THE OVERHEAD IRRIGATION SYSTEM 

 OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST STRAWBERRY FARM 



The largest strawberry plantation in the world 

 is the farm of the R. M. Kellogg Co., Three 

 Rivers, Michigan, where over 225 acres of straw- 

 berries are grown and from which strawberry 

 plants are shipped to every agricultural county in 

 the United States and to most foreign civilized 

 countries. 



The greatest source of loss to this company 

 was the damage to plants through the uncertainty 

 of the rainfall. It was decided to install an over- 

 head sprinkler irrigation system and early in the 

 present year the first unit, covering 65 acres, was 

 put in. The Skinner System was installed and 

 in this first unit there are- over 25 miles of over- 

 head piping. 



Water is taken from the Portage River, about 

 the center of one side of the farm, and pumped 

 through a system of underground cast iron piping 

 leading to risers which connect with the overhead 

 galvanized distributing pipes, which are fitted 

 with spray nozzles spaced three feet apart 

 throughout the system. Overhead piping is seven 

 feet above ground, lines are 52 feet apart and are 

 provided with means for turning so that they 

 may spray in either direction. 



Each lateral pipe line is provided with a valve 



a 



so that any part of the system may be turned on 



Catalog 132 describes them. 

 Write today for your copy. 



THE AMERICAN WELL WORKS 



General Office and Works: Aurora, 111. 

 Chicago Office: First National Bank Bldg. 



or off. The ground is irrigated in sections about 

 one-third at a time. About 60 gallons of water 

 per minute are required for each acre, about four 

 hours are required to saturate each 22-acre tract, 

 and about 12 hours to irrigate the entire 65 acres. 



Views of the interior and exterior of the pump 

 house and a small part of the overhead system 

 are shown in accompanying illustrations. 



The pump supplying this system is an "Ameri- 

 can" 8-inch, Type DTMD, horizontal, single 

 stage, double suction, split shell turbine centrif- 

 ugal, designed for a normal delivery of 1050 

 G.P.M. against 176 feet total head. It is driven 

 by a 75 H. P., 3-phase, 60-cycle, 220-volt, slip ring, 

 General Electric motor operating at 1740 R.P.M. 



A feature of this pump is that while it main- 

 tains a mechanical efficiency of 73.5 per cent at 

 its most economical delivery it is so designed that 

 it has an efficiency in excess of 70 per cent 

 through a range of delivery of from 750 to 1300 

 G.P.M., especially adapting it to the varying 

 capacity required in this installation owing to 

 the varying number of nozzles in service. 



The ability to maintain flattest efficiency curve 

 under highest heads are only two of the many 

 excelling features of American centrifugal pumps. 



