Farm Mechanics Part 8

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 126.--Centrifugal Pump Setting. When used for irrigation, centrifugal pumps are set as close to the ground water as practical.]

Irrigation is the new handmaiden of prosperity. A rainy season is a bountiful one. Irrigation supplies the bounty without encouraging destructive fungus diseases. Where water is abundant within easy reach, pumping irrigation water is thoroughly practical. Improvements in pumps in recent years have increased their capacity and insured much greater reliability. A centrifugal pump is recommended for depths down to 75 feet; beyond this depth the necessity of installing more expensive machinery places the business of pumping for irrigation on a different plane. A centrifugal pump will throw more water with less machinery than any other device, but like all other mechanical inventions, it has its limitations. In figuring economical pumping, the minimum quant.i.ty should be at least 100 gallons per minute, because time is an object, and irrigation, if done at all, should cover an area sufficient to bring substantial returns. Centrifugal pumps should be placed near the surface of the water in the well. For this reason, a large, dry well is dug down to the level of the water-table and the pump is solidly bolted to a concrete foundation built on the bottom of this well. A supply pipe may be extended any depth below the pump, but the standing water surface in the well should reach within a few feet of the pump. The pump and supply must be so well balanced against each other that the pull-down from pumping will not lower the water-level in the well more than twenty feet below the pump. The nearer the ground water is to the pump the better.

The water well below the pump may be bored, or a perforated well pipe may be driven; or several well points may be connected. The kind of well must depend upon the condition of the earth and the nature of the water supply. Driven wells are more successful when water is found in a stratum of coa.r.s.e gravel.

Before buying irrigation machinery, it is a good plan to test the water supply by temporary means. Any good farm pump may be hitched to a gasoline engine to determine if the water supply is lasting or not.

Permanent pumping machinery should deliver the water on high ground. A main irrigation ditch may be run across the upper end of the field. This ditch should hold the water high enough so it may be tapped at convenient places to run through the corrugations to reach the roots of the plants to be benefited. There are different systems of irrigation designed to fit different soils. Corrugations are the cheapest and the most satisfactory when soils are loose enough to permit the water to soak into the soil sideways, as well as to sink down. The water should penetrate the soil on both sides of the corrugations for distances of several inches. Corrugations should be straight and true and just far enough apart so the irrigation water will soak across and meet between.

Some soils will wash or gully out if the fall is too rapid. In such cases it may be necessary to terrace the land by following the natural contour around the ridges so the water may flow gently. Where the fall is very slight, that is, where the ground is so nearly level that it slopes away less than six inches in a hundred feet, it becomes necessary to prepare the land by building checks and borders to confine the water for a certain length of time. Then it is let out into the next check. In the check and border system the check bank on the lower side has an opening which is closed during the soaking period with a canvas dam.

When the canvas is lifted the water flows through and fills the next check. This system is more expensive, and it requires more knowledge of irrigation to get it started, and it is not likely to prove satisfactory in the East.

For fruits and vegetables, what is known as the furrow system of irrigation is the most practical. An orchard is irrigated by plowing furrows on each side of each row of trees. The water is turned into these furrows and it runs across the orchard like so many little rivulets. Potatoes are irrigated on the same plan by running water through between the rows after the potatoes have been ridged by a double shovel-plow. This plan also works well with strawberries. After the land is prepared for irrigation, the expense of supplying water to a fruit orchard, strawberry patch or potato field is very little compared with the increase in yield. In fact, there are seasons when one irrigation will save the crop and produce an abundant yield, when otherwise it would have been almost a total loss.

_Overhead Spray Irrigation._--The most satisfactory garden irrigation is the overhead spray system. Posts are set ten feet apart in rows 50 feet apart. Water pipes are laid on the tops of the posts and held loosely in position by large staples. These water pipes are perforated by drilling a line of small holes about three feet apart in a straight line along one side of the pipe. The holes are tapped and small bra.s.s nozzles are screwed in. The overhead pipes are connected with standpipes at the highest place, generally at the ends of the rows. The pipe-lines are loosely coupled to the standpipes to permit them to roll partly around to direct the hundreds of spray nozzles as needed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 127.--Overhead Irrigation. Diagram showing the arrangement of pipes for irrigating one acre of land. The pipes are supported on posts six feet high.]

