Full text of "Electricity for the Farm and Home"

See other formats

Google

This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project

to make the world's books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the

publisher to a library and finally to you.

Usage guidelines

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
We also ask that you:

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.

About Google Book Search

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web

at |http: //books .google .com/I

THE FARMER'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY

EDITED BY ERNEST INGERSOLL

ELECTRICITY FOR
THE FARM AND HOME

BY
FRANK KOESTER

The Faimer'i Practical library

EDITED BY ERNEST INGERSOLL

From Eltchan to Ourst. Br Vibgihu

Tebhune Vah de Watek.
KeiglibarlioDd Ententinmeiit*. B7 Re

Oo-oiniBtlon Among Fumari. By Joi

Bosdi. Fathi tmd BrldEBi. Bt L, 1
I'ACi, Chirf of Ihi IJfRce of Pub
RuadB, U. S. Department of Agricult

Poems Dt Goniitiir Iilta. Bv Beokqb
a. BttViK.

BlBcttlcity for the Fum and Eama. By

FlUNK KuiiSTIlB.

In Fonda and Other Inland

FlBh .

Waters, ny willi
Snpt. Pulilic Aqaarii

Vlllsga Improvement.

The Farm Mechanic.

By L. W. Chase,
Mechanics in the

of Oenntry IJfe.

■.

ThK j;ea'vopk I

PU8LIC tlDRARY

ELECTRICITY FOR
[THE FARM AND HOME

FRANK gOESTER V '

~A«ociate Member Amerimn fnstitote Electrical Engineers
Member Society for the Pi-DiDotioii of EDKiaRcriog Edacation

Memlier Society German EniclneerB (Berlin)

Author of 'Hydroelectric Devi^lopmenta and EnglniierinE,"

■'Steam Electric Power Plants." "The Prico

of Inefflcieuey, 'etc.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION

THOMAS COMMERFORD MARTIN

ILLUSTRATED

new UfOlR

STURGIS & WALTON

COMPANY

1913

^^^^^w

■

THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

635IJ81

Aa'On. LENOX AWD
TILD N FOUMOAllOnB.

R «'3 L

Set

up and electrotyped. Fublislied June, IBIS

DEDICATED

TO
MT FBiKND

rHOMAS CX)MMEBFORD MARTIN

Afltbor of the lint American book oo the Electric

Motor, 85 yeon ago. in which bopeftd

idSerenoe is made to tiie anbiect

:* :

' 3 i

• •

•

• • •

• •

* • • • ••

••
• •

••

•

• •

••

•

• • •

• •• •

•
• •

•

• • •

• •

•

• •••

• • ••

• •

•
• •*

••• :

•

• •• • •

• * *

• •

•

• * • •

I •

• •

•

.•••• •

•••

•-• •

•

. •• •

•

• •

• ••

*•• • •

•

•
•
•

• •••

•

••
• •

••• •••

• • • •
• • •••

• • •

• • • •

•

• • •••

• • ••

INTKODUCTION

BY THE GENERAL EDITOR

This is the day of the small book. There ia
much to be done. Time is short. Information
is earnestly desired, but it is wanted in compact

POTTO, confined directly to the subject in view,
.nthenticated by real knowledge, and, withal,
gracefully delivered. It is to fulfil these con-
ditions that the present series has been pro-
Ijeeted — to lend real assistance to thof^e why -arH :
looking about for new tools and-fresh ideas; - '■
I It is addressed especially to the man anS
poman at a distance from the libraties. eshibi-
jions, and daily notes of progress, which are
the main advantage, to a studious mind, of liv-
ing in or near a large city. The editor has had
in view, especially, the farmer and villager
Bpho is striving to make the life of himself and
Hub family broader and brighter, as well as to
increase his bank account ; and it is therefore
in the humane, rather than in a commercial di-
^jrection, that the Library has been planned.
^m .vii

[

viii INTRODUCTION

The average American little needs advice on
the conduct of his farm or husiness; or, if he
thinks lie does, a large supply of such help in
farming and trading as books and periodicals
can give, is available to him. But many a man
who is well to do and knows how to continue
to make money, is ignorant how to spend it in
a way to bring to himself, and confer upon hia
wife and children, those conveniences, comforts
and niceties which alone make money worth
acquiring and life worth living. He hardly
realises that they are within his reach.

For suggestion and guidance in this direction
". ; tl^ere is-, at reaficpU, to which this series is an
•'■•'afitfwer. ''H; pt'o'^^oses to tell its readers how
tt^ CBitj^i^^ work easier, health more secure,
"^Ti5 the':UaQie: more enjoyable and tenacious
of frlie VKale 'fatnily. No evil in American rural
life is so great as the tendency of the young
people to leave the farm and the village. The
only way to overcome this evil is to make rural
life less hard and sordid ; more comfortable and
attractive. It is to the solving of that problem
that these books are addressed. Their central
idea is to show how country life may be made

INTEODUCTION ix

richer in interest, broader in its activities and
its outlook, and sweeter to the taste.

To this end men and women who have given
each a lifetime of study and thought to his or
her specialty, will contribute to the Library,
and it is safe to promise that each volume will
join with its eminently practical information a
still more valuable stimulation of thought.

