1894 
THE RURAL NEvv-YORKER. 
567 
it is more rapidly distributed than when spread over 
the surface, besides beinsr more beneficial to the crops 
and not so productive of weeds in the row. I am just 
beginning to solve the problem of irrigation by pump¬ 
ing. It is scarcely a year since I made the first ex¬ 
periment with a windmill pump on the hill, or upland. 
Within nine months, I had condemned my outfit entire, 
and replaced it with the one now in operation. Tnis 
is now considered to be a success, and it is, so far as 
having accomplished all that was expected of it—all 
that can be accomplished without more capacity. I 
shall be disappointed if within a year, the develop 
ment of this science does not compel me to abandon 
this plant and replace it with something immensely 
better. Mechanics and scientists are struggling with 
the problem of how to raise the greatest amount of 
water «*ith the least amount of pewer, and wa are 
bound to conquer this “Great American Desert” by 
bringing the ocean of water wnich underlies it to the 
surface and thus fructify the most fertile soil that still 
remains untilled I regard 30 strokes per minute as 
about the maximum speed for my pump, taking 2 1-5 
gallons per minute, and it is easy to calculate its fullest 
capacity. We hardly expect to attain this rate for 
more than one-third of the time—perhaps not so long. 
Garden City, Kansas. j m D. 
Twenty Acres are Watered. 
I have here what is deemed by competent judges, 
a very successful irrigation plant; a pumping station 
that is drawing water from the so-called underflow 
waters of the Arkansas River Valley. My plant con¬ 
sists of three pumps and two wiadmills, drawing 
water out of the sands and gravel, through pipes 
driven into the earth 301^ feet. The motive power 
used on two of the pumps is an over-shot or mogul 
windmill, which may be likened to the 
wheel of a Mississippi River steamboat. 
It has a 12-foot shaft, and is 16 feet in 
diameter. The wind surface of the pad¬ 
dles, or fans, is 3x11 feet each. A pump 
is attached to either or both ends of the 
shaft, giving one stroke to each pump 
at every turn of the wheel. I use three- 
inch pipe and 6xl8-irch cylinders, and 
these throw about gallon of water 
to each pump per stroke or turn of the 
wheel. In a 25 to 30-mile wind it will 
average 20 strokes to the minute, and 
supply 60 gallons of water per minute. 
The wheel being stationary and facing 
north and south, it will run only with 
the prevailing winds of this section of 
country, which are north and south, the 
wheel turning either way. 
My second pump and mill, pumping 
into the same reservoir, is a 12-foot 
Ideal irrigation windmill, erected on 
a 40-fcot steel tower, which supplies the 
motive power to one of the largest lift 
suction pumps in the United States, and 
the first of its kind ever put into actual 
use. It has a 12x24-inch cylinder, 10 inch 
stroke, drawing water from and through 
a six-inch pipe and strainer or sand point, 
six inches in diameter and 10 feet long, and touches a 
point in the earth 36>^ feet in depth from the surface. 
The depth to the water in the pipe is 8M feet from 
the surface. The discharge pipe above the cylinder is 
the same size as the cylinder—12 inches in diameter. 
The capacity of the pump in a 30 to 40-mile wind, on 
an average is 800 gallons of water per hour. The 
pump runs smoothly in a 12 to 15-mile wind. 
The reservoir is 100x100 feet, and four feet deep. 
It is on the highest point on the land to be irrigated, 
and is built on the surface ; but six inches of earth 
were removed from the inside of the reservo’r, which 
is well fortified on the inside with a tough gumbo sod, 
which protects the loose earth from working down the 
side of the embankment by the moving water in the 
pond. I wish to have my plant cover 20 acres with 
water. As this is its first season in operation, it will 
not quite do that this year. I irrigate five acres of 
Irish and sweet potatoes, three acres of cabbage, two 
of tomatoes, two of corn and small vegetables and 
three of Alfalfa. It is a perfect success on all but 
Irish potatoes. The plant was completed too late to 
save that crop from drought. 
