130 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



work. Experience has shown, however, that with so many 

 projects for irrigation and reclamation and river and harbor 

 improvements in almost every State in the Union it is next 

 to impossible to secure an appropriation from the Federal 

 Government for so gigantic an undertaking as the dredging 

 of the Sacramento river and the reclamation of over a million 

 acres of land in the Sacramento Valley. An appropriation of 

 a few hundreds of thousands of dollars annually from the 

 Federal Government would only be a drop in the bucket and 

 would not go any further or be more successful in attacking 

 the Valley problems than the many private enterprises that 

 have attempted reclamation on a large scale only to make a 

 failure of it as a rule. 



Concerted action throughout the Valley is what is neces- 

 sary, and this can only be brought about by the judicious ex- 

 penditure of millions annually for a period of several years. 

 To raise the money at the rate required and to be independent 

 of Federal aid, the plan advocated in 'the article referred to 

 by our correspondent seems to fill the bill better than any- 

 thing else that has ever been advanced. 



It is true that none of the types of dredges in general use 

 to-day could successfully cope with the many and varied 

 problems that have to be met in reclaiming the Sacramento 

 Valley, and the fact in itself is accountable for the failure of 

 the majority of reclamation projects that have been tried. 

 In fact, we are confident that even with a very large Federal 

 appropriation annually the work could not be successfully 

 accomplished with the ordinary dredges, but the advent of the 

 Pneumatic Bed Rock Pipe Dredge has solved the dredging 

 problems, for this device in itself is able to cope with every 

 dredging problem that might be encountered in reclaiming 

 the Valley and restoring the river to a navigable stream. 



The Pneumatic Dredge is controlled by Chicago people, 

 and our attention was first drawn to it during the time the 

 Irrigation Congress was in session in Sacramento, Cal., last 

 October, where a dredge of this type was successfully oper- 

 ating in the South Side Park on a city contract, which was 

 accepted at a figure per cubic yard nearly 60 per cent lower 

 than the next lowest bidder and yet the dredge is clearing 40 

 per cent out of the money paid by the city ; thus showing how 

 economical it is when compared with the older types of 

 dredges. We are told this dredge is still in operation in 

 the South Side Park in Sacramento, and believe this is the 

 first dredge of this type that has been installed anywhere, 

 and all the machinery in use was purchased or manufactured 

 in Sacramento. , 



The Pneumatic Pipe Dredge differs greatly from the 

 suction dredge. In fact, they have nothing in common. Its 

 construction is very simple, yet it is difficult to explain. The 

 machinery used consists of a boiler, air compressor and a 

 pump all standard and can be purchased almost anywhere. 

 However, the chief point of interest is the "head" with which 

 the dredging is done. This "head" is attachable to standard 



Vulcan 

 Steam Shovels 



For Digging Irrigation 

 Ditches, Canals, etc. 



10 Standard Sizes 



The Vulcan Iron Works Co. 



130 Vulcan Place 

 TOLEDO. OHIO 



piping and is the only thing about the dredge that is not 

 standard. 



The pipe, with the "head" attached, "jets" its way to bed- 

 rock, and then, after the water "cutters" have been turned 

 on to stir up the sand, and compressed air is turned into the 

 discharge pipe, the pipe throws up sand, gravel, muck and 

 even clay until the discharge consists of almost solid ma- 

 terial. 



The Pneumatic Dredge' can sink itself to almost any 

 depth and bring up sand or gravel from any point desired. 

 In fact, it was first invented to reach deep lying layers of 

 gold bearing sand without removing the usually worthless top 

 dressing, but when put into actual operation it was soon rec- 

 ognized as one of the greatest dredging devices in existence. 

 Although it is operating on a contract in developing the 

 South Side Park at Sacramento it has been discovered that 

 the sand it is dredging contains $1.40 in gold per cubic yard. 

 In fact, to-day the dredge has virtually developed a gold mine 

 in the heart of the City of Sacramento. What $1.40 in gold 

 per cubic yard means can best be judged from the fact that 

 scores of gold saving dredgers operating so successfully in 

 California are making their millions annually out of sand 

 that averages only 17 cents per cubic yard. 



Briefly, the dredge can sink to any depth and bring up 

 material that is from 40 to 60 per cent solid matter, or it can 

 be used for river and harbor deepening and will dig a chan- 

 nel fifty or more feet in depth as easily as it can dig a chan- 

 nel fifteen or twenty feet deep. 



"I he suction dredge depends on a vacuum to lift its sand, 

 *o that there can never be more than 15 pounds pressure to 

 the square inch in lifting, whereas the Pneumatic Pipe 

 Dredge, which is virtually a hydro-pneumatic ram, can use 

 a pressure of from 100 pounds up to 200 or 300 pounds to 

 the square inch to lift its material. That it is a great suc- 

 cess is being demonstrated daily, and prominent engineers are 

 visiting Sacramento to see its operations. 



It is claimed for this dredge that it will dig deeper, lift 

 material higher and deliver it farther at much lower cost 

 than any other dredger, while the cost of building the dredge 

 is only a small fraction of the cost of other dredges of sim- 

 ilar capacity. [Editor.] 



Corn Planters 



...made with... 



Runners, Single Disks 



Plain Double Disk Planter afld Double 



Adjustable 3 feet to 5 feet, 2, 3, 4. or 5 



kernels to hill as desired. 



Drills fertilizer in continuous rows or 



checks in hills. Write for catalogs. 



HOOSIER DRILL COMPANY, 



Division, The American See ding- Machine Co., Incorporated 

 RICHMOND. INDIANA, V. S. A. 