Ebnbst Ingebsoll,

INTEODUCTION

Thomas Commeefobd Mabtih'

■
The fact is universally reeognised that farm-
; and country life in general have been im-
proved in condition and made more profitable
in the degree to which mechanical energy haa
been substituted in them for human and animal
labour. The public at large has also benefitted
from heavier crops, planted, raised, and gath-
If^ered more cheaply.

This process is happily in greater expression

>-day than ever ; and to the resources utilised

7 the farmer in releasing himself and the land

from mere brute toil is now added electricity,

ihe most readily adaptable power of all. The

new agency has been rendered chiefly available

*iu country life by the development of water

powers, and the extension of power circuits over

large areas and remote districts, fed from these

^hydroelectric central stations. In some rare

xii INTEODUCTION"

instances, the farmer ia able to generate bis own
electricity.

Mr. Koester bas been wise ia bis method aild
manner of telling the story of this modem
innovation, from which seem likely to spring
greater revolutions even than came in with the
reaper and binder or the cotton gin. No ona
yet knows exactly how far the change may take
us or what economic limitations of electricity
in rural life are, in its usefulness for light, heatj
pumping, and other services. But the first step
in that direction, is obviously to study the condi-
tions, learn the facts, and note actual applica-
tions, whether in America or in Europe. Mr.
Koester has done this admirably, so that his
work as a popular, accurate manual on the sub*
jeot stands unique. "What thousands of farmers'
are now doing in harnessing electricity for
their service, instead of horses or mules, other
thousands ought to be able to do ; and that they
will do it in the near future is more than hope-
ful. It ia inevitable, and Mr. Koester points
the way.

Mr, Koester has been wise in adding chapters
that deal with the general utilisation of electric-

INTRODUCTION xui

lity in rural districts, of which there are a
r great many where service can be taken from dis-
tant city telephone exchanges or central sta-
tions, as well as from remote power plants.
I The farmer is not alone the beneficiary, but
I there is thus given the use of electricity in the
I home, while an immense stimulus is imparted
I of a profitable nature, tending to develop a
residential population not involved directly in
farming and helping to take "back to the soil,"
those who should never have left it

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to express his thanks to
fihe "The Electrical Review and Western Elec-
trician," "The Electrical World," "Electrical
Becord," "Popular Electricity Magazine" and
"The Engineering Magazine" for the nse of
engravings which originally illustrated articles
written by him on the various phases of agri-
cultural electricity, and printed in those puhli-
eations during the past eight years. Much

» credit is due them for their support and in-
dorsement of the subject of adapting electric
power to agriculture, and to their early recog-
nition of its great importance to the public at
large.

Although electric farming has now reached a

high state of development, especially abroad,

this is the first extended work on the subject.

It will be found to cover the field in a compre-

^^lensive manner, and to contain illustrations

^H»f all the important apparatus. For some of

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

these, previously published elsewhere, m^
thanks are due to the following concerns:

Siemens Sehnckert Werke, Berlin; AUgeme-
ine Electricitaets Gesellschaft, Berlin ; Oerlikon,
Oerlikon, Switzerland; Westinghouse Electric
and Manufacturing Company, Pittsburg; Gen-
eral Electric Company, Schenectady, N. T.;
Simplex Electric Heating Company, Cambridge,
Mass.; C. A. Sterlinger Company, Detroit;
Rochester Railway & Light Company, Little
Falls, N. Y., and The Pacific Gas & Electric
Company, San Francisco.

I am particularly indebted to Mr. Thomas
Commerford Martin, Secretary of the National
Electric Light Association, for the great inter-
est shown in the volume and many valuable
suggestions offered.

F. K.

New York, April, 1913.

■

TABLE OF CONTENTS

^^H

OHAFraE

paot'

Introduction by Thomas Commekfoed aiARTiN .

Benefits op Aqricultubal Electbic-

■ II

ITT

Centr.\l Station Service

Ccmvenience and Reliability— Low First
Coat and Opertiting Coat — Rural Central
Stations — Co-operation between Conaiimera
and Central Stations.

Geneeating Electric Power ....

Combustion Engine Power— Wind Power-
Electric Storage Batteries— Power Distribu-
tion.

I ^

Electric Motor Applications ....

Houaehold Uses— Portable Motors— Belt-
ing — Farm and Dairy Machinery — Water
Pumping.

1 "^

Cost op Opek^^tinq .

Power Costa — Labour Coata — ^Various Ap-

105

Byi

Farm Bt-Prgducts

Sugar — Starch — Cattle Food — Potato
Flour — Potato Drying.

119

Electricitt in the Preservation op
Farm Products

131

CONTENTS

GHAPTEB

VIII Electkic Transportation op Farm Pi

ucTs 141

Truckage — Field Railwaya — Electric Ve-
hicles — HoistB.

IX Electric Ploughins 150

ingle Motor Plough — Double Motor

Plough — Speed and Coat of Ploughiog.
Diverse Applications of Electricity . 165
Domestic Water Supply — Cow Milking- -
Vacuum Cleaning — Fans — Ozoniacrs — Incu-

XI Electric Heating 198

Cooki ng — Ironing — H eating.

XII Electric Lighting 21C

Interior and Ester ior Lighting — Incan-
deeeent and Arc Lamps — Low CobIb.

