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articles are sold for Peruvian guano. These experiments will be continued, and their results communicated to the public.

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R. I., February, 1851.

JOSIAH KEENE.

Remarks. We have accounts of various results from the use of guano. In some cases it has been highly profitable; in others it has produced no perceptible effect. As suggested by our correspondent, we have no doubt that guano has often been used injudiciously, and often a spurious kind has been obtained; for a great deal of guano sold is adulterated. In addition to these principal causes of failure, the season is sometimes unfavorable from drought; and occasionally there is a want of adaptation of the manure to the soil and crop.

We trust that some cultivators will persevere in their experiments until the use of guano is reduced to a system, and its just value ascertained; for it is highly desirable that we have our resources for fertilizers enlarged, and that we have some manures that can be had in abundance, and are profitable, so as to be convenient in transportation and application. We advise experimenters on guano to be particular, and note the exact results, as Mr. Keene has done. Let us have something more than vague guessing.

WELL-DIGGING.

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, WIS., January 1, 1852. DEAR SIR: Your Agricultural Circular was duly received, but I have been unable to take the necessary time to reply until now; and even now I must confine my remarks to but one topic-that is, well-digging. There is, however, no one subject of more importance to the farmer who has not living, running water on the surface; and no part of the operation is of more intrinsic importance than that of ascertaining where to dig, which will be the chief topic of consideration in this communication.

I am aware of the difficulty of convincing some men that things may be facts, which they cannot understand the why and wherefore of, or comprehend the reason for. And I know as well that the same skepticism would exist as to their own existence, and as to a thousand other facts, the reason for which we do not comprehend any better, or more clearly, than that in reference to finding water under ground; but because they are common, and of every-day occurrence, we never think of the why and the wherefore of their existence. They are matters of fact, and we should be regarded as candidates for some lunatic asylum if we questioned them.

True philosophy does not inquire for the reasons for a thing before it admits the fact of its existence, but ascertains first if it be a fact; and if it is so, then to inquire after the reasons for it. This will be the course pursued in this essay. That water runs in veins in the earth is a fact now so universally admitted, or rather known, that no one pretends to doubt it; and it is equally well known that if, in digging a well, the digger hits upon the vein, he gets good spring or living

water. But the question is, how are we to ascertain where to dig in order to strike this vein? or is it a fact that some men, and even women, can tell, by any means, where water can thus be found? It will be admitted that, if it is so, it is of more importance to any dry or springless portion of the country than turnpikes, plank, or railroads; for what is the soil worth without living water? It will also be admitted that, if Nature or Nature's God has provided an ample supply of so useful and necessary an element as water, running in all directions in the bowels of the earth, the work would be incomplete, and man and beast might suffer, or a great portion of the earth must be left a barren waste, unless the same goodness which provided the supply also provided means by which its location could be ascertained with more certainty than by haphazard digging. This I take to be reasonable; and if so, reason favors the probability of such a provision. The first point to establish is the fact that some men can direct the well-digger where to strike the vein; and then, secondly, to show the law of nature by which this is done. As to the first point, it must be established by facts in the mouths of competent witnesses. It is done by what is now scientifically called Bletonism, which is defined by Webster to be "the faculty of perceiving and indicating subterraneous springs and currents by sensation; so called from one Bleton, of France, who possessed this faculty." Some call it divining, or raising the divining rod; some,.. water philosophy; and others, "water witchery."

The most ordinary instrument used is a fork, of peach, hazel, or willow, of the last year's growth, so as to be small, slim, and full of sap. The tip ends are placed horizontally in the hands, the palms of which are upward; this brings the fork upward in the shape of an inverted V-thus, A; and in the hands of those with whom it will work-for it does not work with every one-this fork-end is attracted by the water, if living spring-water, under ground, but not by dead or standing stagnant water; nor by what is called seep water. It is also attracted by silver, iron, or other metals which attract the electric fluid; for elec tricity is the secret of the matter, after all. But to the facts:

In 1812 I settled on a springless farm in Ohio, expecting to obtain water by digging a well. A neighbor of mine, who had on an adjoining farm obtained good water only fourteen feet from the surface of the ground, by means of this Bletonism, urged me to try the same means. But being of the class who could not, or rather would not, believe in what I could not comprehend, I declined resorting to what, to me, as to others, appeared to be consummate nonsense, and I spent my leisuretime in the dry time of three years in digging, but found no water. At length, despairing of finding water in this way, and having a curiosity to test this new science, I invited a "water philosopher" to try his. skill for me. It is proper to observe, that this man was an independent farmer, a man of intelligence and high moral worth; and as he performed in this matter without fee or reward, I had no possible ground for suspecting any design of humbuggery on his part. And further, he told me that he knew no more of the reason, the why or wherefore, it worked in his hands, while it would not in those of others, than I did. By mere accident he ascertained that he was "one of 'em;" and on discovering this, he experimented until he discovered this fact that the rod would be attracted at an angle of 459, and that from the point at

tween the rod and the water, or the conductor, breaks the connexion, and there is no electric attraction made upon the rod: remove the handkerchief, and the rod is instantly drawn down. All his experiments resulted in this explanation of the phenomena." The Rev. Mr. Avery, of Holden, some years since, made similar experiments, and came to the same conclusions. The subject has been thoroughly investigated, and with the same results. In almost every place there are those in whose hands the rod will operate, and men of high intellectual moral worth, and far above deception or trick, are found among them.

The law which governs in this matter is thus explained:

1. That wonderful fluid called electricity is distributed throughout the whole earth, but some bodies generate or imbibe more of it than others. Those that contain more than their natural proportion are said to be positively, and those which contain less to be negatively charged.

2. One of the established laws of electricity is found in the fact that two bodies, both positively or both negatively charged, invariably repel each other; while if one is positively, and the other negatively charged, they uniformly attract each other.

3. It is well known that the best subterranean conductors are beds of ore or native metals, and veins of water. It is their nature to extract the latent fluid from surrounding objects, and absorb it themselves; hence where these exist, there will be the most electricity.

4. In general, the human body is also a good conductor, but there are some exceptions. Some men usually generate or imbibe the negative and positive in such equal quantities as to maintain an equilibrium in their systems: the rod in the hands of such will not be sensibly affected; others are surcharged, and have more than their share, and produce positive electricity. Such it is said, if they have black hair, will, if rubbed in cold weather, emit sparks.

5. An individual containing a very small amount of electricity, or who is highly negatively charged, (and only such can operate,) if he takes the rod in his hands and passes over a surface beneath which there is a stream of water, or a stratum of ore, by the unchanging laws of nature, the rod must be affected; and, consequently, a sensation will be produced in him who holds it. The person making the experiment is highly negatively charged-that is, has but little of the fluid in him: the water beneath his feet has absorbed the electricity of the adjacent bodies in the earth: the elastic twig in his hands forms a part of the connexion between the positive and negative poles; and two bodies, the one positively, and the other negatively charged, by a law of nature, always attract each other; and, under such circumstances, most unquestionably the twig will be attracted downward towards the water, and the operator will feel it as well as see it.

6. If the experimenter is positively charged, like the water below, his system having produced or imbibed a large portion of the latent fluid by the law already referred to, there will be a repulsion: the twig, instead of bending downward towards the water, will bend backward towards himself, and the result will be equally perceptible.

A recent extract from a French paper gives the description of a man, of high moral and intellectual standing, who is so sensitive to electrical influence that he can tell without a rod or anything in his hands

where the veins of water are by the sensation produced upon the throat as he passes over the earth. The sensation is similar to that felt from a galvanic battery.

The reader may inquire how we are to know whether the attraction is from water or from ore of some kind? The answer, as to most countries, is, that the geological character of the ground will generally determine the point. That, however, will not answer in the lead mines of this region. Here the surface presents so different a soil from that of other mineral countries that no law of the books can apply to us. One thing is certain: if it should prove to be mineral, it would probably be valuable; so that nothing would be lost by the experiment. But in some scores of trials for water in this mineral region, by means of the rod, not one, to my knowledge, has failed, or led to mineral instead of

water.

