UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



4Wfe BULLETIN No. 1067 A 



Contribution :rom the Bureau of Public Roads 

 THOMAS H. MacDONALD, Chief 



SU^^fU-u 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER. 



June, 1922 



TESTS OF DRAINAGE PUMPING PLANTS IN THE 

 SOUTHERN STATES. 



By W-. B. Gregory, Irrigation Engineer. 



Introduction 



Types of pumps 



Suction and discharge pipes 



CONTENTS. 



Page. | Page. 



1 i Sources of power for pumping plants 5 



2 I Tests of pumping plants 6 



3 I Cost of operation of plants II 



INTRODUCTION. 



Agriculture in the southern portions of Louisiana was first prac- 

 ticed along the rivers and bayous. Since the alluvial soil was de- 

 posited by the rivers the highest land is found near the banks, and 

 there is a gradual slope from the rivers and bayous back to the 

 swamp. Previous to the last decade the only reclaimed agricul- 

 tural lands in southern Louisiana were in the rear of the sugar plan- 

 tation-. The early planters cultivated the narrow strip of land 

 along the streams which could be drained by gravity. The width 

 of these strips varied greatly, but usually the distance from the 

 Levees back to the swamp was from one-half mile to 2 miles. The 

 cultivation of sugar cane created a demand for more land, and this 

 demand was met by extending the plantations toward the swamps, 

 removing the water by means of pumps from lands too Low to drain 

 by gravity. 



About 150,000 acres of agricultural lands in the State of Louisiana 

 have been reclaimed or are al presenl in process of reclamation. 

 The drainage of these agricultural lands and the drainage of the cit) 

 of New Orleans, which was Largelj built in a swamp, have given a 

 notable impetus to the development of pumps and pumping plants 

 in this State. This development has been so rapid that it isnovt po 

 sibie to find all types of drainage pumping plants in operation, from 

 the old drainage wheel to the Latest design of screw pump. Both 



•-' 22 Bull. 1067 1 I 