XIII The Telephone in Rural Communities 2!
Great Advantages — Telephone Line Con-
struction.

XrV Electric Power m Irrigation ... 2^

Great Progress in Irrigation — Pumping
Systems — Water Distribution.

XV Electric Stimulation of Vegetation . 26!

High Voltage Methods — System of Appli-
cation — Air Nitrate — Problem of Fertihsa-
tion — Turning Water Power Energy in
Fertiliaer.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

In the glow of an electric radiator . . frontispiece

nCCKE PAGE

1 An electric aubBtation 28

2 Stationary transformer 32

A portable transformer 38

A hydroelectric plant, exterior 44

A hydroelectric plant, interior 50

An electric generator set 65

A power tranainission ayatem 81

8 Tranaformer and flelci telephone 83

9 A general utility motor SI

10 Potato peeling machine 92

11 Dishwasher and exhaust fan 95

12 An electrically operated dairy 98

13 A motor on a truck 99

14 Hay cutter and its motor 102

15 A amall portable motor lOfl

16 A thresher, motor-driven 107

17 Butter churn, motor geared lOD

18 Laundry interior 112

19 Ice-cream freener 115

20 Cream -separator 116

21 Fruit-preBH 120

22 Grist-mill 123

23 Grain-mill 128

24 Ice-making plant 132

25 Arrangement of cold-storage room 134

26 Diagram of a refrigerating system 136

2T Electric refrigerator 139

28 An electric vehicle 142

Hl8 Hay-hoist 146

XX LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS

30 An electric railway 14B

31 Motor-wagon of plough- ayatem

32 Anchor wagon of plough- system

33 Electric plough iu action 157

31 Plough and motor-wagon 182

35 Vacuum-pump

39 Milking-machine 172

37 Stock-cleaning machine 178

3B Sheep- shearing 178

39 Tree-felling apparatus 1S5

40 Electrically heated and regulated hover

41 Preparing breakfast 1B8<

42 Electric dining-room set ISfr

43 Electric baking and cooking 200

44 Waffle irona

45 Electric flatiron

46 Electric range

47 An electrically lighted aUble 21»

48 Threshing by electric light 211!

49 Motor-operated pump 24?

50 A sprinkling system 253

61 Pumping plant for irrigation

52 Melons grown by the aid of eleotrioity .

63 Electrically-forced flowere 27&

ELECTEICITY FOE THE
FAEM AND HOME

Electricity for the Farm and
Home

CHAPTEE I

BENEFITS OF AGEICULTUEAL
ELECTRICITY

" The ages of toil which agriculture has de-
manded of man and beast, the bondage of la-
bour and the stupefying and soul-benumbing
■work of the tiller of the soil, so long unescap-
able, are yielding to the advance of modem
science.

Agriculture is no longer to remain a practice
of yokels but is to become an applied science,
and the farmer with business ability no longer
needs the supply of brawn and elbow-grease
which was once his sole necessary equipment.
With the changes now taking place, the man of
brains and ability can find in the country every
exercise for his talents that has attracted him
in the past to the dty; every opportunity for

4 ELECTRICITY

fortune and development; a healthier and
fuUer life; and at the same time escape fro]
the drudgery and the grinding toil that have
made the farm a place to be abandoned to the
less enterprising.
p- The greatest agent of agricultural progress
is electricity. It is the great emancipator of|
the toiler. A motor of even diminutive size
does the work of a man at far less expense
since the power developed by the human ma-
chine is the most expensive power which man-
kind ever utilises. And in supplanting labour'
electricity has a most profound effect upon
agriculture, since agriculture demands great la-
bour but very .little skill. Electricity minimises.
the labour, and the farm hand, with the neces-
sity of exercising but little skill, can direct the'
labours of large electrical units and accomplish
amounts of work that would be utterly imprao-
ticable under ordinary conditions.

The importance of electrifying farms is not"
only of the first consequence to the farmer, bul
also to the city dweller, for the emancipation oi
labour means vastly increased and cheapenedl
production of the necessities of life, and a con-

AGEICULTURAL ELECTRICITY

^Pleqnent increase in the purchasing power of the
labour of the dweller in the city.

In utilising electricity on the farm, however,
it is necessary, since the farmer uses a great
many and a great variety of implements and
mechanical devices, that he should co-operate
with the engineer, in order to take advantage
of the skill and experience of the latter to re-
place the much sought-for and much needed
manual labour, to cut down the number of
draught animals, to make the farm produce
more, and to make rural life more congenial
and agreeable.

The use of electricity on our farms is sore
to be greatly increased with the progress of
that intensive cultivation which is becoming an
acute national need, and the rural industries in ,
general must look to the engineering profession '
for the beet utilisation of our natural resources
through the medium of electric energy. The
present decade will be as notable for American
farmers as was the past decade for the German
farmers by its scientific agricultural develop-'

Ewith the aid of electricity. j

6 ELECTRICITY

power, bnt the sources from wMch he dra'fl
it are at present inefficient and uneconomici
compared with industrial standards in otht
lines. Of the 33,000,000 persons engaged i
gainful occupations iu the United States, nt
less than 10,000,000 devote their anergic
to agriculture. About 90 per cent, of tfai
horses and mules in this country are also 3
work on the farms. The substitution of electri
power for even a small proportion of the wor
of farm animals means a great national ecor
omy. ■

There is no form of energy which can su|
plant manual and animal labour, on the fan
or country estate, as conveniently and oheapl
as electricity; and it is far superior to steai
or any internal-combustion engine. In fa<
there is no other agent which can supply i
three necessities — light, heat and power — froi
the same source. , Due to this fact, workir
hours on the farm and rural industriea can 1
regulated, as are those in manufacturing and;
commercial industries; and life in rural com.1
munities can be made as attractive, if not mow
so, than that of the cities, where the struggle^

AGEICITLTUEAL ELECTRICITY

H|tbr existence is incessant, and the living accom-
* modations, or what corresponds to home life,
fall far short of the pleasant and healthful
surroundings of the country residence.

