68 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



What Is "Horsepower." 



/ have been told that a horsepower is just the same on all kinds of 

 engines, and that a 20 horsepower automobile, if harnessed for it, could 

 do the same work as 20 horsepozver stationary engine. I would like 

 to know if this is true. 



Yes : whether it be a draft animal, or an engine, or a gale of wind, 

 or a kicking burro, or a stick of dynamite, it is a theoretical horsepower 

 if it can lift 33,000 pounds one foot high in one minute ; actual horse- 

 power, however, is whatever horsepower is really developed as proved 

 by trial. Whether you can use a thing able to do this, under certain 

 conditions, depends upon the working requirements of the machine or 

 agency and its environment. The tides of the ocean have more horse- 

 power than all other earthly motors combined, but to cultivate a row of 

 corn we would rather have a lame mule. 



What a 2-Inch Well May Do. 



Is it possible to pump water out of a 2-inch cased well fast enough 

 to water 10 acres of young fig trees? 



It depends upon how good your pump is and whether there is plenty 

 of water in the well ; also whether your soil will carry water well in a 

 furrow, or whether it will only run a few feet and sink out of sight. 

 Supposing the pump is good, the well wet, the soil furrow fit to carry 

 water, and the trees blocked up and not stretched out Indian-file, you 

 can surely irrigate ten acres of young deciduous trees in one or two fur- 

 rows to the row as many times as the trees need it providing the rest 

 of the land is idle and kept well cultivated. If you have to fill checks 

 or if you wish to irrigate inter-crops, you would need a reservoir or a 

 larger well and pump, or both, perhaps. In the former case your head- 

 ditch should be a flume or a pipe, so as not to lose water before it gets 

 to the furrow heads. As your trees get larger you will probably need a 

 larger well and pump. 



Work and Cost of Pumping Plant. 



/ have a bored well cased, seven inches in diameter, 100 feet deep; 

 abundant supply. What is the best method of obtaining the greatest 

 supply? What horsepower engine and what sort of pump, also prob- 

 able cost? 



To answer this one should know the distance at which the water 

 stands in the well when not being pumped. Also the amount of water 

 that is needed, if for domestic purposes, or the number of acres of land, 

 if for irrigation. In either case it is simply a matter of size of pump and 

 size of engine, which is controlled by the amount of money the owner 

 wishes to invest. Water for domestic supply can be accomplished by a 

 lift pump at the rate of from 15 to 70 gallons a minute. The cost is 

 controlled by the number of feet the water has to be raised and the 

 number of gallons per minute required. If a lift pump, several parts 