Six feet high is sufficient to throw a fine mist or spray twenty-five feet, which is far enough to meet the spray from the next row, so the ground will be completely covered. To do this the pipes are rolled from one side to the other, through a 90 degree arc to throw the spray on both sides. The pipes usually are laid with a grade which follows down the slope of the land. A fall of one foot in fifty is sufficient. Water is always admitted at the upper end of each pipe-line to flow down by gravity, a.s.sisted by tank pressure. A pressure of about forty pounds is needed to produce a fine spray, and to send it across to meet the opposite jets. The little bra.s.s nozzles are drilled with about a one-eighth inch hollow. But the jet opening is small, about No. 20 W. G.

This gives a wire-drawn stream that quickly vaporizes when it meets the resistance of the atmosphere. When properly installed a fine misty rain is created, which quickly takes the same temperature as the air, and settles so gently that the most delicate plants are not injured.

_Quant.i.ty of Water to Use._--Good judgment is necessary in applying water to crops in regard to quant.i.ty, as well as the time of making application. Generally speaking, it is better to wait until the crop really needs moisture. When the pump is started give the crop plenty with the expectation that one irrigation will be sufficient. Much depends upon the amount of moisture in the soil; also the kind of crop and weather conditions enter into the problem. On sandy land that is very dry where drainage is good, water may be permitted to run in the corrugations for several days until the ground is thoroughly soaked.

When potatoes are forming, or clover is putting down its big root system, a great deal of water is needed. Irrigation sufficient to make two inches of rainfall may be used to advantage for such crops under ordinary farming conditions. It is necessary after each irrigation to break the soil crust by cultivation to prevent evaporation. This is just as important after irrigation as it is after a rain shower. Also any little pockets that hold water must be carefully drained out, otherwise the crop will be injured by standing water. We are not supposed to have such pockets on land that has been prepared for irrigation.

_Kind of Crops to Irrigate._--Wheat, oats, barley, etc., may be helped with one irrigation from imminent failure to a wealth of production. But these rainfall grain crops do not come under the general cla.s.sification that interests the regular irrigation farmer beyond his diversity plans for producing considerable variety. Fruits, roots, clover, alfalfa, vegetables and Indian corn are money crops under irrigation. Certain seed crops yield splendidly when watered. An apple orchard properly cared for and irrigated just at the right time will pay from five hundred to a thousand dollars per acre. Small fruits are just as valuable. These successes account for the high prices of irrigated land.

In the East and in the great Middle West, valuable crops are cut short or ruined by drouth when the fruit or corn is forming. It makes no difference how much rain comes along at other times in the year, if the roots cannot find moisture at the critical time, the yield is reduced often below the profit of raising and harvesting the crop. Strawberry blossoms shrivel and die in the blooming when rain fails. Irrigation is better than rain for strawberries. Strawberries under irrigation may be made to yield more bushels than potatoes under humid conditions. One hundred bushels of strawberries per acre sounds like a fairy tale, but it is possible on rich land under irrigation.

The cost of pumping for irrigation, where the well and machinery is used for no other purpose, must be charged up to the crop. The items of expense are interest on the first cost of the pumping machinery, depreciation, upkeep and running expenses. On Eastern farms, however, where diversified farming is the business, this expense may be divided among the different lines of work. Where live-stock is kept, it is necessary to have a good, reliable water supply for the animals. A reservoir on high ground so water may be piped to the watering troughs and to the house is a great convenience. Also the same engine that does the pumping may be used for other work in connection with the farm, so that the irrigation pump engine, instead of lying idle ten or eleven months in the year, may be utilized to advantage and made to earn its keep. Well-water contains many impurities. For this reason, it is likely to be valuable for crop growing purposes in a wider sense than merely to supply moisture. Well-water contains lime, and lime is beneficial to most soils. It has been noticed that crops grow especially well when irrigated from wells.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 128.--Power Transmission. Circular motion is converted into reciprocating motion by the different lengths of the two pitman cranks which cause the upper wheel to oscillate. Power is carried to a distance by wires. To reduce friction the wires are supported by swinging hangers. Sometimes wooden rods are used instead of wires to lessen expansion and contraction.]