The giant industries of the country are of
recent origin and started in a humble way, but
they now surpass any branch of agrarian pur-
suits. This is a condition readily accounted for,
I since the services of the trained engineer were
I used to advantage in building up the great man-
j ufaetnring industries, while farming, though the
oldest of industries, has been neglected even
to the point of being abandoned in many places.
Up to the present time, especially in America,
the aid of the technical man is seldom sought
in solving the problems which arise in rural
industries. Probably there is no better or more
authoritative statement of the value of techni-
cally trained men as an aid in modem fanning,
than that made by Col. Theodore Eoosevelt on
A-Ugust 23, 1910, at Ithaca, N. Y. :

"One reaHon why the great business men of to-day — the great
idustrial leaders — have gone ahead while the farmer has
Bailed to lag behind, is tliat tliey are far more willing, and
Ideed eager, to profit by expert and technical knowledge,
lat can only come as a result of the highest education. From
Ivaye to factories no great industrial concern can nowa-

}

S BLECTBIOITY

days be carried on, save by the aid of a swarm of men who
have received a high technical education in cbemiBtrjj
gineering, in electricity, in one or more of scorea of epectal
subjects. The big buaineflB man, the big railway man, does
sot ask colleg^trained experts to tell him how t«
business, but he does ask numbers of them to give him expert
advice and aid on some one point indispensable to his busi-
ness. He finds this man usually in. some graduate of a tech-
nical school or college in which he has been trained for his
life-work.

"In just the same way the farmers should benefit by the
advice of the technical men who liave been trained
of the very work the farmer does. I am not now speaking
of the man who has had an ordinary general training, whether
in school or college. While there should undoubtedly be such
a training as a foundation (the extent differing according to
the kind of work each boy intends to do aa
nevertheless true that our educational system should more
and more be turned in the direction of educating men toward,
and not away, from the farm and the shop.

"During the last half century we have begun to develop
a Bystem of agricultural education, at once practical and
entific, and we must go on developing it. But, after develop-
ing it, it must be used. The rich man who spends a fortune
upon a fancy farm, with entire indifference to cost, does not
do much good to farming, but, on the other band, just
little is done by the working farmer who stolidly refuses to
profit by the knowledge of the day; who treats any effort at
improvement as absurd on its face, and refuses to countenance
what he regards as newfangled ideas and contrivances, and
jeers at all book farming."

In Europe, particularly in German-speaking
countries, due to the liarmonious co-operation of
farmer and engineer, great progress has been
made in the use of electricity as a servant on

IAGEICULTUEAL ELECTEICITY 9
the iarm, about the country residence, and in
■ rural industries in general,
A In order to obtain a clearer idea of the ad-
vantage of electricity over any other agent, and
to show that electricity is the best medium for
the fanner, the following facts are cited.
There are thousands of steam and internal-
combustion engines in use on our farms to-day,
principally for replacing draught animals, and,
of course, a proportionate number of farm
hands ; and they are used with machinery, such
as ploughs and threshers and esx>eeially pumps.
For operating small machinery such as is re-
quired in dairies, as cow-milbers, cream-sepa-
rators, butter-kneaders, etc, an internal-combus-
tion engine could not be as advantageously used
as an electric motor, however, for the reason
that the smallest commercial internal-combus-
tion eng^e is about two horsepower, while the
electric motor may be chosen in capacities of
pne-tentb of a horsepower and upwards to suit
pie machine to be operated. Further, no fuel
% necessary, the only requirement being to turn
a a switch to start the motor,
I In fact practice has proven that farm ma-

ELECTEICITY

ehinery can advantageously be operated
electric motors. The machines usually operate
on the farm are, ploughs, rollers, reapers
threshers, corn-grinders, eorn-sheUers, com.'
shredders, fodder-cutters, wood-saws, pumps
horse and sheep clippers, and apparatus for un
loading and hoisting hay, corn-stalks and simi-
lar products. Another great saving of labour ia
the use of electricity is in serving washing mar
ehinery, carpet-cleaners, sewing machines, fans^
and appliances for cooking and for heating
laundry irons, none of which could well be
served by any agent other than electricity.
In addition to its use for power, electrie:
energy, which has to be supplied to the motors:,
either from an outside sonrce or from its own
central plant, may be utilised for light and
heat.

