1908. 
QUESTIONS ABOUT PUMPS AND POWER. 
Quicksand in Driven Well. 
Can you advise me if a driven well 15 feet deep and 
lower seven feet in quicksand can be pumped out without 
drawing sand? I have one that would pump sand for 
hours, and will not bring clear water. p. w. 
Leominster, Mass. 
Where a drive well must terminate in quicksand 
the point should be made as long as possible, and the 
finest grade of screen should be used. 1 he drawing 
of sand into the well through the screen increases in 
proportion to the rate of pumping; that is, the more 
rapidly the water must flow out of the sand into the 
well the greater is its tendency to wash sand into it. 
new COKELESS TOMATO. NATURAL SIZE. I’io. 843. 
See Rural isms, rage 734. 
In the case of F. W., if he uses a point seven feet long, 
so that water may enter the well through the whole 
depth of the quicksand, the velocity of flow into the 
well, in order to supply a given amount of water, will 
be decreased in proportion as the length of the point 
is increased, and hence the tendency of the sand to 
enter the well will be correspondingly decreased. So, 
too, a point having a large diameter is more service¬ 
able in quicksand than one having a small diameter, 
for the reason that it gives more surface through 
which the water may flow to enter the well, and hence 
necessitates a less velocity of flow to Supply a given 
amount of water. 
In many drive wells, where sand bothers at first 
by being sucked into the well, if a fine screen is used 
there is an accumulation of the coarser 
sand grains about the outside of the 
drive point, which in time comes to have 
a considerable thickness surrounding the 
point, which amounts to increasing its 
diameter, thus allowing the water to en¬ 
ter the point through the coarser sand 
without drawing fine sand .with it, and* 
so it frequently happens that a well 
which sucks sand at first may in time 
come to yield clear water, the time vary¬ 
ing with the relative amount of coarse 
grains which may be present in the 
quicksand and with the rate at which 
water is pumped from the well. It is 
seldom practicable to pump a large 
volume of water from a drive well in 
quicksand, or indeed in that which is 
moderately coarse, for the simple reason 
that the resistance to flow in fine sand 
is so great that a large pressure is re¬ 
quired in order to obtain a rapid flow, 
and this is great enough to move sand 
grains unless they are held back by the 
screen or some other means, f. ii. k. 
Pumps for Flooding Bog. 
Can you put me in the way of learning 
about large power pumps? The requirements 
are a short lift but large volume and economy of operation, 
for flooding a bog in a few hours when needed as a pro¬ 
tection from frosts or insects. I have been told this is 
being done successfully in some cases where there is not 
natural flowage to be depended on. n. s. w. 
Massachusetts. 
T he pumps used for this sort of work are usually 
of the centrifugal type, and there are many manu¬ 
facturers of them. It must be remembered that in 
flooding cranberry marshes in a comparatively short 
time a large pump is required if the flooding is accom¬ 
plished directly from the pump rather than from water 
stored in a reservoir. Complete flooding can seldom 
be accomplished with less than 10 to 12 inches of 
water, unless the marsh is completely saturated to 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
begin with. An acre-foot of water lifted one foot 
high represents the work of one horse-power during 
1.4 hour, supposing no loss. If the water must be 
lifted five feet the horse-power hours would exceed 
seven per acre-foot, that is, a seven horse-power plant 
would be required to flood one acre one foot deep in 
one hour, and to flood live acres in five hours. Of 
course an engine would have to have a materially 
higher rating than seven horse-power in order to de¬ 
liver the amount of water, lifted five feet high, which 
represents the seven horse-power hours referred to. 
A No. 14 pump, discharging water through a 14-inch 
pipe at the rate of 300 feet per minute would require 
something like 12 hours to cover five acres to a depth 
of one foot, and half this time if the velocity of dis¬ 
charge was doubled. Any manufacturer of centrifugal 
pumps will state the horse power required and the size 
of pump needed if the lift is stated and the number 
of acres to be covered in a given time to a stated 
depth. The centrifugal pumps are the most economi¬ 
cal of power and the most durable of any on the 
market. y. h. k. 
Pumping With Windmill. 
How much water per minute will a lfi-foot power wind¬ 
mill raise out of a well dug on angle of 45 degrees, inclined 
plane from top to bottom 341 feet, water to bo lifted with 
endless chain? The mill is guaranteed to develop seven 
horse-power in a 30-mile wind. Is it possible for a mill 
of that size to furnish that amount of power in a 30-mile 
wind? Also how much if any would it raise in a 15-mile 
wind? R. b. m. 
Oklahoma. 