At this time, this county (Finney) possesses nearly 
100 such individual irrigating pumping stations, which 
supply water for all the way from five to sixty acres 
of all kinds of crops that can be raised in this altitude 
or latitude. d . m. fbost. 
Garden City, Kan. 
R. N.-Y.—The disastrous droughts in many locali¬ 
ties this season, enforce the necessity for some effective 
system of artificial irrigation. Wherever there is an 
available and inexhaustible supply of water within 
easy reach, what better or cheaper methods than tljo 
above can be found ? 
“SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION” OF CLOVER 
HAY. 
That clover hay does heat and burn, destroying 
barns, stacks, and other property, is, in this vicinity, 
an undisputed fact. Whether fire is caused by spon¬ 
taneous combustion, mice and matches, or whatever 
the cause, the fact still remains. Many cases are on 
record, and many men believe spontaneous combus¬ 
tion of clover hay possible. Of the many cases that 
have come under my notice where fire has occurred, it 
has burned from the inside of mow or stack, and the 
contents have been known to be very hot for some 
time previous to the final destruction. The trouble is 
usually discovered by the odor and extra heat. A case 
occurred in this count 7 several years ago, where a 
large mow of clover hay was known to be on fire sev¬ 
eral days before it finally broke out. Every effort 
was made to save the building (a fine large barn). 
Chemicals were procured and openings made in hopes 
to extinguish the fire, but this proved dangerous, as 
the mow had burned to a shell, and the inside was a 
roaring furnace. Finally everything was moved from 
the barn, and the aid of fire engines secured, but the 
building could not be saved. 
I have been present where a large rick of clover hay 
was burning in the center. It was discovered by the 
gradual settling of the hay, the odor and the rising 
temperature It was deemed advisable to cut out the 
center in order to save the rest of the hay and other 
property. When the hay knife was forced into the 
stack and again withdrawn, flame followed, showing 
that the extent of the fire was greater than was sup¬ 
posed. In these two cases, as in many others I might 
cite, fire had been raging for several days where there 
would seem to be no possible chance for air to enter. 
But when air was finally admitted, destruction was 
quick. I have been told by many farmers that they 
have found charcoal in the center of clover mows when 
feeding out the hay. I have never failed to make in¬ 
quiry as to the supposed cause of fire, condition of hay 
when put up, etc. In every case, it is called spon¬ 
taneous combustion, and the iiay has been secured in 
a partly cured and unfit condition. But never yet, to 
my knowledge, has fire occurred where perfectly green 
clover has been put into the barn or stack. I do not 
say this to convey the ’dea that it is safe or advisable 
to store green clover in the shape of hay, for it is not ; 
there is a better way. 
It is a well-known fact that when corn is put into 
the silo a ter it has stood in the shock for some time, 
the moisture has partially evaporated and the corn is 
partly cured, that it will not heat as readily as per¬ 
fectly green corn; but it will get much hotter and re¬ 
tain the heat longer. This condition of things holds 
good with clover; very green clover may rot in the 
mow. I have seen it in such a condition But it will 
not burn; it packs very closely, and there is more 
moisture. Partly cured hay will heat more, dry out 
the moisture, and may and does burn. I believe in 
spontaneous combustion of clover hay, but can give 
no satisfactory reason why fire will occur without air. 
The idea of mice and matches is a fallacious one ; a 
mouse could not live in such a high temperature, and 
I have known hay to stay hot six weeks and then 
burn. If mice can get to the center of hay stacks, 
why can not air also enter ? 
What our farmers desire to know is how to avoid 
this heating, for it must be remembered that heating 
of anything causes a loss of feeding value. It renders 
clover hay, also, more indigestible, \yhen the manure 
pile heats and becomes flre-fanged, the fertility is lost. 
My method of making clover hay does away with 
heating, and yet secures full feeding value. I have 
advocated this method for the past four or five years, 
and many of our farmers have adopted it with satis¬ 
factory results. C. H, KVKRKTT. 
President Wisconsin Dairymen’s Association. 
