Farm Mechanics: Machinery and Its Use to Save Hand Labor on the Farm. — John Shaqi
Farm Mechanics: Machinery and Its Use to Save Hand Labor on the Farm.Shearer, Herbert A.
Science
Farm Mechanics: Machinery and Its Use to Save Hand Labor on the Farm.
Shearer, Herbert A.
Agricultural machinery
The illustrations show the principle upon which the pump works and the
most approved way of setting pumps and engines. Centrifugal pumps
usually are set in dry wells a few feet above the water-table. While
these pumps have a certain amount of suction, it is found that short
supply pipes are much more efficient. Where water is found in abundance
within from 15 to 30 feet of the surface, and the wells may be so
constructed that the pull-down, or the lowering of the water while
pumping is not excessive, then it is possible to lift water profitably
to irrigate crops in the humid sections. Irrigation in such cases, in
the East, is more in the nature of insurance against drouth. Valuable
crops, such as potatoes and strawberries, may be made to yield double,
or better, by supplying plenty of moisture at the critical time in crop
development. It is a new proposition in eastern farming that is likely
to develop in the near future.
[Illustration: Figure 119.--Centrifugal Pump. This style of pump is used
in many places for irrigation. It runs at high speed, which varies
according to the size of the pump. It takes water at the center and
discharges it at the outside of the casing.]
[Illustration: Figure 120.--Air Pressure Pump. Pumping water by air
pressure requires a large air container capable of resisting a pressure
of 100 pounds per square inch. This illustration shows the pressure
tank, engine, air-compressor, well and submerged pump.]
_Air Pressure Pump._--Instead of pumping water out of the well some
farmers pump air into the well to force the water out. A double
compartment cylindrical tank is placed in the water in the well. These
tanks are connected with the farm water distributing system to be
carried in pipes to the house and to the stock stables. Air under a
pressure of from 50 to 100 pounds per square inch is stored in a steel
tank above ground. Small gas-pipes connect this air pressure tank with
the air-chamber of the air-water tank in the well. A peculiar automatic
valve regulates the air so that it enters the compartment that is
filled, or partly filled, with water, and escapes from the empty one so
the two compartments work together alternately. That is, the second
chamber fills with water, while the first chamber is being drawn upon.
Then the first chamber fills while the second is being emptied. This
system will work in a well as small as eight inches in diameter, and to
a depth of 140 feet. It might be made to work at a greater depth, but it
seems hardly practical to do so for the reason that, after allowing for
friction in the pipes, 100 pounds of air pressure is necessary to lift
water 150 feet. An air tank of considerable size is needed to provide
storage for sufficient air to operate the system without attention for
several days. Careful engineering figures are necessary to account for
the different depths of farm wells, and the various amounts of water and
power required. For instance: The air tank already contains 1,000
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