There are numbers of miners among us who depend on the rod to find crevices in the rock under the clay surface. They seek for crevices because lead ore is usually found in them, though there may be, and are, many crevices in which there are no minerals. My observation in this matter leads to the conclusion that a vein of water has stronger attraction for the rod than any of the ores, excepting silver and iron, and that they must exist in considerable quantities to attract equally with water; so that, if the operator should happen to hit on ore, instead of water, there would be no loss. To what depth the electric fluid will attract I am not advised. I have known water to be found in this way from ten to forty feet under the surface, and my impression is that it will reach to a greater depth-possibly to seventy feet.

It is hardly necessary to point out the advantages of this science to the farmer, or its value to every springless farm. The farmer wishing to build, and to have water convenient, will first discover the vein of water, and dig his well. The operator can be tested or proved before the positive pole, or any electric machine, or by having previously found water. It will save time and money lost in haphazard digging, and will add greatly to the comfort of a family to have water at hand; and to make this certain let the water be first discovered, the well dug, and the house then built to suit the situation.

Hon. THOMAS EWBANK,

Commissioner U. S. Patent Office.

ALFRED BURNSON.

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

SUTTON, WORCESTER CO., MASS.,
February 12, 1852.

SIR By invitation from your most excellent department, I propose making some suggestions beyond those of last year, published in your Report for 1850. Those were intended to be strictly confined to the usual Circular inviting statistics, as it does from all parts of our widelyextended country; and the information thus collected and placed in so. condensed a form gives a thinking community an opportunity of observ ing some of the apparently good reasons why our sons are, and have

tween the rod and the water, or the conductor, breaks the connexion, and there is no electric attraction made upon the rod: remove the handkerchief, and the rod is instantly drawn down. All his experiments resulted in this explanation of the phenomena." The Rev. Mr. Avery, of Holden, some years since, made similar experiments, and came to the same conclusions. The subject has been thoroughly investigated, and with the same results. In almost every place there are those in whose hands the rod will operate, and men of high intellectual moral worth, and far above deception or trick, are found among them.

The law which governs in this matter is thus explained:

1. That wonderful fluid called electricity is distributed throughout the whole earth, but some bodies generate or imbibe more of it than others. Those that contain more than their natural proportion are said to be positively, and those which contain less to be negatively charged.

2. One of the established laws of electricity is found in the fact that two bodies, both positively or both negatively charged, invariably repel each other; while if one is positively, and the other negatively charged, they uniformly attract each other.

3. It is well known that the best subterranean conductors are beds of ore or native metals, and veins of water. It is their nature to extract the latent fluid from surrounding objects, and absorb it themselves; hence where these exist, there will be the most electricity.

4. In general, the human body is also a good conductor, but there are some exceptions. Some men usually generate or imbibe the negative and positive in such equal quantities as to maintain an equilibrium in their systems: the rod in the hands of such will not be sensibly affected; others are surcharged, and have more than their share, and produce positive electricity. Such it is said, if they have black hair, will, if rubbed in cold weather, emit sparks.

5. An individual containing a very small amount of electricity, or who is highly negatively charged, (and only such can operate,) if he takes the rod in his hands and passes over a surface beneath which there is a stream of water, or a stratum of ore, by the unchanging laws of nature, the rod must be affected; and, consequently, a sensation will be produced in him who holds it. The person making the experiment is highly negatively charged-that is, has but little of the fluid in him:. the water beneath his feet has absorbed the electricity of the adjacent bodies in the earth: the elastic twig in his hands forms a part of the connexion between the positive and negative poles; and two bodies, the one positively, and the other negatively charged, by a law of nature, always attract each other; and, under such circumstances, most unquestionably the twig will be attracted downward towards the water, and the operator will feel it as well as see it.

6. If the experimenter is positively charged, like the water below, his system having produced or imbibed a large portion of the latent fluid by the law already referred to, there will be a repulsion: the twig, instead of bending downward towards the water, will bend backward towards himself, and the result will be equally perceptible.

A recent extract from a French paper gives the description of a man, of high moral and intellectual standing, who is so sensitive to electrical influence that he can tell without a rod or anything in his hands

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