The articles to be transported 

 on it are lime, granite, anthracite coal, from the 

 town of Cumberland, 12 miles north of Providence i 

 and agricultural products in descending. The 

 ascending trade will consist of cotton, wool, iron 

 flour, corn, groceries, and a great variety of ar- 

 ticles, for the supply of i!jo very large manufac- 

 turing population in the valley of the Blaokstsone- 

 river. This canal will increase the water powet; 

 of the Blackstono river, and will furnisli besides 

 several additional mill privileges. It is expected 

 to be completed some time next summer. 



[Pennsylvania Gazelle. 



Winlcr harvesting. — It is stated in the W^orces- 

 ter and Springfield papers, th:.t there are large 

 fields of corn still standing, great quantities of 

 potatoes fast frozen in the hills, and thousands of^ 

 bushels of apples in the orchards, waiting to be 

 thawed out, before they can be gathered. 



We noticed lately the same neglect in the 

 towns on the Merrimack. Fields of corn were 

 standing, apples lay piled up in the orchards, and 

 men were digging their -potatoes so late as last 

 week. Why this extraordinary neglect ? It could 

 not be because the young men of our country 

 towns had other and more important business to 

 attend to ; for we saw them by hundreds :;s.sera- 

 bled at the tavern on a shooting match, firing at 

 turkics and other game. We do not believe that 

 this sport promotes the good morals, the interest, 

 or the valor of our farmers. — Salem Obs. 



A great crop. — On an acre and a b.ilf of ground; 

 a person in Norivich, (Conn.) has raised one hun- 

 dred and fifty bushels of corn, after it was shelled; 

 and five wagon Toads of winter squashes. 



