PUMPING FOR IRRIGATION 43 



Horizontal Windmills. Devices based upon the overshot- wheel 

 principle are used to some extent on this coast, but the summer 

 winds at the ground surface are usually too light to operate them 

 well. In its simplest form this windmill consists of four boards, 

 about seven feet long, fastened to long arms projecting from an 

 axle, which has bearings on two strong posts or a framework. The 

 wind only strikes the upper part of the wheel, the lower part being 

 inclosed by a board fence. In a slight breeze the mill revolves about 

 twenty revolutions per minute, but in a good, 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 usually 

 cite engines in operation in different localities where their perform- 

 ances can be personally ascertained. 



Electric Pumping. Recently the extension of power lines in 

 nearly all directions in California has made electric energy available 

 for garden pumping and efficient motors at low cost are offered. 

 Handlers of such machinery are always ready to demonstrate the 

 quality and cost of their appliances and they are being widely used. 



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 

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

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

 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 instance, 

 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 



