THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



105 



PRICES OF CEMENT HEAD FLUMES. 



Volume of 



mortT per Price 



linear foot 



Cubic feet. 



0.35 $0.16 



.40 .18 



.50 .20 



.72 .22 . 



.82 .25 



After a flume is made, and before the mortar be- 

 comes hard, small tubes from three-fourths to one and 

 a half inches in diameter, the size depending somewhat 

 on the size of the flume, are inserted in the side next 

 to the orchard. These tubes may be of tin or gal- 

 vanized iron, and each has a small slide gate in the 

 form shown in Fig. 16. There should be as many tubes 

 between the rows of trees as there are furrows. 



On medium or steep slopes the water in the flume 

 flows at a high rate of speed, which lowers the head 



head ditches. These pipes are too common to need 

 any detailed description. They are placed deep enough 

 not to interfere with plowing, but seldom more than 

 two feet beneath the surface, and various contrivances 

 have been designed, some of which are controlled t>y 

 patents, to distribute the water to a large number of 

 furrows in nearly equal and constant streams. 



A practice lately introduced in citrus orchards is 

 to distribute the water from the cement pipes by means 

 of short standpipes of the same material which ter- 

 minate in semicircular basins of cement mortar. Each 

 basin has about six holes in the curved portion, 

 through which water is fed to the furrows. The water 

 may be turned on or off by operating a small rubber- 

 faced valve, which is fitted over the top of the stand- 

 pipe and is flush with the bottom of the basin. 



The present (March 1, '1904) prices of cement 

 pipe of different sizes at Los Angeles, Cal., are as 

 given in the following table: 



Fig. 2 Distributing Water with Canvas Hose, 



over each opening and lessens the discharge to the fur- 

 row. This difficulty is readily overcome by inserting 

 one or more short pieces of laths in grooves made by 

 a trowel when the mortar is soft. These low checks 

 are put in on an angle, so as to crowd the water toward 

 the opening in the tube. 



Head Flumes of Cement Concrete. These flumes 

 are made of materials which closely resemble the or- 

 dinary concrete of engineering structures. One part of 

 the best Portland cement to six parts of sand and gravel 

 is the usual mixture. It is laid in place across the 

 head of the tract to be watered in sections of about 

 twelve feet. Special molds are designed to hold the 

 concrete in place until it partially sets, when the molds 

 are removed. A flume of this kind is shown in Fig. 

 17. By comparing the dimensions of this 10-inch 

 flume with a similar size of the kind previously de- 

 scribed it will be seen that the latter contains more 

 material of decidedly greater strength. These advan- 

 tages are offset by greater cost. 



For distributing the water from the flume, to a 

 large number of furrows, devices somewhat similar to 

 those already described under the head of cement mor- 

 tar flumes are used. 



Cement Pipes. Both cement and salt-glazed vit- 

 rified pipes are occasionally used in place of earthen 



PRICES OF CEMENT PIPE AT LOS ANGELES, CAL. 



Price per Weight 



Thickness 

 foot per loot 



Pounds. 



Inside 

 diameter 



of pipe 

 Inches. 



Thickness 

 Inches. 



4 $0.05 1 13 



5 065 1 . 16 



6 08 1 1-16 20 



7 10 li/ 8 25 



8 125 11,4 31 



10 17 13/s 44 



12 21 iy 2 57 



14 25 1% 68 



The above prices are for cement pipe composed 

 of one part Portland cement to three parts sand. Other 

 makers use one to four and increase the thickness of 

 the walls. "Last January (1904) a Riverside firm was 

 selling pipe of the latter composition at the following 

 prices : 



PRICES OF CEMENT PIPE AT RIVERSIDE, CAL. 



Diameter 

 of pipe 

 Inches. 



6.. 



10. 

 12. 

 14. 



Prce per 

 joint 



$0.12 

 .16 

 .26 

 .31 

 .40 



Price per 

 foot 



$0.06 

 .08 



.13 



.155 

 .20 



