-54 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



MAKING A RESERVOIR FOR WINDMILL IRRIGATION. 



IND-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 Meade County in south-west Kansas 

 which have been used satisfactorily for some time. The pump 

 is larger than the average in this locality, having a 12-inch cylinder, 

 a 12-inch discharge pipe and a lo-inch stroke ; it lifts the water 

 14 feet at the rate of 175 gallons per minute. 



The preparation of the reservoir is most important, and in order to assist 

 any who contemplate such an addition to their farm improvements, I will tell 

 how I made mine. Select a site higher than the ground to be watered. Lay 

 out the reservoir corresponding in capacity to the power of the pump. The 

 pump must be capable of filling it in two or three days. Remove all sod, placing 

 it beyond the limits of the walls. Do not use it in forming the embankment. 

 Then plow and scrape, dumping 

 where the wall of the reservoir 

 is wanted. Continue until the 

 work is completed, driving over 

 the wall. Leave the inside slop- 

 ing 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 con- 

 tinuing until the whole surface is 

 puddled. This will cause a pre- 

 cipitation of sediment which will 

 fill the pores of the soil and en- 

 able it to hold water quite well. 

 The bottom will then be 12 to 

 18 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 end 

 sloping and provide it with a valve made of 2-inch board, and on the same 

 [irinciple as the valve in an ordinary pump. — American Agriculturist. 



Irrigation by Wind Power. 



