344 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Three farmhouses, suited to Northern conditions. 



General barn, suited to conditions prevailing in the North Atlantic States. 



Horse barn of general application. 



Combined machinery and wagon shed and shops. 



A study has been made and data collected relating to the hog- 

 raising industry and equipment necessary thereto on the various 

 reclamation projects in the West; preliminary drawings for several 

 types of buildings have been prepared. 



RURAL ENGINEERING PROBLEMS INVOLVING MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES. 



Numerous requests for information and advice relating to the 



following subjects have received attention, in man}' cases requiring 



considerable research : 



Electric lighting plants for farms, 



Ice and refrigerator houses for farms. 



Refrigeration systems. 



Residential heating plants. 



The generation of power on the farm. 



The use and operation of windmills. 



Operation and internal-combustion engines — gas and oil. 



Application of various fuels for internal-combustion engines. 



Concrete design and waterproofing. 



Electric cooking, lighting, and heating. 



Farm machinery. 



Hydroelectric power plants for farms. 



Windmill electric plants for farms. 



Investigations of thrasher explosions have been conducted in co- 

 operation with the Bureau of Chemistry throughout the wheat-grow- 

 ing districts of the Northwest, Avith a view to determining the exact 

 causes of such fires and the means for overcoming the trouble. As the 

 result an automatic fire extinguisher for thrashing machines has been 

 designed and has proven very effective. In response to requests, 

 about 300 sets of plans of this extinguisher have been sent to owners 

 and operators of thrashing outfits. 



A device has been prepared for determining the draw-bar horse- 

 power of tractors. 



TRACTION TESTS. 



The object of the traction tests which have been continued through- 

 out the year is to determine the actual effect of road improvement on 

 draft and also the effect of width of tire. 



The dynamometer that was wrecked in a collision with a locomo ■ 

 ' tive has been rebuilt with slight improvements in design and refine- 

 ments in construction. Preliminary and final tests have been run on 

 the post roads in Virginia, South Carolina, Maine, Maryland, Texas. 

 Iowa, Alabama, Mississippi, and Ohio. These projects range from 

 5 to 75 miles in length. The reports for all of these projects are 

 either completed or in process of compilation. Two final tests are yet 

 to be made, one in North Carolina and one in Iowa. 



Several tests have been conducted with the torsion dynamometer 

 designed in the office and attached to the propeller shaft of a 6-cyl- 

 inder automobile. 



A complete set of drawings of the redesigned dynamometer have 

 been prepared, and have been furnished on request to several manu- 

 facturers of tractive machinery and trailers who are contemplating 

 the construction of such apparatus for testing their products. 



