372 AMERICAN HOMES MAND GARDENG 
labor, the use of me- 
chanical power in field 
work being a vast sub- 
ject in itself. 
The uses of the gaso- 
line or kerosene engine 
on the farm are almost 
without number, — but 
only the exceptional 
farmer has established 
A complete. “po wie st 
plant. Pumping water 
by hand has long been 
regarded as impracti- 
cable, and in regions of 
unbroken topography 
the windmill has been 
generally unreliable. 
The latter’s frequent 
failure in the summer, the time of greatest consumption, 
has led to a surprising shift to the small engine for pump- 
ing purposes. 
In general the needs for water are for fire protection, 
sanitation, irrigation and consumption by household and 
stock. By the aid of the engine the farmer may have a 
better water supply than his city relatives. For instance, 
an elevated storage tank will give gravity pressure for 
A gasoline engine for ‘‘bucking wood” is now an indispensable apparatus 
October, tgtt 
projects are not possible 
or have been delayed. 
As a rule the engines 
used are of larger size 
than those used for 
general farm purposes, 
but in numberless in- 
stances the engines of 
from three to ten horse- 
power have proved the 
salvation of the farmer 
by supplying water for 
at least a small field. 
Water can often be 
found at a_ shallow 
depth in dry runs or by 
boring. A five horse- 
power engine will raise 
500 gallons per minute 
from a depth of twenty feet. Even in the favored Corn- 
belt and the East, the engine is being called on to keep crops 
forging ahead through the customary summer drought. 
Too often the only use of the small engine is for pump- 
ing water, or grinding feed, or some other one task. In 
contrast the writer has in mind a two-story power house on 
a side hill, visited over three years ago. The engine and 
the pump are in the basement. Overhead is a line shaft, to 
Farm pump engine here takes the place of a blown-down windmill 
faucets or hydrants all over the farmstead, and the newer 
pneumatic tank, under ground, gives both pressure and in- 
surance against freezing. In the latter the engine may be 
used to pump either air or water into the tank up to a pres- 
sure of from 15 to 75 pounds per square inch. It is now 
possible, by means of an engine, a compressed air tank and 
a submerged pump, to have abundant water direct from the 
well by simply turning a cock in the kitchen. The pump, 
located at least six feet 
under the water, may 
be started by turning 
the faucet, the air sup- 
plying power for oper- 
ating the pump. A sur- 
prisingly large _ per- 
centage of farmhouses 
are being equipped 
with modern sanitary 
conveniences which con- 
tribute to the health 
and comfort of the 
family. 
The engine has solved 
the problem of irriga- 
tion in many square 
miles of semi-arid ter- 
ritory where large 
Gasoline engine employed in irrigation is an aid in droughty times 
Internal combustion engine successfully fighting the codling moth 
which are attached at will the cream separator and churn, _ 
the washing machine (the boys do the washing and like it, 
because there is some inspiration in the chug and fuss of the 
engine), the corn sheller, fanning mill, feed grinder and 
grindstone. ‘To all intents and purposes the building is a 
small industrial plant. There the farm office is located, 
the farm business transacted, the bulk of the farm stores 
kept, and many of the important processes of the farm 
carried on. All is sys- 
tem like that of the fac- 
tory. There is activity 
without drudgery, the 
condition in any oc- 
cupation which begets 
enthusiastic service. 
Out in the dairy barn 
one clean, well-paid, 
trained dairy assistant 
now does the work of 
two slovenly farm 
hands openly  rebel- 
lious at the tiresome 
job of milking. All that 
the farmer saves in 
money, perhaps, is the 
keep of one man, but 
in freedom from labor 
