372 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[OCTOBEB, 
■with him a matter of experience, after this, it 
becomes well nigh one of the necessities of life. 
Among the various contrivances for raising 
water to elevated positions, whence it may be 
conducted about the house, and to the barns 
and stock-yards, the 
Automatic Windmill 
Pump of the Hartford 
Pump Co., is notable 
for its simplicity and 
convenience, as well 
as for the ingenuity 
evinced in its con¬ 
struction, and the ap¬ 
plication of well- 
known principles. 
The reverse of the 
principle by which 
we suck cider through 
a straw, may be said 
to be shown, when by 
blowing air into a 
tight vessel filled with 
i liquid, having an open 
-r. tube descending to 
near the bottom, we 
force the liquid to 
spout out through the tube. This is illustrated 
in figure 1. A barrel, containing water, has a 
tube passing through the top, and going below 
the water. How if we pump air in by means 
of an air-pump, we shall pump water out. If 
the barrel be submerged in a well, and has a 
valve in the bottom, when it is emptied of wa¬ 
ter, turning a cock in the air-pipe, to let the 
air escape, it will be filled with water again. 
Thus we might, by pumping air into a 
well, obtain a regular supply of water. The 
pump which we describe, works precisely upon 
this simple principle. Chambers are placed in 
the well or spring—anywhere under water—a 
windmill works an air-pump, and the water 
there is no perceptible break in the flow. To 
accomplish this, the chambers are balanced up¬ 
on a frame having a motion of two or three 
inches, and the bouyancy of the one filled with 
air is sufficient to turn a cock, which both con¬ 
ducts the air to the opposite chamber, and lets 
that which itself contains, blow off, as the wa¬ 
ter from without rushes in. 
When we come to examine this interesting 
contrivance, we see that after all it differs less 
than one might suppose, from some common 
forms of pumps. For instance, in the old- 
fashioned fire-engines, see figure 2, we have two 
cylinders, working alternately. These are filled 
from below, and the water passes out from be¬ 
low, in the same manner, as it does in the 
Automatic Pump. The pressure, which forces 
the water out, is however, as in nearly all other 
pumps, applied by means of a tight-fitting 
piston, with its piston-rod, joints, diagonal 
pressure, etc., all of which involves of necessity 
a great degree of friction. In this pump, the 
air pressing upon the surface of the water, is 
piston, piston-rod, and all, working without a 
perceptible amount of friction—one may say, 
none at all, and with a force which has only its 
economical limits. Practically 100 to 125 feet is 
as high as it is desirable to force the water at 
one lift , but with a succession of pumps, this 
lifting may be indefinitely repeated. 
The friction, or loss of power, in the slow 
passage of air through tubes, is exceedingly 
small, unless indeed the pressure be very great, 
and the tube small, in which case, however, 
the air will move very rapidly. Practically it 
is found that there is no perceptible loss of 
power, when quartei and three-eighths inch lead 
or iron pipes are used to conduct the air. This 
makes it practicable to place the wind-wheel 
at any desired distance from the well or spring, 
even a quarter or half a mile away, if a suitable 
position for it can not be found nearer. This 
flowing water wherever needed. A fine spring 
is near, but below the house. The windmill, 
condensing the air, is upon the barn in the mid¬ 
dle background. The air is conducted under¬ 
ground to the spring in which the pump is set. 
The apparatus by which the air-cock is regu¬ 
lated, is seen level with the top of the ground. 
The water-pipe goes from the spring directly to 
a tank in the attic of the dwelling, where, by 
means of a floating ball, the flow of water is 
Fig. 3.—THE HARTFORD PUMP CO.’S WINDMILL AND PUMP SUPPLYING HOUSE, BARN, ETC. 
may be raised to any desired hight. In order 
to maintain a constant stream, two chambers 
are employed, and thus, when one is exhausted, 
that, is filled with air; by a simple contrivance 
the air is conducted to the full chamber, and 
the first quickly refills itself with water, so that 
is a decided advantage, as springs are usually 
situated in valleys, where a windmill could 
hardly be placed to work with power and re¬ 
gularity, unless perhaps upon a lofty tower. 
The large engraving, figure 3, represents a 
country place, which has all the benefits of 
iiiiiiiiiiiiii 
-FIRE ENGINE. 
shut off as soon as the tank is full. From the 
tank the water is distributed to the bath and 
wash-room on the second floor, to wash basins 
in the main part of the house, to the kitchen, 
and to the laundry. Thence a pipe is carried 
to the barn, within which a penstock and 
trough for the horses are set, and to the cattle 
yard, where another trough is placed; then 
either the waste water, or an independent pipe, 
is carried to the garden, where tubs for water¬ 
ing are located, or a constant flow for irriga¬ 
tion is maintained. 
This may seem at first a great deal for one 
little windmill, six or seven feet in diameter, to 
accomplish, but from the statements made to us, 
we do not think it beyond credence. Besides, it 
should be said that whenever the tank is 
full, and water can be spared, a fountain 
may be kept playing, if the wind blows; 
the water coming either directly from 
the spring, or the waste water from the 
overflow of the tank being employed. 
In addition to the regular daily needs 
for which water is used, the security 
against fire is very great, and a hose 
and nozzle should always be provided 
for this purpose, as well as for 
convenience in washing windows at 
the house, and carriages at the barn. 
Whenever water-tanks are set for 
any purpose, they should be large 
enough to contain several days’ supply 
of water. Ho ordinary family uses 
over 300 to 500 gallons a day. This the 
smallest sized apparatus is claimed to 
furnish, and is an abundance for all 
the purposes indicated in the picture, 
unless the stock of cattle and horses 
be large, or wasteful extravagance pre¬ 
vail. The absolutely silent working of 
the apparatus is a great point in its 
favor, as well as the fact that, though 
the windmill is not “ self-regulating ” 
in the ordinary acceptation of that term, 
it nevertheless is so strongly made that 
the most violent storms, except such 
perhaps as might unroof the barn upon 
which it stands, have no other effect upon it than 
to make it pump the more. Ho rapidity of pump¬ 
ing can cause it to suck up gravel and so de¬ 
range the pump, as windmill pumps so often 
do. It is necessary to oil it once a month, and 
this is literally all the attention it requires. 