MAKING MOST OF CORN STALKS 
WITHOUT TUB HELP OF A SILO. 
“ Given, a man with six cows—too few for a bUo. What Is the best 
way to utilize corn stalks?” 
The silo has solved the problem for the large herds, 
but it adds little, if anything, to the feeding value 
of corn stover. Its advantages are that it secures it 
cheaply, and preserves it with the least waste. But 
we can approximate very closely the results obtained 
from the silo, by understanding the feed, and handling 
it the best way. Furthermore, the advantages are not 
all on the side of ensilage. Some of the advantages 
of cured stover are that it is more marketable, will 
keep indefinitely, and our barns may be used for 
storing it without remodeling, thus saving the expense 
of a silo. 
If we want to make the most of our corn stalks, we 
must secure them in as perfect order as possible, so 
that they will make feed of the best quality. Corn 
stover, like clover hay, is difficult to save and cure to 
perfection, unless a man really set^ out to do it. Like 
clover hay, too, it has a bad name, because an inferior 
quality has often been used. It should be cut early, 
just as early as it can be done, and not have it mold 
in the shock. It must be set up well and tied. Few 
corn cutters will put a shock up right unless they are 
required to do so. It should be shucked while damp 
enough to be tough, for if too dry, it 
will waste, besides being much harder 
work. Of course this is nothing new, and 
is understood by all good farmers ; but 
in getting the stover into the barn, the 
silo men can teach us something. To be 
fed in, or about the barn, it must be 
cut, and by far the cheapest way is to 
cut it by horse power and at the same 
time elevate it into the top of the hay 
mow. A two-horse-power and cutter are 
large enough, and will do an amazing 
amount of work. With one team, which 
hauled the stover to the machine and 
then was put on the power, and with 
three men, one to drive, one to feed and 
one in the mow, I put the stover from 
an acre, or about two tons, into the mow 
in hours. This feed in the mow cost 
me about $1 75 a ton. This includes cut¬ 
ting up, allows one-half cent for shuck¬ 
ing, the added cost of shucking fodder 
corn over standing corn, hauling, cutting 
and putting into the mow. 
So far, this all sounds very nice, and 
I wish this were all the tale, but it is 
not. Field cured corn stover has a large 
amount of water in it, and if cut early, 
even if it does appear perfectly dry, may 
heat and mold in the mow. I got some four tons into 
the mow in October, and most of it had to be forked 
over once to keep it from heating. When that cooled 
off, I put in about as much more and was careful not 
to tramp it. It gave me no trouble. Then the weather 
got too dry to handle the fodder, so I quit work on it 
entirely. This dry weather lasted till a heavy snow 
came, and this snow lasted till January, when we had 
several weeks of open weather. I found that the fod¬ 
der had kept perfectly in the shock, as it still retained 
much of its green color. I shucked it then, got it 
into the mow, and it gave no trouble about heating, 
though most of it went in rather damp. But though 
it seemed a good deal damper than it did in October, 
yet the dampness was from rain, and was all on the 
outside, and was not the sap of the stalk. It is the 
sap which causes the trouble. The stover came out 
in perfect condition. 
A new idea has come to me, and that is to leave as 
much of the butts of the stalks in the field as possible 
when they are being cut and shocked. They can be cut 
nearly three feet higu, and it is easier than cutting 
low. I find that the stalks stripped of ears, leaves and 
husks, contain at cutting time 74 per cent of water, 
while the leaves and husks contain 57 per cent. 
(Illinois Experiment Station Bulletin IV., page 91. 
See also Bulletin IX, page 308.) When cured a month, 
this discrepancy would probably be greater. As the 
butts have very little value, the stock refusing to eat 
them, and as they have the larger proportion of water, 
why not leave as much of them out as possible ? I be¬ 
lieve that by so doing, we could partly remedy this 
trouble about keeping. In the neighborhood where I 
learned to farm, it was the practice to put wheat after 
corn; ^nd it was necessary to cut the stalks as low as 
A Kansas Irrigating Plant Fig. 146. 