Where connection cannot be made with a local
electric distributing company, the farmer should
have his own electric generating station, whic^
may be operated by water, steam, gas, gasolinffi
oil or windmill power. Where a stream runs
through a farm or is in the neighbourhood,
cheap power, both aa regards the first cost and

[AGRICULTURAL ELECTRICITY 11
operating expenses, may be derived from tliis
natural source.
In generating current by steam power, the
cost per kilowatt-hour is comparatively high.
Somewhat better results may be obtained with a
gas-producer plant, which, instead of burning
the coal in a steam boiler, and using the steam
for driving the engine, slowly burns the coal in
a producer, generating gas for operating the gag
I engine.

The gasoline, oil, and alcohol engines work
^ on the same principle as the gas engine, as all
lare of the internal-combustion type. Great
I strides have been made in the last decade in
I this type of engine, bo that to-day it operates
with reliability and economy and requires but
I little attention.

Another source of energy for generation of
I electric current for farm and country residences,
I is the windmill. The early Dutch windmills
I were built with sweeps from 50 to 100 feet
in diameter; but our modern American wind-
l mills have a sweep of only 12 to 18 feet, and
I generate more power than the early Dutch
ImiUs, with less attention.

12 ELECTRICITY

All the above prime movers can be connected
to electric generators hj belt, gearing or coup-
lings, and their control may be aeeomplished
automatically, so that little attention is re-
quired.

The greatest amonnt of energy being used in
the daytime, and the load for illumination being
small and wanted principally in the evening,
it is therefore not profitable to run the prime
movers except during the day. The use of a
storage battery is therefore of great service in
supplying energy at periods of small demand,
■when the generators are shut down. In connec-
tion with the storage battery, and with the new
development of the low-voltage Tungsten lamps,
the cost and size, as well as the maintenance-
expense, may be considerably reduced by proper
engineering.

The main feature in which the great advan-
tage of a farm operated by electricity lies is
that the farmer himself has at all times under
his direct control the entire supply of electric
energy being used, whether obtained from some
public-service corporation or supplied by his
private plant.

tA plan mudi adopted abroad, is to install
a rural central station for the purpose of sup-
plying a number of farms, local industries and
country estates, with electric current. By
establishing a rural central station, actuated
by steam, water, gasoline, oil or gas, a great
saving in the production of electric energy may
be secured. Kin Germany to-day as many as 100
to 150 consomers are supplied with electric en-

tergy from a single one of the many stations.
Many of the German farmers carry on in-
dustries in connection with their farms, whereby
they utilise their by-products; and this is the

I secret of the success of many well-to-do men.
For instance, one rural central station system
eerves four grist mills with five motors, hav-
ing a total capacity of 105 horsepower; one
tile works with a 40-horsepower motor; one
saw-mill with a 20-horsepower motor; four
wheelwrights with motors consuming 16 horse-
power; and many other industries such as eab-
Iinet-making, distilling, blacksmithing, bottling
works, etc, which use motors of various ca-
pacities. There are also served by the system
Bome 20 consumers for light only, having a

AGRICULTURAL ELECTRICITY 13

14 ELECTRICITY

total of 343 incandescent lamps and five aro
lamps ; one railway and freight station with. 120
incandescent lamps ; one club house with 72
lamps and six arc lights ; and in addition to this
two towns are supplied, having a total of 1,69£
lamps.

From the above facts and figures, it is ob-
vious that electricity can give a new stimulus
to agriculture and farming, and at the same
time open a new way by which the rural popu-
lation can be induced to remain on the farm
instead of flocking to the cities,

A very important feature is, that a few mo-
tors properly selected may be used to operate
all of the machines on the farm, instead of hav-
ing a steam or gasoline prime mover attached
to each machine. In this feature lies a great
advantage of electrically operated farm ma-
chinery. For instance, a motor may be placed
on a low wheeled truck, and connected by means
of a belt to a threshing machine, taking its
electric supply from the mains by a flexible
cable plugged into a suitable outlet. On the
throwing of a switch, the motor starts and oper-
ates continuously without attention. After the

AGEICITLTTJEAL ELECTRICITY 15

threshing is completed, the motor may then be
connected to the baling madiine, which packs
the straw into bales, while, if necessary, the
motor may be used in loading the bales npon
wagons by operating a hoist. At other times,
the same motor may drive a water-pump, wood-
saw, etc

It is readily seen that the electric motor can
be operated without the attention necessary for
steam or gasoline prime movers, which have to
be supplied with water and fuel. "With all
other prime movers, when placed in the bam
or haymow, or beside some stack in a field,
the risk from fire is a thousandfold greater than
with an electric motor; in fact, an enclosed elec-
tric motor may be placed anywhere on the farm
without such a risk, or the fear of an explosion.
The motors used on dairy appliances, and for
the various household operations, are of such
small size and weight that they may readily be
carried around by one or two persons and ap-
plied to one machine or another wherever
needed. Thus many farms can get along with
one large and one small motor. As the various
■.farm machines operate at different speeds, the

16 ELECTKICITY

motors are supplied with suitable regulating de-
vices, BO that the desired speeds may be ob^
tained.

The great advantage of cold storage is not
properly recognised to-day by farmers. By
means of electrically operated cold-storage sy&i
terns, butter, milk, eggs and other perishable
goods may be saved from spoiling. In many
cases, especially with fruit, a farmer is forced
to let his product lie on the ground and rol^
because the price offered does not pay the ex-
pense of picking, packing, and shipping to the
commission merchant. A private cold-storago
system would enable him to pick his fruit i
season, when the market price was low, ami
store it rmtil he received his own price.

