THE IRRIGATION A GE. 337 



the same level, and as the water is lowered proportionately in the 

 other two, this gives a large reservoir from which to pump. 



The power equipment is a Fairbanks-Morse gasoline driven en- 

 gine. The engine is located in the small building at the upper right 

 hand corner of the basin and can be seen directly from the front of 

 the door, which in this case is simply an arch way ; windows and doors 

 not being necessary. The pump is a centrifugal pump having a 5 

 inch suction and a 4 inch discharge. The water is lifted 1.2 meters 

 or about 3.95 feet. The pump when operated at its normal speed has 

 a capacity of 450 gallons of water per minute. In each 10 hours this 

 plant irrigates a tract of land of about 20 acres. 



For ordinary farm lands in the States a plant with a capacity as 

 above would irrigate from 50 to 70 acres. The difference in require- 

 ments between the Mexican irrigation and that in the States is due to 

 the different character of the soil and the extreme heat. 



The plant herein described is rather novel on account of the ar- 

 ranging of the basins and the collection of water from the lands that 

 are visited by rain and then distributing it to the portions of land 

 which are best adapted to the raising of garden truck. 



The irrigation which we are all more or less familiar with, such 

 as the irrigation in Texas where large tracts of rice land are kept 

 flooded with water for certain periods during the growth, conditions 

 are very much different from those in Mexico. In order to get water 

 in Texas it is only necessary to sink a well and the. water will rise 

 within a few feet of the level ground and it is then o^y necessary to 

 dig a small ditch and attach to the well a centrifugal pump locating 

 the engine conveniently on the ground above, and such plants are 

 generally equipped with a No. 6 centrifugal pump and a 16 or 22 en- 

 gine, using gasoline or crude oil for fuel. 



Owing to the recent discovery of crude oil in Texas the item of 

 irrigating in that section has reduced itself to simp^ a matter of en- 

 gineering to install the proper machinery which will handle the re- 

 quired amount of water and do it successfully and reliably. The 

 matter of expense is nominal when the engine is fitted with crude oil 

 attachment using the natural crude oil just as it leaves the well, and 

 this oil is now sold so cheaply that the expense of operating a 20- 

 horse power engine would be only from 20 to 40 cents per day. 



Quite a number of these crude oil burning engines were in daily 

 operation this season supplying water to rice fields, and so far as we 

 know the first successful oil burning engines to be introduced in this 

 country, of American make. Various attemps have bsen made to 

 use the crude oil as it comes from the walls, but on account of the 

 heavy residue it has not been entirely satisfactory, until recently. 



Arrangements are now being made to ship the Texas crude oil in- 



