982 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



ELECTRICITY ON THE FARJI 



JLU .^k 4Jh*' ^^~ _ai_j_ *. ^*"*~- 



By Henry Farrington, M. Sc. B. Eng. M. R. S. A. 



The poet and novelist have given us alluring pen pic- 

 tures of the old-fashioned plowboy and dairymaid, but 

 the lives of these products of a primitive civilization are 

 not so attractive at close quarters. How much better is 

 it to turn on a bright electric light simply by pushing a 

 button, than to trim and light an oil lamp at the risk of 

 starting a fire! Certainly it is more sanitary to clean the 

 horses and cattle with an electric vacuum apparatus than. 

 to scatter the dust and dirt with a currycomb or wash 

 it off with a hose. And it is admittedly quicker and 

 more effective to milk the cows with a vacuum milker, or 

 to clip the horses and shear the sheep by motor-driven 

 devices, than by hand. 



The introduction of the tungsten lamp, which gives 

 three times the light for the same current as the carbon- 

 filament incandescent lamp, has placed electric lighting 

 within the reach of every fairly prosperous farmer in the 

 country. And from electric light to electric power 

 service is but a logical step. The rural mail delivery, the 

 telephone and the automobile have brought the farmer 

 into closer touch with civilization, and it is but natural 

 that he should want the benefits of electricity, which in 

 many ways he can use to far greater advantage than the 

 ordinary householder in the city or town. 



If an electric power service is possible on a farm, it 

 will go a long way toward solving the problem of the 

 hired man, for the ubiquitous electric motor can be 

 made to do almost any kind of labor. All the smaller 

 machinery can be electrically driven, either by individual 

 motors or by a portable motor outfit. Electrically operated 

 pumps will render the farmer independent of the weather 

 by filling the irrigation ditches or directly spraying the 

 fields or greenhouses. And even plowing by electricity 

 is not only feasible, but nearly 20 per cent cheaper than 

 plowing by horses and about 38 per cent cheaper than 

 steam plowing, as proved by statistics recently compiled 

 by a German authority. 



There are several methods by which the farmer can 

 obtain his electricity. If close enough to the power lines 

 of a central station company he can usually buy his cur- 

 rent to advantage, and often at a cheaper rate than the 

 city dwellers. The big power companies of the West, 

 who cater especially to the farmer, maintain substations 

 from which the current is supplied at a voltage of from 

 2,200 to 13,000 (usually 6,600) volts to secondary distribu- 

 tion systems. At the farms there are small transformers 

 which convert this high-tension current to a lower volt- 

 age, usually 110, for operating the motors and lamps. 



If the farmer is too far away from a power line to 

 buy his current profitably, he can generate it himself. 

 Thus he may harness a small waterfall, erect a wind 

 motor, or use a steam, gas or oil engine. 



The water turbine is practical and costs nothing for 

 its "white coal," which is plain ordinary water, otherwise 

 running to waste. It is to be recommended when the 

 water power is available. A splendid example of a water- 

 driven plant is found at Miner's Farm, Chazy, N. Y. This 

 installation has also an auxiliary steam-driven plant for 

 emergency use. 



There are many types of waterwheels and water tur- 

 bines from which to choose turbines alone are clas- 

 sified in several distinct varieties. It is impossible in 

 a short article to consider each type in detail, but 

 there are certain generalities it is well to observe in 

 making a decision of the kind of water motor best suit- 

 able for a particular case. 



"White Coal." 

 The Cleanest Source of Power. 



"Overshot" waterwheels, 

 in which the water enters 

 the buckets from the top 

 of the wheel, are suitable 

 for falls of from 12 to 20 

 feet. The peripheral ve- 

 locity of the wheel will 

 vary from 3 to 6 feet per 

 second in small wheels, to 

 10 feet per second in the 

 larger sizes. The buckets 

 or floats should be well 

 ventilated if a high ef- 

 ficiency is desired, a fea- 

 ture of importance in 

 practically all types of 

 water motors. 



"Breast" waterwheels, 

 in which the water enters 

 about the middle of the 

 wheel, are suitable for 

 smaller falls than the 

 overshot wheel. 



"Undershot" waterwheels, : 

 in which the water enters 

 the buckets nearly at the 

 bottom of the wheel, are 

 best for the lowest falls, 

 of from 1 to 3 or 4 feet. 



For falls above 20 feet 

 in height, there is proba- 

 bly no wheel to compare 

 in both cheapness and ef- 

 ficiency to the Pelton 

 wheel, which depends en- 

 tirely on the impulse of 

 the water on the buckets, 

 and not upon gravita- 

 tional action of the water 

 in flowing from a high to a low level. 



In all cases, the services of a consulting hydraulic 

 engineer should be be requested before deciding on the 

 type of wheel to employ. The simple waterwheels may 

 even be made by the farmer himself. 



The wind motor or windmill is not as a rule favorabfy 

 regarded in this counutry for generating electricity, al- 

 though quite a large number of successful wind-operated 

 plants are operating all over the world. Perhaps the best 

 installation in this country is an imported English plant 

 on an estate in Long Island. 



The question of fuel and attendance limits the field 

 of the steam or gas engine, although where natural gas 

 is found, or where a gas producer is feasible, the gas 

 engine may be successfully applied for generating current 

 on the farm. 



For small farms, the gasoline or oil engine is perhaps 

 the most practical and economical. It may be used directly 

 or in conjunction with a storage battery. 



For instance a 5-kw., 110-volt outfit, gr. ing about 7 

 hp., will light 200 20-cp. tungsten lamps and drive the mo- 

 tors for operating all the household machines, such as the 

 sewing machine, washer, wringer, fans, etc., as well as 

 supplying current for all the cooking and heating devices, 

 including the electric range, toaster, flatirons, luminous 

 radiators, and the like. The cost of such a generating 

 equipment, including the wiring and lamps, is about $1,060, 

 or including the motors and other apparatus mentioned 

 above, about $2,000. The operating expense would be 

 about $250 a year which is relatively nominal considering 

 the service and the saving in hired help. 



A typical low-voltage lighting outfit, for operating 

 34 tungsten lamps, of 8 or 16 cp., and including a 1-hp. 

 engine, %-kw. dynamo and a 16-cell storage battery, 

 would cost about $500. The total operating cost, includ- 

 ing gasoline, oil, maintenance and renewals, and interest 

 on the investment, would be less than $75 a year. Such 

 an outfit, however, would not be suitable for operating 

 electrical apparatus designed for a standard voltage of 

 110 or 220, and 30-volt devices therefore would have to be 



