TEE IRRIGATION AGE. 241 



of the pump for this purpose is very clear; yet strange as it may 

 seem, all sorts of queer ideas are entertained in relation to this sub- 

 ject, even among enlightened people. You never hear of any one 

 trying to run water "up hrll" in a ditch, but we have actually heard 

 intelligent people talk of doing things with pumps about as impossi- 

 ble; for instance, some have entertained the idea that power is of lit- 

 tle consequence in connection with the operation of pumps, and that 

 to raise water in large quantities a hundred feet or so requires but 

 .ittle if any expenditure of energy. Such an idea is of course much 

 like trying to raise yourself over a five board fence by pulling on 

 your boot straps. 



Every gallon of water weighs 8-J pounds, and it takes just as 

 much power to move that 8 pounds of water verytically upwards as 

 it does to move any other 8 pounds of dead weight the same distance 

 and same way, and if you raise it ten feet it will of course take ten 

 times as much power as to raise it one foot, at the same rate of speed; 

 and if you raise it one hundred feet it will take ten times as much 

 power as to raise it ten feet, and again, the power required increases 

 with rate of increase of speed, Water is a dead weight, it is heavy, 

 and if you are going to use it for irrigating you will require plenty of 

 it, and if you have to lift it some distance you must provide ample 

 power. 



Some who read this article may say that it is unnecessary to state 

 these self evident facts; perhaps it would not be necessary if the read- 

 ers were all people of practical experience with pumps, but the article 

 is not intended for those who know how 'tis done or how to do it, but 

 for those who are not experienced and who require some advice and 

 instruction to save them from the heavy expense of experimenting 

 with impracticable methods, 



To begin with it is important that your land should be located 

 where you have plenty of water not over 40 feet below the level of 

 your fields, if you intend to irrigate with pumps and raise field crops, 

 and it is vastly better if water in abundance can be fonnd not more 

 than ten feet below the level of your fields, as the difference in ex- 

 pense of raising the water ten feet as compared to raising it forty 

 feet, is very heavy indeed.. If you already have the land and it is 

 more than forty feet to water and you have decided to irrigate with 

 pumps, you had better sell out and buy again, where the conditions 

 are more favorable. You can, however, irrigate with pumps success- 

 fully and raise the water fifty or even one hundred feet, if you give 

 your attention to the raising of fruit and vegetables or some other 

 highly profitable crop. 



Unless you have a natural lake, river or creek to pump from the 

 first work in the construction .of a pumping plant will be the making 



