TALKS WITH PRACTICAL I RRI GATORS. 



IRRIGATION BY PUMPING. 



BY B. D. WHITE. 



THAT the results of timely and intelligent irriga- 

 tion are a rich blessing no well informed person 

 will either doubt or deny. 



It might be of interest to many to state the exact 

 distance that their pump carried this water 

 before discharging the same into reservoirs, 

 as well as how many hours during the average 

 day or week their wells can furnish the water 

 and their mills perform the work. These are 

 vital questions in determining the cost and feasibility 

 of an irrigating plant, and to me it seems that a mill 

 and pump of the capacity stated would exhaust a 

 much better well than the average in a very short 

 space of time. 



On this coast there are many thousands of first" 

 class mills that are used for raising water which is 

 devoted to stock, household, irrigating and other pur- 

 poses, and I venture the assertion that 98 per cent, 

 of them cannot perform or accomplish the results 

 claimed. Neither do we claim to possess any or- 

 dinary wells that are capable of furnishing a 

 stream of water equal to five or six miner's inches. 

 Now a miner's inch of water in 24 hours will 

 fill a tank of the capacity of 13,000 gallons. Re- 

 duce this to minutes and we have a flow of water 

 equal to a fraction over nine gallons. The product 

 of the miner's inch of water when properly stored 

 and used is deemed sufficient to irrigate ten acres of 

 fruit-bearing trees. The value of an inch of water, 

 perpetual flow, is rated from S100 to $1,000, according 

 to the locality where situated and the uses to which 

 it is put. In most cases the plants are owned and 

 managed by corporations, who deliver water at 

 points contiguous to their pipe lines, charging there- 

 for from $5 to 810 per acre for the season. 



On this coast, of the water used for irrigating pur- 

 poses, not one-tenth of one per cent, of the whole 

 amount is produced through the agency of windmill 

 power. But will it pay a person living within the 

 arid belts of Nebraska to invest in an irrigating 

 plant where water is to be raised by one or more 

 windmills? To answer this question in its varied 

 ramifications would require the intelligence ot an 

 oracle, as well as considerable time and space. 

 Wind, like rain, is an uncertain element, and a good 

 supply of the former you must have if you would 

 obtain good results from your investment and labor. 

 Consider (1) the supply of water that your well is 

 capable of furnishing, (2) the force and reliability of 

 the motive power to be used, (3) the total cost of 

 your plant, and (4) your market advantages. In 

 other words, charge to expense account a liberal 

 amount for interest on the whole cost of your plant, 



as well as a reasonable amount for wear and tear 

 Charge also the amount your labor would bring if 

 sold to a thrifty farmer. In brief, charge up all out- 

 goes. On the other hand, carry to your credit 

 page the market value of your whole yield of prod- 

 ucts, and if it happens to have been a dry year, also 

 credit your plant what the rainfall (which you do 

 not receive) would have been worth to you. Add up 

 your two columns of figures and the difference be- 

 tween the two amounts will determine how much you 

 will be able to blow in for some of the comforts of 

 life that are not of frequent occurrence when looked 

 for through the benign influence of old Jupiter-Plu- 

 vius. 



To those who design building irrigating plants, 

 I would say: First, ascertain if the necessary 

 amount of water can be obtained and at what 

 cost. If the cost does not blacken the eye of the 

 looked for advantages, it will be well to contract with 

 responsible parties for whatever you may require, 

 paying for the same only on delivery of the goods. 

 Talk is cheap, and the amount of wind contained 

 within the lungs of a windmill man is sometimes ade- 

 quate to the turning of his mill, but the water still 

 remains in the bottom of the well. 



By means of a walking-beam attachment I am en- 

 abled to employ the services of two mills that work 

 two 4-inch pumps, and lift water from the bottom of 

 a never failing well that is 100 feet in depth. One 

 mill is 12 feet in diameter and the other 8 feet, and 

 both work independently of each other. My storage 

 facilities are ample. First tank fills second tank, 

 thence to the reservoir, which is 300 feet distant from 

 the tank house. I irrigate about three acres of vines 

 and trees, and conduct water to three different house- 

 holds. With a greater supply of water returns would 

 be more satisfactory. 



Had I occasion to put in another plant, before com- 

 mencing to do so I would first fully investigate the 

 virtues and adaptability of gasoline engines. I am 

 led to believe that in many respects and under .cer- 

 tain circumstances they are the better of the two sys- 

 tems. In my case there is no consolation in knowing 

 that the water which I need is 100 feet below me, my 

 mills stationary and above me, and sportive wind- 

 king jEolus killing time ogling sea nymphs at Santa 

 Monica or some other festive water resort. 



It is said that "there is no cheaper power 

 on earth than windmills." Under certain cir- 

 cumstances and conditions, and up to a certain 

 limit, this claim and statement is seasoned with 

 a morsel of truth. What looks like reasonable 

 and intelligent theory will, when reduced to a partial 

 application, oftentimes prove to be more chimerical 

 than real. Therefore, " Look before you leap." 



