THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



311 



considerably and this, together with the ease and rapid- 

 ity with which it is laid, has much to do with its pop- 

 ularity. Wooden pipe is not considered a cheap sub- 

 stitute for cast iron, for it compares most favorably 

 with cast iron. In addition to its comparative cheap- 

 ness over cast iron it possesses the advantage of keeping 

 clean inside, whereas iron pipe becomes covered with 



Fig. 12. Wheel on Lost River, Idaho. 



large tuberculations growing to the size of a walnut 

 which in time naturally retard the discharging capacity 

 of the pipe. 



The fittings for machine banded pipe are made of 

 cast iron and are protected by a heavy coating of 

 asphaltum. So far as stave pipe is concerned, when 

 it is well burned there is no danger of the wood rotting. 

 The danger is confined to the corrosion of the bands. 



The larger sizes of wood pipe are known as con- 

 tinuous stave pipe and in size it ranges from ten inches 

 to ten feet in diameter and from 100 feet to 100 miles 

 in length. This pipe is especially adapted for general 

 irrigation work and water power systems. This pipe 

 will carry water where fluming can not be considered. 

 Inverted siphons are found more economical than a 

 high trestle which carries the ordinary flume, to say 

 nothing of the danger of the action of the elements 

 upon the trestles, such as high winds, freshets when 

 they cross river heds and other dangers. Continuous 

 stave pipe can be made to carry water direct to the 

 place it is desired the water to go. It is not necessary 

 to wind it on an easy grade around a mountain side, 

 as it is a flume, for it can be placed along the hill 

 sides -without regard to elevation or grade wherever 

 there happens to be a natural foundation. 



It is as durable as the best cast iron pipe and its 

 carrying capacity is greater than cast iron or steel 

 because it is smoother inside and remains smooth. 



The following simple table furnished the writer 

 by the National Wood Pipe Company, of San Fran- 

 cisco, shows the economy of wood pipe. The table is 

 based on 6 per cent interest compounded annually on 

 the difference in cost between wood and cast iron pipe. 



.. 





 **' 



<4 



Continuous stave pipe, as the name implies, is 

 always built continuously in place. The material which 

 is shipped in knocked down form, consists of wooden 

 staves, wooden tongues in boxes, straight steel rods in 

 "1 bundles, and cast iron shoes or clips in boxes or barrels. 

 I The stave ends are slotted and joined together by means 

 of a patent oak tongue. These oak tongues being of 

 the same substance as the staves, swell and make a 

 perfectly tight joint when wet, and do not corrode 

 or rust. 



While wooden pipe was used in Boston from 1652 

 until 1796 before iron pipe came into use, it is only 

 comparatively recently that wood pipe has become per- 

 fected. Though it has been pushed in the background 

 during the development of iron and steel pipe, it is 

 being recognized by leading engineers as fully equal, if 

 not superior, to cast iron and steel. Particularly is 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 1 year, and The Primer of Irrigation 



Fig. 13. Lifting Device for Current Wheel on Lost River, Idaho. 



this true where the soil is of adohe or alkaline in nature 

 and when water is mineral or aciduated. 



The irrigation and development of water in the 

 West and Southwest, particularly, will greatly stimu- 

 late this industry, which seems to have reached a very 

 promising stage. 



