The Constructioiv of Irrigation Plants 



WHAT seems to be a good system 

 of irrigation and one which is 

 favorably reported upon by some 

 of the correspondents from whom letters 

 have been received, is the Skinner Sys- 

 tem (The Skinner Irrigation Co., Troy, 

 Ohio). This system provides for both 

 green-house and outside irrigation. It 

 is really a method of overhead sprink- 

 ling. For outside use galvanized iron 

 pipes are used to convey the water. 

 These are supported on upright posts 

 high enough to permit of cultivating 

 underneath, or about six feet above 

 ground. In the galvanized iron water 

 pipes are set nozzles about four feet apart 

 or more, depending on the kind of nozzle 

 used, the company supplying nozzles and 

 machine for drilling the pipe to insert 

 the nozzles. The lines of pipes with 

 nozzles are from forty to sixty feet apart, 

 depending on local conditions. The water 

 is applied in the form of a spray through 

 the nozzles and is said to be distributed 

 very uniformly, if the plant is well in- 

 stalled. The company claims that "The 

 initial cost is less than that of any other 

 system of irrigation for an equal area ; 

 the power required for pumping is a 

 minimum ; no water is wasted, and the 

 entire irrigation is accomplished with a 

 very slight amount of labor." The com- 

 pany informs me, that the average cost 

 of installation is $125 an acre. 



Bulletin 87 of the Office of Experiment 

 Stations, Washington, D. C, on "Irri- 

 gation in New Jersey" gives more in- 

 formation in regard to the irrigation of 

 vegetables and small fruits in eastern 

 .America than we have been able to get 

 from any other source. The following 

 description of a plant used in New Jersey 

 in 1900 should prove interesting. The 

 cost of engines and other items of ex- 

 pense will have changed some since that 

 time, but the difference should not be 

 very material. 



"The irrigation practised in the east 

 so far has been on a small scale. Plants 

 capable of irrigating six to eight acres 

 are the rule. In the following paragraphs 

 a small plant recently installed is des- 

 cribed in detail as to construction and 

 cost, in order that those interested may 

 determine from the data given whether 

 under their conditions the installation of 

 plants will prove profitable investments. 



A PLANT AT VINELAND, N. J. 



"The irrigation works of Mr. George 

 A. Mitchell, Vineland, N. J., (Mr. 

 Mitchell's plant is not in operation now. 

 — W. T. M.) consisted originally of 2.5 

 horsepower gasoline engine, a single-act- 

 ing force pump and delivery pipe, con - 



'A portion of a paper read at the last convention of 

 the Ontario Vegetable Urovvcrs' Association. The first 

 instalment appeared in the January issue. The experi- 

 ences of other Krowers in the eastern states and Canada 

 will be published in later issues. 



W. T. Macoun, Horticulturist, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa 



sisting of a 2.5 inch wrought-iron pipe, 

 and condemned fire hose, and home-made 

 distributing hose of tarred duck cloth. 

 The engine and pump were enclosed in a 

 building near the bank of a creek, a ditch 

 leading the water to a pump. The water 

 was then pumped 693 feet to the highest 

 point on the farm, whence it was carried 

 to different locations in the same manner 

 as is now done. From forty to sixty 

 gallons per minute were pumped. 



"The slope from the twenty-foot eleva- 

 tion to the creek and south to Elmer road 

 are comparatively regular, being steep- 



The Skinner System of Irrigation 



est for about 150 feet each side of the 

 highest point. In the spring of 1899, the 

 engine and engine-house were moved 

 farther away from the creek, a ditch 

 fifteen rods long by two and one-half feet 

 was dug to bring the water to the pump. 

 The water in the creek is raised six to 

 twelve inches by a dam. A No. 2 centri- 

 fugal pump was secured with a ten-inch 

 pulley, and set ten feet center to center 

 of pulleys from engine. The three-inch 

 leather belting runs from two and one- 

 half foot fly wheel of engine to pulley on 

 pump. The engine makes 320 revolutions 

 per minute. 



THE CONSTRUCTION 



"An eighteen-foot length of three-inch 

 pipe is fastened to the pump outlet by 

 means of reducers and is held in a perpen- 

 dicular position by four guy wires. Ah 

 elbow with a two-foot length of pipe is 

 fastened to the top of the upright and 

 standpipe. The hose is fastened to this 

 by binding with wire. The hose is the 

 home-made kind hereafter described, and 

 is seven and one-half inches in diameter. 

 The different lengths are connected by 

 inserting a short length of stove pipe 



38 



into the two ends and binding the hose 

 to the pipe with wire. The large hose is 

 used as the main, and extends 425 feet 

 from the standpipe to the highest point 

 on the farm. The hose is supported by a 

 trestlework, which slopes four feet from 

 the standpipe to the end. This slope is 

 sufficient to cause the water to flow 

 through the hose without any forcing 

 from the engine, and consequently there 

 is almost no pressure tending to burst 

 the hose. For 150 feet from the end of 

 the pipe the hose rests on foot-wide wire 

 netting (chicken wire netting) supported 

 on cedar poles. For the rest of the dis- 

 tance the hose is supported in a trough 

 made from cedar slabs. When the hose 

 was ten to twenty feet above the ground 

 it would have been very difficult to build 

 the trough. Where the hose .strikes the 

 ground at the top of the hill it connects 

 wih a distributer of galvanized sheet 

 iron. The large opening of this distri- 

 buter is about seven inches in diameter 

 and the smaller openings are three inches 

 in diameter. Small hose is attached to 

 the small outlets and the water is taken 

 to the land to be irrigated through this. 

 All the water from the pump, about 150 

 gallons per minute, can be forced 

 through two openings when so desired. 

 Some condemned firehose that had been 

 used during two years was used as dis- 

 tributing mains. This was laid in such 

 a way as to interfere as little as possible 

 with cultivation, being left in place dur- 

 ing the summer and stored in the barn 

 in the fall. 



TARRED DUCK HOSE 



"The tarred duck hose was made from 

 twelve-ounce duck torn into strips of the 

 desired width and sewed into hose in n 

 sewing machine. A mixture of four parts 

 of coal tar to one part of boiled linseed 

 oil was then brought to a boil and the 

 hose drawn first through the hot tar and 

 next through a clothes wringer. Care 

 should be taken not to allow the hose to 

 touch the side of the vessel when it is 

 hot, as it is liable to_ scorch the hose. 

 Some of the hot mixture should be pour- 

 ed into the hose, before starting it 

 through the wringer, to cover the inside 

 with tar. The hose should dry two or 

 three days, or better a week or more, 

 before being used." 



COST OF PLANT 



A statement of the cost of this plant 

 follows : Two and one-half actual horse- 

 power Webster gasoline engine, set up 

 on brick foundation, $160; pump set up, 

 $40; belt and adjustments, $8; 400 feet 

 2J^-inch wrought iron pipe, tees, laying 

 and painting, $45 ; condemned firehose, 

 900 feet, with connections, price not 

 constant (approximately), $36; building 

 for engine, trench for leading water to 



