690 EXPERIMENT STATION" RECOED. 



Rancbes dependent upon so high a lift should be devoted to high-priced crops, 

 such as orchard fruits and vegetables, or to crops whose water requirements 

 are low, such as millet, sorghums, corn, and sugar beets. Not over one-fourth 

 of the acreage should be used for alfalfa. Electric power at the rates pre- 

 scribed by the Arizona Corporation Commission is much more costly than the 

 use of oil engines. The largest item of cost is the fixed charges. In order to 

 reduce these charges the plant should be used all possible. Never shut down 

 at noon or at night through the irrigating season from March to July. One 

 pumping plant should serve two or more ranches." 



Testing small centrifugal pumps, M. R. Blish {Power, 41 (1915), No. 11, 

 pp. 370-373, figs. 7). — Methods and apparatus for making capacity tests of 

 centrifugal pumps are described find the apparatus is illustrated. 



Sizes of motors driving centrifugal pumps, E. M. Marshall {Power, 40 

 (1914), A'o. 11, pp. 383, 384, fig- 1)- — The calculations necessary for determining 

 the proper size of motor to drive a centrifugal pump under given conditions of 

 delivery and head are outlined and a chart for simplifying these calculations 

 is given. 



A graphical process for choosing the electrical drive for pumps, M. Gaze 

 (Jour. Gasheleucht., 51 (1914), pp. 726-730, figs. 11; abs. in Wasser u. Abwasser, 

 9 (1914), No. 2, p. 44). — A graphical process for facilitating the choice of 

 electrical driving equipment for pumping machinery is described. 



Electricity for the farm, F. I. Anderson (Netc York: The Macmillan Co., 

 1915, pp. XXIII +265, pis. 8, figs. 42). — This book is intended primarily to give 

 the farmer a practical working knowledge of electricity for use as light, heat, 

 and power on the farm. It is divided into three parts with reference to power 

 sources, namely, water power; electricity; and gasoline engines, windmills, etc. 

 The following chapters are included: A working plant; a little prospecting; 

 how to measure water power; the water wheel and how to install it; the 

 dynamo, what it does, and how ; what size plant to install ; transmission lines ; 

 wiring the house; the electric plant at work ; gasoline-engine plants; the storage 

 battery ; and battery-charging devices. 



Electro-culture {Set. Anier. Sup., 79 (1915), No. 2051, pp. 258, 259).— This is 

 a resume of the literature and a summary of facts from scattered sources. 



It has been found that the experiments of the past fall naturally into five 

 classes, differing principally in the method of application of electrical energy. 

 These are (1) illumination by electric light, (2) conduction of atmospheric 

 electricity from an elevated collector to an electrode in the soil or to discharge 

 points above the plants, (3) constituting the soil the electrolyte of a voltaic 

 cell by burying in it two plates of dissimilar metal connected by a conductor, 

 (4) passing current from an external source through the soil between elec- 

 trodes buried therein, and (5) production of a silent or glow discharge through 

 the air from overhead antennae to the soil. 



" The impression gained from the literature of electro-culture is that the 

 last word is by no means said. From the nature of the publications it would 

 appear that the individual investigations have been too cursory. There has 

 been too little systematic variation of conditions, and especially of the elec- 

 trical conditions. It seems highly desirable that a much more extensive 

 investigation, providing the possibilitiy of trying different intensities of elec- 

 trification under various conditions of cultivation, irrigation, etc., all during 

 the same season, should be carried out. It is significant that the only investi- 

 gator to attempt an extended examination of the field was able to locate and 

 eliminate many faults in his method, and thus obtain good results in the end 

 in almost every case, often reversing his previous experience." 



