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324 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
MAKING A RESERVOIR FOR WINDMILL IRRIGATION. 
(Selected.) 
Wind pump irrigation will be depended upon more and more 
wherever the rainfall is apt to be deficient. The accompanying 
illustration, taken from a photograph, represents a section of one 
of the many reservoirs in Mead County in southwest Kansas 
which have been used satisfactorily for sometime. The pump is 
larger than the average in this locality, having a 12-inch cylinder, 
a 12-inch discharge pipe and a 10-inch stroke; it lifts the water 14 feet 
at the rate of 175 gallons per minute. 
The preparation of the 
reservoir is most impor- 
tant, and in order to 
assist any who contem- 
plate such an addition 
to their farm improve- 
ments, I will tell how I 
made mine. Selecta site 
higher than the ground 
to be watered. Lay 
out the reservoir corres- 
ponding in capacity to 
the power of the pump. 
The pump must be 
capable of filling it in 
two or three days. Re- 
move all sod, placing it 
beyond the limits of the 
walls. Do not use it in 
forming the embank- 
ment. Then plow and 
scrape, dumping where 
the wall of the reservoir 
iswanted. Continue 
until the work is completed, driving over the wall. Leave the inside 
sloping so the waves will not injure it. When the excavation is of 
the desired size, plow the bottom and pulverize thoroughly. Hitch 
a team to a block, road scraper or other suitable object, turn in the 
water and begin to puddle by driving along one edge and continu- 
ing until the whole surface is puddled. This will cause a precipita- 
tion of sediment which will fill the pores of the soil and enable it 
to hold water quite well. The bottom will then be 12 to18 inches 
lower than the surface of the ground outside, but that much water 
must always be left in the reservoir to preserve the puddling, for if 
it gets dry or freezes the work must be done over again. If the 
reservoir is small, say 30x50 x3 feet, some dirt for the wall must be 
obtained from the outside. An outlet can be made of four 2-inch 
planks long enough to reach through the wall. Saw the inner edge 
sloping and provide it with a valve made of 2-inch board, and on 
the same principle as the valve in an ordinary pump.—American 
Agriculturist. 