_House and Barns Supplied from a Reservoir._--A farm reservoir may sometimes be built very cheaply by throwing a dam across a narrow hollow between two hills, or ridges. On other farms, it is necessary to sc.r.a.pe out a hole on the highest ground within reach. For easy irrigation a reservoir is necessary, and it is economical because the pump may work overtime and supply enough water so the irrigation may be done quickly and with sufficient water to make it effective. When the cost of the reservoir can be charged up to the different departments of the business, such as irrigation, live-stock and house use, the cost is divided and the profits are multiplied.

_Power Conveyor._--Circular motion is converted into reciprocal motion to operate a pump at a distance from the engine. The short jack crank oscillates the driving pulley to move the conveyor wires back and forth.

The distance to which power may be carried is limited by the expansion and contraction of the conveying wires. Wooden rods are better under extremes of temperature. Where an engine is used night and morning in the dairy house to run a cream separator, this kind of power transmission may be worked to operate the pump at the house. Light wire hangers will support the line wires or rods. They should be about three feet in length, made fast at top and bottom to prevent wear. The spring of a No. 10 wire three feet long is sufficient to swing the length of a pump stroke and the friction is practically nothing.

ELECTRICITY ON THE FARM

Electric current in some sections may be purchased from electric railways or city lighting plants. But the great majority of farms are beyond the reach of high tension transmission cables. In some places three or four farmers may club together and buy a small lighting plant to supply their own premises with both light and power. Unless an engineer is employed to run it trouble is sure to follow, because one family does all of the work and others share equally in the benefits.

The solution is for each farmer to install a small plant of his own.

The proposition is not so difficult as it sounds. Two-horsepower plants are manufactured for this very purpose. But there is more to it than buying a dynamo and a few lamp bulbs. A farm electric system should supply power to run all of the light stationary machinery about the farm, and that means storage batteries, and the use of one or more small electric motors. There are several ways to arrange the plant, but to save confusion it is better to study first the storage battery plan and to start with an engine large enough to pump water and run the dynamo at the same time. It is a good way to do two jobs at once--you store water enough in the supply tank to last twenty-four or forty-eight hours, and at the same time you store up sufficient electricity to run the cream-separator for a week. Electric power is the only power that is steady enough to get all of the cream.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 129.--Electric Power Plant. A practical farm generator and storage battery, making a complete farm electric plant that will develop and store electricity for instant use in any or all of the farm buildings.]

Refrigeration is a profitable way to use electric power. There are small automatic refrigerator machines that maintain low temperatures to preserve food products. This branch of the work may be made profitable.

Laundry work on the farm was princ.i.p.ally hand labor until the small power washers and wringers were invented. Now a small electric motor takes the blue out of Monday, and the women wear smiles. Electric flatirons afford the greatest comfort on Tuesday. The proper heat is maintained continually until the last piece is ironed. Cooking by electricity is another great success. Some women buy separate cooking utensils, such as toasters, chafing dishes and coffee percolators.

Others invest in a regular electric cooking range at a cost of fifty dollars and feel that the money was well spent. It takes about 100 K.W.H. per month in hot weather to cook by electricity for a family of four. In winter, when heat is more of a luxury, the coal or wood range will save half of the electric current. Dishwashing by electricity is another labor-saver three times a day. Vacuum cleaners run by electricity take the dust and microbes out of floor rugs with less hand labor than pushing a carpet sweeper. Incubators are better heated by electricity than any other way. Brooders come under the same cla.s.s.

Sewing-machines were operated by electricity in sweatshops years ago--because it paid. Farm women are now enjoying the same privilege.