For such purposes electric ice-making mau
chines for refrigerating plants are preferably
The motor applied to this equipment can
arranged to start and stop automatically, amft
will keep the temperature in the cold-storage
room within a few degrees of that desired.

For irrigation purposes, electric pumps an
of great service, whether on a large or a sma
scale. As these pumps work only in cerl

AGEICULTUEAL ELECTBICITY 17

iaeons of the year, and at oei-tain hours of the
,y, public-eervice corporations have recognised
of late that they are a means of keeping up a
nniform power-demand on the plant, and con-
iquently energy for this purpose is offered at
iceptionally low rates. The motor-driven
lumps may be stationary or portable.
Large sums are yearly spent for irrigation
rposes, waterways regulation and drainage
stems, and, seemingly, in almost all eases,
.thout due consideration of the possibilities
of utilising the energy of the water for gener-
eleetric current which might advan-
tageously be used for farming or rural
idnstries. Good examples on a large scale of
ich combination systems are found in Switzer-
land and Germany, where advantage is taken
of all kinds of natural resources, and the proper
.usbanding of the same for the benefit of the
iblic in general.

Electric ploughing has been carried on in
irmany for some fifteen years, and great
irides have been made, particularly in the last
e years. Of the several systems employed,
le one- and two-motor systems are most ex-

thel
iblel

18 ELECTEICITY

tensiveiy used. In both these systems thel
plough is pulled across the field by a cableJ
wound on a drum.

In the single-motor system, on one side of,
the field the motor is mounted on a self-pro,
pelled wagon, while on the other side is
anchor-wagon, which automatically travel)
forward, parallel with the motor-wagon, witi
each new furrow. The two-motor system ha
two motors, one on each of two self-propelle*
wagons, one of these replacing the anchoP
wagon. The one motor system is lower id
first cost, but the other can be more readily
adapted to the cultivation of any form of fieldi

Electric ploughing has great advantages ovS]
that by gasoline or steam engines. "With
steam plough, for instance, a great amount t
coal and water must be taken to the field h
teams and drivers which must be paid fo!
Electric ploughing can be carried on in pra
tically every kind of weather, even in the winte;
when steam-operated ploughs would freeze
and the electric plough can he used in soft t
loamy soil where horses cannot work, and <
hilly ground.

AGEICULTUEAL ELECTRICITY 19

As far as the cost of electric ploughing is
ncerned, experience shows that it can be done
leaper per acre than by horses or steam. The
ield of electric ploughing of to-day is founds
irincipally in Germany. It is an established
let that American agricultural macliinery in
;s wide practical application, is, in most re-
ipects, far superior to that of any foreign
lake; and should the domestic manufacturers
vote themselves with the same skill to con- i
iving apparatus for electric ploughing, it'
.11 be only a short time until our farmers
■eeognise the advantages of the system. Elec-
tric ploughing is not confined to farms of large
acreage, hut may be carried on to good advan-
tage on farms of small size.

The need of utilising farm-refuse for by-
•oducts is one that deserves the most thorough
'consideration. Our modem industries seek to
make all possible utilisation of by-products, and
in thousands of cases it' has turned out that the
product has proved more profitable than the
iginal substance sought. Many of the prod-
is of the farm which are now allowed to go
waste, could be turned to good account by

20 ELECTRICITY

the use of electrically operated apparatos-
especiallj' designed to tnm into marketablo
goods such by-products as alcohol, sugary
starch, eider, etc. Further, the electric motot
may l>e used in the blacksmith or carpenter
shop, grist mill, wheelwright shop, in a briquet
ting and tile plant, etc., all furthering the ad^
Vance of rural industry.

As potatoes lose value to a considerably
amount in storage, thrifty Gennan farmers i
the last few years have installed some 3,00®
drying systems, where the potatoes are washed,
peeled and cut into dice, then dried and stored
for future use, without the loss due to ordiaarj
storage. By this process Germany saves $25^
000,000 per year. To effect a further economy^
the Gennan farmers are installing, at present!
drying systems for beet and potato leaves, whiql
contain a great amount of nutriment for cattl^
Through these installations it is calculated ths
a saving of $12,000,000 per year can be effected
while in previous years Germany was forced i
buy $8,000,000 worth of cattle food from oth«
countries.

An efficient lighting system is well recogniw

AGEICULTUEAL ELECTRICITY 21

( as being of as much importance in the country

pas in the eity. Good lighting assists in fixing

definite hours of labour, which is necessary to

\ satisfy the demands of farm hands, and is of

bTalue to every one in the country as well as in

ithe town. Better light secures greater effi-

Jciency and cleanliness; while fire risks are

I .diminished and insurance rates are reduced.

•Electric lamps require no matches, bum without

■flame, consume no oxygen, and therefore do not

■■■vitiate the air of a room, and are unaffected by

Rany change in weather conditions. Electric

flighting is particularly of great service for sta-

' blea and bams, where the use of lanterns has

caused numerous fires and destroyed millions

_ of dollars' worth of property. The country

yard and field may be lighted, such lighting con-

SroUed from the residence. This feature is

Respeeially convenient when, in the autumn,

harvesting is necessarily carried on after dusk

I order to take advantage of weather condi-

Sons. In such cases, the field under harvest

!an be illuminated to advantage and work con-

Itinned long after nigth-fall.

