222 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



(lu> niiimifiU'turors in:iy know wIumi and where iiMclioii ('ii»i;inos can 

 he economically employed for farm cultivation. 



The windmill has heen used for years for pumpin^^ |)nri)oses on the 

 American farm, hut for other power purposes it is hardly built stronj^ 

 enough to he of much value. There is an enormous amount of energy 

 ^^oin^ to waste with the movement of the wind, which in the semiarid 

 retijion of the West could he utilized in |)umpin<; water for ii'ri<;ation, 

 if suitable windmills were constructcti to utilize the full i)ower of the 

 wind. In order to do this it will be necessary to invent some auto- 

 matic arranofcment which will \ary the len_<>th of the stroke of the 

 piston with the velocity of the wind. P^xperiments are now l)eing 

 conducted with several different makes of windmills in the Western 

 States to determine what can be done with Avindmill irri<j:ation. 



The subject of i)ower for the American farm is now in the tran- 

 sition period. Where formerly all the farm Avork was done by the 

 horses and an occasional windmill for pumping water, the gasoline 

 engine is now rapidly hnding favor as a farm motor, and its useful- 

 ness can be greatl.y extended in doing much of the disagreeable work 

 on the farm. The farmers need information on methods of installing 

 their power plants so that the}^ may use these motors economically 

 and to the best advantage. 



Numerous and conflicting statements are made as to the amount of 

 gasoline used per horsepower hour, and not enough information, from 

 actual tests, is available from which the users of these engines may 

 know the cost of producing power. An investigation of this sub- 

 ject will be of great value both to the farmer and the manufacturers. 

 AVitli the introduction of the gasoline engine comes an increase in 

 price of gasoline, which now costs the consumer almost double what it 

 did a few years ago, and the producers claim that the demand will 

 soon exceed the supply. It is therefore of the utmost importance 

 to find some other fuel to take the place of gasoline in internal-com- 

 bustion engines. That Germany has investigated this problem to 

 the great advantage of her farmers is indicated by the following 

 extract from a consular report by Frank H. Mason : 



Germany has no natural gas wells or native petroleum supply. When, some 

 years ago, the question of adopting motor carriages for militai-y purposes was 

 under discussion, it was remarked by the officials of the war department that 

 kerosene and gasoline engines could only be operated with one or the other of 

 the products of petroleum, which is not produced in (Germany, and the supply of 

 which might, in case of war, be wholly cut off. But the broad s.mdy plains of 

 northern Germany produce in ordinary years cheap and abundant crops of ])ota- 

 toes, from which is easily manufactured, by processes so simi)Ie as to be within 

 the capacity of every farmer, a vast (juantity of raw alcohol. German inventors 

 and scientists have been busy with improvements la the processes of machinery 

 and distilleries. New and highly perfected motors, laniijs, and cooking and heat- 

 ing apparatus have been devised and put into use, until crude alcohol is becoming 

 one of the most widely utilized products of GermaJi industry. 