Electric lighting on the farm is the most spectacular, if not the most interesting result of electric generation in the country. This feature of the subject was somewhat overtaxed by talkative salesmen representing some of the pioneer manufacturers of electric lighting plants, but the business has steadied down. Real electric generating machinery is being manufactured and sold on its merits in small units.

Not many miles from Chicago there is an electric lighting plant on a dairy farm that is giving satisfaction. The stables are large and they are managed on the plan of milking early in the morning and again in the middle of the afternoon. The morning work requires a great deal of light in the different stables, more light than ordinary, because the milking is done by machinery. The milking machine air-pump is driven by electricity generated on the farm, the power being supplied by a kerosene engine.

Electricity on this farm is used in units, separate lines extending to the different buildings. The lighting plant is operated on what is known as the 32-volt system; the rating costs less to install than some others and the maintenance is less than when a higher voltage is used. I noticed also that there are fewer parts in connection with the plant than in other electric light works that I have examined.

Technical knowledge of electricity and its behavior under different circ.u.mstances is hardly necessary to a farmer, because the manufacturers have simplified the mechanics of electric power and lighting to such an extent that it is only necessary to use ordinary precaution to run the plant to its capacity.

At the same time it is just as well to know something about generators, switchboards and the meanings of such terms and names as volt, ampere, battery poles, voltmeter, ammeter, rheostat, discharge switch, underload circuit breaker, false fuse blocks, etc., because familiarity with these names, and the parts they represent gives the person confidence in charging the batteries. Such knowledge also supplies a reason for the one princ.i.p.al battery precaution, which is not to use out all of the electricity the batteries contain.

Those who have electric lighting plants on the farm do not seem to feel the cost of running the plants, because they use the engine for other purposes. Generally manufacturers figure about 1 H.P. extra to run a dynamo to supply from 25 to 50 lights. My experience with farm engines is that for ordinary farm work such as driving the cream separator, working the pump and grinding feed, a two-horse power engine is more useful than any other size. Farmers who conduct business in the usual way will need a three-horsepower engine if they contemplate adding an electric lighting system to the farm equipment.

Among the advantages of an electric lighting system is the freedom from care on the part of the women. There are no lamps to clean or broken chimneys to cut a finger, so that when the system is properly installed the only work the women have to do is to turn the switches to throw the lights on or off as needed.

The expense in starting a farm electric light plant may be a little more than some other installations, but it seems to be more economical in service when figured from a farmer's standpoint, taking into consideration the fact that he is using power for generating electricity that under ordinary farm management goes to waste.

A three-horsepower engine will do the same amount of work with the same amount of gasoline that a two-horsepower engine will do. This statement may not hold good when figured in fractions, but it will in farm practice. Also when running a pump or cream separator the engine is capable of doing a little extra work so that the storage batteries may be charged with very little extra expense.

On one dairy farm a five-horsepower kerosene engine is used to furnish power for various farm purposes. The engine is belted to a direct-current generator of the shunt-wound type. The generator is wired to an electric storage battery of 88 ampere hour capacity. The battery is composed of a number of separate cells. The cells are grouped together in jars. These jars contain the working parts of the batteries.

As each jar of the battery is complete in itself, any one jar may be cut out or another added without affecting the other units. The switchboard receives current either from the battery or from the engine and generator direct. There are a number of switches attached to the switchboard, which may be manipulated to turn the current in any direction desired.

Some provision should be made for the renewal of electric lamps. Old lamps give less light than new ones, and the manufacturers should meet customers on some kind of a fair exchange basis. Tungsten lamps are giving good satisfaction for farm use. These lamps are economical of current, which means a reduction of power to supply the same amount of light. The Mazda lamp is another valuable addition to the list of electric lamps.

