174 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P.D.No.4. 



owing to its rather limited capacity, together with the element of 

 time required on the part of the operator, causes its value as a 

 farm pump to be rather questionable. This pump, however, is 

 almost ideal for purely domestic use in a country house or summer 

 cottage, where the use of water is comparatively limited and elec- 

 tricity is not available. 



The windmill of our grandfathers' time needs no description. It 

 has been a good and faithful servant, but the march of progress 

 along the pathway of farm efficiency has discarded it together with 

 many other implements and methods more or less primitive. Its 

 chief sins are, or more properly speaking were, the inevitable yearly 

 repairs due to the exposure to the elements; the hardship of climb- 

 ing the tower to lubricate the mechanism at the top; the noise and 

 unsightliness ; and last and most important of all, the fact that the 

 operation of the pump depended entirely upon the action of the 

 wind. 



For storing and distributing the water about the farm the pressure 

 tank is without a rival. This type of tank is usually buried just 

 outside the house or barn cellar, with one end of the tank protruding 

 through the wall into the interior, thus providing an accessible and 

 frost-proof location for all controlling valves. In larger installa- 

 tions a special pit is constructed around the head of tank or tanks. 

 It is, of course, desirable about the farm, for agricultural as well 

 as live-stock purposes, to preserve an even temperature of water the 

 year round. This the pressure tank does to perfection, the water 

 being drawn from the tank at practically the same temperature at 

 which it leaves the well, irrespective of the season. Also a much 

 larger measure of fire protection, as Avell as a better pressure for 

 sprinkling and spraying, is obtained from the pressure tank than 

 would ordinarily be obtained from a gravity system. 



The gravity reservoir of concrete is possible only where the 

 ground elevations are suitable, and the cost of construction, together 

 with the cost of i)iping, should be carefully considered before this 

 method is decided upon. The wooden tank on a skeleton tower of 

 steel or wood is probably the cheapest and most common of gravity 

 systems. The points to be considered in connection with this system 

 are the limited pressure obtainable, the unsightliness and the diffi- 

 culty of adequately and economically frost-proofing the tank and 

 piping. 



In conclusion, it should be said that the water-supply problem on 

 the farm is one worthj'^ of considerable thought from an engineering 

 standpoint, and it is Avell for the farmer who contemplates such 

 improvements to consult with the engineers of a reputable house 

 engaged in the business before making up his mind as to the system 

 best adapted to his needs. 



