LIFTING WATER 



53 



stiff gale it flies so fast that a sliding board must be raised to shut 

 off the wind. The wheel is connected with the plunger of the 

 pump by means of a crank at one end of the axle. 



Gasoline and Crude Oil Engines. These devices have been 

 greatly improved during the last few years and are now being 

 largely employed for water lifting for irrigation. There are sev- 

 eral manufacturers in California, the fuel is very cheap here and 

 this, in connection with ease with which the engines are managed, 

 constitute them most economical and satisfactory agencies for 

 pumping. The manufacturers give full information and can usu- 

 ally cite engines in operation in different localities where their 

 performances can be personally ascertained. 



Steam Engines Pumping plants of great capacity operating 

 by steam power are also in use for irrigation. Large vegetable 

 growing enterprises render considerable investment in these lines 

 profitable. Their construction and operation are, however, rather 

 beyond the scope of this work. The advice of a mechanical engi- 

 neer should be secured in all large undertakings. 



The Chinese Pump. A water-lifting device which is very ef- 

 fective for a short lift, as from a ditch or stream to adjoining 

 lands, is the Chinese pump, which has long been in use in Cali4 

 fornia. It is a modified "Persian wheel," and is so simple that it 

 can be home-made with old threshing machine gearing or other 

 mechanical junk. It consists of an endless belt working like the 

 "elevator" or "straw carrier" of a threshing machine. For in- 

 stance, take an old machine belt eight inches wide and twenty 

 feet long or sew together strong canvas to make one. Make a 

 box or trough about nine feet long, eight inches wide and six 

 inches deep inside measurement, with no ends nor cover. Rig 

 at each end of this box a wheel or pulley over which the endless 

 belt can run. Fasten to the belt a few inches apart, blocks scant 

 eight inches long and four inches wide, so that the belt will have 

 a flat surface on one side and the other crossed with the blocks. 

 When this is placed in the box and over the pulleys at each end 

 fasten the box securely in an inclined position with the lower end 

 in the water, turn the upper pulley by a hand crank or a small 

 belt from a source of power and the blocks will elevate the water 

 and shoot it out from the top of the box in fine style. For a 

 short lift this apparatus discharges quite a large volume of water 

 with comparatively little power. 



