UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 1067 M 
I 
iugm& 
C ontiibulion irom the Bureau of Public Roads 
j&f-'^j'U THOMAS H. MacDONALD, Chief S&P'^^7t 
Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER. June, 1922 
TESTS OF DRAINAGE PUMPING PLANTS IN THE 
SOUTHERN STATES. 
By W. B. Gregory, Irrigation Engineer. 
CONTENTS. 
Page, j Page. 
Introduction 1 i Sources of power for pumping plants 5 
Types of pumps 2 j Tests of pumping plants 6 
Suction and discharge pipes 3 j Cost of operation of plants 44 
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- 
tations. 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 at present in process of reclamation. 
The drainage of these agricultural lands and the drainage of the city 
of New Orleans, which was largely 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 is now pos- 
sible to find all types of drainage pumping plants in operation, from 
the old drainage wheel to the latest design of screw pump. Both 
89782— 22— Bull. 1067 1 ] 