Electricity is a ready servant for cooking or

22 ELECTEICITT

heating. No beat is wasted, as in a coal or
wood stove, all being concentrated in the one
piece of apparatus being used. The cost of
operating a small electric range is in many
cases cheaper than burning wood or coal. Elec-
tric current may often be bought for 5 centa
per liilowatt-hour, and as the average price off
gas throughout the country is $1.20 per thou-
sand cubic feet, the cost of electric cooking is.
the same as that done by a gas range, provided
no heat is wasted by the gas range, which, ho-w-
ever, is practically unavoidable. Electric cook-
ing also means perfect cleanliness, for there is
no soot or smoke, and as for convenience, all
that is necessary is to turn a switch. In country
residences, where during certain hours of the
day only a little cooking is carried on, such aj)
making coffee, boiling eggs, preparing toast OJ
supplying heat to chafing dishes, all this is doaf
electrically in a few minutes, even on the diliin|
table itself.

The heating of flatirons by means of elecS
tricity has proven one of the greatest of boon
to the household. The electric flatiron is si
constructed that the current is supplied to tb

AGEICULTUBAL ELECTEICITT 23

iron during use, and it therefore maintains its
working temperature, does not overheat, caus-
ing accidental scorching of the work, and is kept
ready at a minimum cost. As no stove is neces-
sary, there is no constant change of irons; and
BO intense heat is radiated into the room to make
the operation tiresome, as is so particularly the
case in the summertime.

Other electrically operated heating appliances
for household convenience are facial and scalp
massage apparatus, foot-warmers, heating-pads
and bed-Warmers, radiators, etc., many of which
are conveniently applied to hospitals and sick-
rooms. Among appliances especially made for
hospital use, are sterilisers, x-ray apparatus,
cauteries, electric blankets, ozonisers, etc.

These by no means comprise the entire list
necessary and convenient household appli-
^ces which can be found to-day. New devices
:aTe appearing constantly, so that at the present
time there is hardly a household or farm where
electric energy, through the skill of the engineer,
could not be made to supplant many of the la-

trious operations.
At the present time, fully ninety per cent, of

24 ELECTEICITY

all skilled labour comes under the supervision of
the engineer, who has employed it and the vari-
ous kinds of natural resources, to build up the
gigantic industries which we have to-day. Our
farmers should, in a similar way, take advan-
tage of the electrical engineer's experience in
the practice of developing and husbanding their
natural resources through the medium of elec-
tric energy, and modernise and render more
productive our agrarian industries, upon which
not only our financial standing is dependent,
but the general welfare of the country as a
whole.

CHAPTEE n

CENTKAL STATION SERVICE

Availability of Electricity. — Many farms
both in the United States and abroad are
served by Hoes from city or other electric sta-
tions, and in many of the states throughout this
country the long-distance transmission lines of
numerous hydro-electric plants pass through
farming communities more or less populated.
f These systems are usually of high tension,
I varying from 13,000 to fiO,000, or as high as
\ 150,000 volts. These high voltages are not
I used directly in motors, but must be reduced
I by transfonners to a suitable value, depending
[ on the nature of the purpose to which the motor
L is to be applied. Likewise for use on farms
land in country residences, a transformer must
I be had to furnish a supply of current at a low
I voltage value for local distribution.

Where large tracts are to be covered on a

26 ELECTRICITY

single farm, practice has proven that a voltage
of about 13,000 is most suitable; intermediate
stationary or portable transformers being used
to step the voltage down to that desired on the
motors of the ploughs, threshing machines, etc.

Charges. — Electric energy for a central-sta-
tion service is usually sold on a sliding-scale
principle, that is, the larger the consumption
the lower the price per Mlowatt-hour ; again, the
larger the consumption at a certain hour of
the day, when the load on the central station is
low, the cheaper is the current obtainable.

From the above, it might seem to some that
this is an unjust method of making charges for
power, because the smallest consumer bears the
larger portion of the rates scheduled. But it-
must he borne in mind that material bought in
bulk or large quantities is always obtained at a
low cost, consequently the larger a consumer's
load, the smaller the rate charged per horse
power per hour.

The average rate charged for electric enei^
varies from 5 to 15 cents per kilowatt-hour {3f
kilowatt=1.34 horsepower). The kilowatt
the standard for measurement of electric ^

J^^

CENTRAL STATION SERVICE 27

Ifirgy. The amount of current consumed is
•registered by metres, supplied by power eom-
ipanies. As the rates charged for light and
■rpower are different, two metres are installed;
lone registers the energy consumed for ligbtiag
■find the other for power. A third metre ia
E sometimes installed, called a maximum-demand
t metre, which registers apart from the usual
I load any excessive current which may be
tdrawn. An additional low rate of charge is
Imade whenever a maximum-demand metre is
Einstalled, the rate being based on the reading
ffot that metre alone.

