108 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



HISTORY OF PUMPING WATER.* 



Wonderful Development of Plants for Irrigating Purposes and 

 Their Use in New Mexico. 



BY JOHN J. VERNON AND FRANCIS E. 

 New Mexico College oj Agriculture. 



LESTER. 



[Continued from January number of THE IRRIGATION AGE.] 



By flushing out the well we mean the pumping 

 out of the well to its limit of capacity in order to remove 

 the sand intermingled with the gravel around the 

 strainer. It is somewhat doubtful whether a well under 

 our conditions can be so thoroughly flushed out that no 

 more sand will appear in the water. 



The necessity for flushing at all depends entirely 

 upon the type of pump to be used later for pumping. 

 Flushing is extremely desirable if a piston pump is to 

 be used on any other type of pump having close fitting 

 wearing parts. If a centrifugal pump or similar type 

 is to he installed it is not necessary to go to the trouble 

 or expense of flushing 

 the well. Such a pump 

 will not be injured 

 perceptibly by the sand 

 and it will do its own 

 flushing, gradually re- 

 moving the sand and 

 thus leaving a porous 

 gravel stratum around 

 the strainer through 

 which the water can 

 find its way into the 

 well freely. 



POWER. 



The question of the 

 most economical pow- 

 er is of course a very 

 important one in con- 

 nection with the mat- 

 ter of installing a 

 pumping plant. A brief 

 discussion of this mat- 

 ter may therefore be 

 of interest. 



Wind and water constitute two of the cheapest 

 sources of power. The use of the first of these does not 

 appear to have been productive of very successful re- 

 sults in this territory. To begin with, the greatest 

 wind movement during the year is in the spring season 

 when, as a rule, water from wells is least needed. In 

 those parts of the territory relying upon river water 

 this source seldom runs short until the spring season 

 is well passed and in these localities pumping for irriga- 

 tion is not likely to be much resorted to at that time. 

 During the summer months when the greatest need for 

 water for irrigation purposes exists, there is much less 

 wind movement than earlier in the year and it fre- 

 quently happens that when the water is most needed 

 there is the least amount of wind. The use of storage 

 reservoirs to make more available the water pumped 

 by wind power is open to the criticism of expense for 

 the installation of such reservoirs, together with the 

 high loss through evaporation if the reservoirs are open. 



Ibyl 



and Mechanic Arts, MesillaPark, N. M. 



Water as a source of power is available in compara- 

 tively few parts of our territory. The question of de- 

 veloping power from our water courses and transmitting 

 it by electricity to the locality where it is most needed 

 has received some attention in the territory and may be 

 of some use in connection with pumping plants for irri- 

 gation purposes. 



Among the remaining sources of power are steam; 

 oil, including gasoline, kerosene and crude oil; and 

 horse power. The statistics shown in Table 11 will be 

 of interest in a comparison of steam and oil on a basis- 

 of economy. The question of which is the most econom- 

 ical fuel must depend largely upon the conditions exist- 

 ing in each locality. In many parts of our territory 

 wood and coal may be procured at relatively so low a 

 cost that steam becomes by far the cheapest available 

 power. It should be borne in mind in this connection 

 that under average conditions a steam engine requires 

 skilled labor to operate it, but, on the other hand, is- 

 considered one of the most reliable means of power and 

 the least subject to breakdowns or getting out of order. 



Gasoline heretofore has 

 cost so much that the- 

 question of whether or 

 not it will pay to use 

 it at the present price 

 for developing power 

 for irrigation plants is 

 still a debatable one. 

 On the other hand, it 

 will be noticed by 

 looking at Table 11 

 that the majority of 

 oil engines are" oper- 

 ated by common and 

 not skilled labor. 



Crude oil as a means 

 of power is being suc- 

 cessfully used in vari- 

 ous parts of the coun- 

 try. Mr. J. A. Smith, 

 of El Paso, Texas, has 

 recently installed a 28 

 horse-power, Fair- 

 banks-Morse, crude oil 

 engine which, al- 

 though at the time these lines are written, has not 

 been running for any length of time, is giving entirely 

 successful results. An important consideration in the- 

 use of crude oil is the tendency that appears to exist 

 of increased price of the oil. During the past six 

 months the price of crude oil in the vicinity of El Paso- 

 has steadily advanced and a number of users of crude 

 oil in that city have recently discarded it in favor of 

 other fuel. The manager of the El Paso Water Works, 

 under date of February 18th, writes in this connection 

 as follows: 



"The price of Beaumont oil has gone to $1.21 per 

 barrel, El Paso delivery. This is equal to coal at $4.84 

 per ton and we can get coal at $4.50, so you see oil 

 burning in El Paso and vicinity is a thing of the past. 

 We have half our furnaces changed to coal now." 



It is thus evident that, before installing a pumping 

 plant, the owner should carefully investigate the cost 

 of available fuel, including, of course, delivery charges 

 on oil, coal and wood. 



SHOWING MANNER IN WHICH THE VAN-WIE AND KINGSFORD PUMPS 

 WERE BELTED TO THE ENGINE BY THE USE OF AN IDLER. 



