37 



MASSACIIISETTS. 



No. 4"). Tlu' lai'f^ost iiTiii;atetl farms iiivestip;atc(l were in the vicinity 

 of Boston. Frank ("oolidi^c, of Middlcsox County, irrigates 100 acres 

 of truck land with water pumped from several open i)ottoni wells 2\ 

 to 4 inches in diameter and 20 to 30 feet deep. The water in the wells 

 stands 9 feet below the surface and is lowered 2 feet when i)umpin}2; at 

 full capacity. The boiler plant, which is used for heating in the win- 

 ter, consists of three 14-foot horizontal boilers, supplying steam at 90 

 pounds to two direct-acting steam pum})s. Water is delivered at a 

 pressure of 85 to 100 j)ounds. The plant uses 2^ tons of soft coal in 

 ten hours, one num attending to the j)lant. The plant is usually oper- 

 ated from 7 a. m. to 6 p. m., although occasionally when the weather 

 is very dry it is run twenty-four hours. 



One ant! one-fourth inch rubber hose is used in lengths of 100 feet, 

 with fan-sha|)ed nozzles. The combined capacity of the i)umps is suf- 

 ficient for S nozzles. The hose is fed through 1', -inch valves ))lace(l 

 every 60 feet in the distributing pipe. The i)ij)ing is all laid on top 

 of the grountl and is taken up in the winter. The distributing pipe 

 where it leaves the pumping station is 4 inches in diameter, and it 

 reduces in size at various parts of the farm down to Ij inches. The 

 large pump is sullicient to supi)ly five hose streams and the smaller 

 ])unip three. 



The soil consists of a light santly loam 10 inches deep, with a sandy 

 subsoil. One man with a hose can irrigate 0.9 acre in a day. Occa- 

 sionally water is distributed in furrows, the cpiantity of water used 

 being twice a;5 great as when the hose is used. The furrows are 50 to 

 150 feet long, averaging 6 feet apart. Two to four crops are usually 

 grown on the same land in a year, and sometimes five. Irrigation 

 sometimes saves the loss of an entire crop. The cost of the plant was 

 about $7,000. 



No. 46. W. W. Rawson, of Middlesex County, irrigates 40 acres by 

 pumping from 4-incli open bottom wells 85 feet deep. Three pump- 

 ing stations have been installed for supplying water, in each of which 

 is a 4-inch well and a 48-inch by 13-foot horizontal boiler, which sup- 

 plies steam under 60 pounds pressure to a steam pump. The well 

 water stands 10 feet below the ground and is lowered 6 feet when the 

 pumps are operated at 50 strokes per minute, delivering 55 gahons per 

 minute each. The maximum total lift is 40 feet. The water flows 

 through 1,000 feet of 4-inch and 1,000 feet of 3-inch main pipe. The 

 laterals used are 2h inch and IJ-inch pipe. Each plant consumes 1 

 ton of soft coal at $4, in a twelye-hour run. Forty to 50 tons are 

 l)urned in the three plants in a season. The cost of labor is $1.75 per 

 day. The total cost of the plant was $3,000. The hose sprinkling sys- 

 tem is usually employed. Sometimes the furrow system is used, each 

 pump suppl3dng two 2^-inch hose streams. Two hundred gallons per 