If we understand the conditions of your correspond¬ 
ent, as stated in his letter, we should very much hesi¬ 
tate to recommend the establishing of a pumping plant 
with any sort of power, unless running water were 
available, for lifting water 341 feet for irrigation pur¬ 
poses. It would not be practicable on account of the 
excessive amount of friction to use a chain pump for 
lifting water through so great a height on an incline 
of 45 . While it is possible for a 16-foot windmill to 
develop the theoretical horse power stated in a 30- 
mile wind it is not practicable for any pump available 
for windmill use to render that amount of power 
available in the form of water lifted. The loss of 
power in friction is very great in most pumps which 
are available for use by windmills. The safest prac¬ 
tical statement regarding the use of windmill for irri¬ 
gation purposes is this: “The mean amount of water 
pumped during 100 days, from May 29 to September 
6, was 24.5 acre inches of water per each 10 days, 
where a 16-foot windmill raised the water to a height 
of 10 feet.” If the lift had been 20 feet the capacity 
of this mill would have been somewhat less than half 
this amount, hence it is clear that the amount of water 
which could be supplied for such high lifts as R. B. M. 
names would be very small even under the best of 
conditions with every natural advantage. f. h. k. 
731 
orchard that did not do so well I plowed under a 
good crop of clover which followed the oats, used 
blood and bone around the trees and planted with 
buckwheat, and intended to follow with potatoes next 
year. Should I? R . w> j. 
Pennsylvania. 
R. N.-Y.—We should plant potatoes in the orchard. 
With us this crop when well fertilized and cultivated 
is about the best we have for growing in a young 
orchard. Large growing corn is not good for such an 
orchard, since it shades the trees too much. The 
potatoes are low growing and must be well tilled and 
fertilized in order to get a crop. All this helps the 
trees. We have one block of apple trees with a plowed 
strip about five feet wide on each side of the row. We 
SECTION OP CORELESS TOMATO. Fiu. 345. 
See Ruralisms. Page 734. 
planted a row of potatoes on each side of the tree and 
gave good culture. There is a good crop of potatoes, 
and many of the trees have over three feet of new 
wood. We should pay little attention to such advice 
from “the Government” but go ahead with the pota¬ 
toes. I he oats hurt the trees by taking too much 
moisture from the soil. Young trees must have water 
in the Spring to make a start, and they cannot hold 
their own with the oat crop. 
AFTER DISKING AND HARROWING FOR SEEDING. Fig. 344 . 
POTATOES IN A YOUNG ORCHARD. 
Last year I planted at Mt. Pocono 2,000 apple and 
peach trees on some old land. I limed the two fields 
thoroughly. One I put buckwheat in and the trees 
looked fine. One I sowed with oats, got a splendid 
crop of oats, but the trees showed very poorly against 
the buckwheat. I understood, when it was too late, 
that I should not have put oats in. which has been 
verified since by The R. N.-Y. This year I consulted 
with the natives there (Mt. Pocono) about putting 
potatoes in the best orchard where the buckwheat was, 
and did so. The trees and the potatoes look fine, but 
I am now upset by a Government report, saying: 
Don’t cultivate potatoes in a new orchard.” The 
SPREADING MANURE ON HILLSIDE. 
It seems to me from my experience last Winter that 
those who advocate hauling manure direct to the field 
and scattering, either late in the Fall or during the 
Winter, are zvrong —although in certain 
climates and under certain conditions 
their theory may be correct. We hauled 
our manure in the months of October, 
November and December to the field, 
and scattered it, about 40 tons to the 
acre. 1 he land was all side hill, some 
plowed and some sod, but none frozen 
in the least. A part of the manure was 
possibly absorbed by the soil, but I no¬ 
ticed that after or during every thaw 
or rain the black water ran off in 
streams and was lost in the ditches. 
Notwithstanding the heavy covering of 
fresh manure, the intense cold froze the 
surface under the manure, making a 
crust of frozen earth through which the 
leached manure could not penetrate; 
as a consequence the fertilizer was lost. 
To preserve the fertilizers in the manure 
I consider it much the better plan to 
compost the manure properly (note the 
word “properly”) and apply in the 
Spring or plow it under, when nature 
will compost it through the Winter. 
Where the subsoil is stiff and non¬ 
absorbent the manure will be where the 
crops can use it, and in the most avail¬ 
able condition for theiy immediate needs. s. 
Cambria Co., Pa. 
^ N.-\.—Of course the color of the water running 
from manure is not a sure indication of its strength. 
We would not spread manure on a steep hillside and 
leave it exposed through the Winter. If it was nec¬ 
essary to haul it in Winter we would leave it in piles 
on such places. On level fields and especially on sod 
the daily hauling may pay well. 
Nitrogen is a help in fighting many of the leaf-eating 
insects, since it makes the plant grow away from them. 
A nursery agent claims that the Winter Banana apple 
tree will hear the second year in the orchard, and give 
fruit tasting like a banana. Any truth in his story’ If 
so, how much? 
