FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
129 
which means you will need about 1,200 
gallons per minute, or a No. 7 pump. 
I will not go into methods of figuring 
horse power of your engine as the pro¬ 
cess is a little tiresome to any but a me- 
chanic. But if you know the quantity of 
water needed, the elevation of your grove, 
and the length of pipe line needed, the 
process is fairly simple. Your pump or 
engine man will give you the sizes needed 
from his tables. 
We now come to the matin item of the 
plant, namely the distributing system. I 
am going to keep on the same track that 
I have been on for the last two of your 
meetings, “The use of terra cotta or ordi¬ 
nary sewer pipe as distributers of your 
water.” The reasons for using t. c. pipe 
is because of its cheapness and its dura¬ 
bility. Probably the average price per 
foot of t. c. pipe is about one fifth of the 
ordinary iron pipes used, having the same 
capacity. 
There are two things that are very im¬ 
portant when t. c. pipe is used. First, lay 
pipe so that you will not have more than 
10 to 12 ft. head on it, on account of 
danger of bursting the pipe. Second, get 
good pipe and lay it well. The secret of 
laying it well is to use a good rich cement 
plaster and tamp the plaster in the joints 
with a caulking tool, first putting in a lay¬ 
er of oakum. A good many of you have 
watched the laying of cast iron pipe. Well 
the process is very similar, using cement 
instead of lead. 
To keep the pressure under the re¬ 
quirement needs a little care in laying out 
the lines. First of all use a steel or iron 
pipe till you get near the top of the grove. 
At the upper end of this iron pipe you 
will need to erect an open box or stand 
pipe, and from this lay the t. c. pipe. By 
this method you have a faithful safety 
valve as water will flow over the top of 
the standpipe before it can hurt your 
low pressure pipe. This standpipe is al¬ 
so used as a distributing center for the 
t. c. pipe. 
The distributing pipes should be laid 
on the highest ridges of the grove so that 
water will flow by gravity to the trees. 
If the land has an uniform slope the lines 
should be laid from 400 to 600 feet apart 
in parallel lines, the slope being such that 
water will flow from the top line to the 
next below. The pipe should be buried 
deep enough to be beyond danger of a 
plow point. 
There are two main forms of valves 
used on these pipes. The one used in 
California is composed of a vertical con¬ 
crete pipe of large diameter cemented 
over main line. The water is let into this 
upright pipe by means of a horizontal 
screw valve or gate, and then water let 
onto ground through a number of little 
holes in the concrete pipe. The amount 
is regulated by little galvanized sheet 
iron .lift gates. This form does not seem 
to be well adapted to our loose, porous 
sands in Florida, as the heads’ supply are 
too small which results in considerable 
trouble and waste. 
The cast iron gate or valve that works 
on same principle as an ordinary hydrant 
that is used to water your lawn with, is 
a good form to use. These valves are 
made with six-inch outlets and made to 
cement onto terra cotta risers or short 
pipes that in turn are connected to the 
main line that is buried out of sight. 
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