The Wisconsin _Agriculturist_ publishes a list of 104 different uses for electricity on farms. Many of the electrical machines are used for special detail work in dairies where cheese or b.u.t.ter is made in quant.i.ty. Sugar plantations also require small units of power that would not apply to ordinary farming. Some of the work mentioned is extra heavy, such as threshing and cutting ensilage. Other jobs sound trivial, but they are all possible labor-savers. Here is the list:

"Oat crushers, alfalfa mills, horse groomers, horse clippers, hay cutters, clover cutters, corn sh.e.l.lers, ensilage cutters, corn crackers, branding irons, currying machines, feed grinders, flailing machines, live stock food warmers, sheep shears, threshers, grain graders, root cutters, bone grinders, hay hoists, clover hullers, rice threshers, pea and bean hullers, gas-electric harvesters, hay balers, portable motors for running threshers, fanning-mills, grain elevators, huskers and shredders, grain drying machines, binder motors, wheat and corn grinders, milking machines, sterilizing milk, refrigeration, churns, cream-separators, b.u.t.ter workers, b.u.t.ter cutting-printing, milk cooling and circulating pumps, milk clarifiers, cream ripeners, milk mixers, b.u.t.ter tampers, milk shakers, curd grinders, pasteurizers, bottle cleaners, bottle fillers, concrete mixers, cider mills, cider presses, spraying machines, wood splitters, auto trucks, incubators, hovers, telephones, electric bells, ice cutters, fire alarms, electric vehicles, electro cultures, water supply, pumping, water sterilizers, fruit presses, blasting magnetos, lighting, interior telephones, vulcanizers, pocket flash lights, ice breakers, grindstones, emery wheels, wood saws, drop hammers, soldering irons, glue pots, cord wood saws, egg testers, burglar alarms, bell ringing transformers, devices for killing insects and pests, machine tools, mola.s.ses heaters, vacuum cleaners, portable lamps to attract insects, toasters, hot plates, grills, percolators, flatirons, ranges, toilette articles, water heaters, fans, egg boilers, heating pads, dishwashers, washing machines, curling irons, forge blowers."

GASOLINE HOUSE LIGHTING

Gasoline gas for house lighting is manufactured in a small generator by evaporating gasoline into gas and mixing it with air, about 5 per cent gas and 95 per cent air. We are all familiar with the little bra.s.s gasoline torch heater that tinners and plumbers use to heat their soldering irons. The principle is the same.

There are three systems of using gasoline gas for farmhouse lighting purposes, the hollow wire, tube system, and single lamp system.

The hollow wire system carries the liquid gasoline through the circuit in a small pipe called a hollow wire. Each lamp on the circuit takes a few drops of gasoline as needed, converts it into gas, mixes the gas with the proper amount of air and produces a fine brilliant light. Each lamp has its own little generator and is independent of all other lamps on the line.

The tube system of gasoline gas lighting is similar in appearance, but the tubes are larger and look more like regular gas pipes. In the tube system the gas is generated and mixed with air before it gets into the distribution tube, so that lamps do not require separate generators.

In the separate lamp system each lamp is separate and independent. Each lamp has a small supply of gasoline in the base of the lamp and has a gas generator attached to the burner, which converts the gasoline into gas, mixes it with the proper amount of air and feeds it into the burner as required. Farm lanterns are manufactured that work on this principle.

They produce a brilliant light.

By investigating the different systems of gasoline gas lighting in use in village stores and country homes any farmer can select the system that fits into his home conditions to the best advantage. In one farmhouse the owner wanted gasoline gas street lamps on top of his big concrete gateposts, and this was one reason why he decided to adopt gasoline gas lighting and to use the separate lamp system.

ACETYLENE GAS

Acetylene lighting plants are intended for country use beyond the reach of city gas mains or electric cables. Carbide comes in lump form in steel drums. It is converted into gas by a generator that is fitted with clock work to drop one or more lumps into water as gas is needed to keep up the pressure. Acetylene gas is said to be the purest of all illuminating gases. Experiments in growing delicate plants in greenhouses lighted with acetylene seem to prove this claim to be correct.

The light also is bright, clear and powerful. The gas is explosive when mixed with air and confined, so that precautions are necessary in regard to using lanterns or matches near the generators. The expense of installing an acetylene plant in a farm home has prevented its general use.