Rural Central Station.— A practice much
adopted abroad, particularly in Germany,
where the government encourages electrically
f'Operated farms, is to install rural central sta-
tions for the purpose of supplying a number of
ifarms, rural industries, country residences and
tes with electric current. By establishing
neh a station, with either steam, water, oil
br gas power, a great saving in the production
f electric energy may be readily secured. To-
lay in Germany often as high as 100 to 150 con-
inmera are supplied with electric energy from

ELECTEICITY

a single rural central station such as have been
installed in great numbers within the last fif-
teen years.
In northern Italy and throughout Switzer-

land also, there is considerable use of the elec-
tric energy in agriculture and by small rural
eommmiities. A network of distributing lines
has been formed, drawing energy from numer-
ous and scattered sources of hydroelectric
power which are, however, interconnected.

ural _

lines ^M

tner- ^M

ctric ^M

The ■

CENTEAL STATION SERVICE 29

Swiss and Italian land proprietors, and small
farmers throughout western Europe, have taken
fin large nuralwrs to the use of electric light and
Lelectric power.

An example of the extent to which a single

oral central station may supply a farming

bBommunity with electric energy is seen at Bess-

ffitz, Germany. The distributing system for the

*lectricity is 145 miles long, the station being

i near as possible at the centre of the network

ind the point most distant from it is 26 miles.

Jhe territory served with current is equivalent

J 102,000 acres, of which 40,000 acres are cultl-

h^ated with the plough. To the transmission sys-

iem are connected 180 electric motors and about

1^000 electric lamps, with a total consumption

Bof 1300 kilowatts or 1780 horsepower.

Another interesting instance is the distribu-
tion system of Lottin, Germany. Here a water-
ij)ower of 300 horsepower is utilised, but during
[ipertain seasons of the year when the water is
How, a steam generating set of 180 horsepower
i put into service to keep up the supply. It is
^bvious that this aid can be pressed into serv-
! at any time should the demand exceed the

30 ELECTEICITY

capacity of the bydro-electric station. The dis^
tribution system is 82 miles long. The electrie
energy is used on 61 farms, including rural in-
dustries, and 5 villages, a total of 24,700 acres.
Altogether 102 consumers are served, having
some 150' motors with a total of 1500 horse-
power, while 4850 incandescent lamps and 2&
arc lamps comprise the lighting part of the
load. During the year 1908, there were con-
sumed 440,000 kilowatt-hours. There are 50
farms, with a varying acreage of from 60 to
1800 acres per fann, under cultivation hy tha
plough, with a total of 275 horsepower in motors^
1200 incandescent lamps and 20 arc lamps. CM
these farms twelve contain from 300 to 60(
acres each and have 12 motors with a total (
pacity of 122 horsepower.

Central Station Service. — The purpose
central station companies is to deliver a pre
duet ready for use to a nmnber of differed
users at a lower cost and with greater convei
ience and reliability than they could othen
obtain it. That product is electricity, and it i
to the interest of both the companies and i
consumers to use as much electricity as ]

CENTEAL STATION SERVICE 31

ble, for wherever it can be applied it effects
a saving, and the more of it used the cheaper
will be its proportionate cost and the greater
the satisfaction to all concerned.

One of the means whereby the farmer can get
his electricity at a still lower rate, is to maka
his consumption as uniform as possible during
the whole twenty-four hours. The cost of elec-
tricity is based on the cost of fuel or water-
power, attendance, and the amount of money
invested in the equipment, including generators
and transmission .system. It will be seen that
if all the farmers on a line demand electricity
during a few hours only of each day, larger
and more expensive machinery must be installed
r to generate it than would be necessary if the de-
\ mand for the same amount of electricity is
I spread over a longer part of the day.

The farmer thus by using power for feed-
r chopping, meat-grinding, dairy purposes, wood-
kchopping, cooking, washing and general pnr-
fposes during certain hours of the day, light for
Imoming and evening, and in pumping water
■rfor the household and for irrigation at night,
■■can, under the direction of the electric company,

CENTRAL STATION SERVICE 33

tributing system through his house, barns, etc.,
for the majority of farmers can afford to buy
their own maehinerj', especially of the smaller
sizes; but in the case of large installations a
number of methods may be employed to obtain
the benefits of such machinery without buying
it outright, principally by means of co-operation
with central-station concerns. Many such com-
panies are only too willing to furnish electric
motors and wire the farm premises, both for
light and power, at a small yearly rental or
on low instaiment-payments. Thus the farmer
may have the cost of machinery spread out over
a number of years, and the saving effected in
manual and animal labour would be far more
than sufficient to pay for the investment; and
thus he will not only own the equipment in the
end, but all the time will have been making a
good profit out of its use.

Central-station companies can readily sell
bonds and obtain funds with which to supply
H their farmer clients with all the motors neces-
V sary. The credit of farmers is of the highest
H character, so that the companies would not only
H^ have a profit on the sale of the machinery but

■ he

34 ELECTRICITY

would be secure in the principal, and for many
years would have a greatly increased demai^
for electricity which would never have exists
if the farmer had been compelled to go :
debt on his own account for his machinery.

Co-operative Methods.— On American farm
at present, a certain degree of co-operatio
exists, as for example in the threshing of grain
Farmers growing small grain, such as whedf
oats, rye, barley, etc., after the grain is hop^
vested, have a threshing machine outfit visit
their fields where a day or so is spent in thresb
ing the grain, the outfit then proceeding to th<
next farm. Such outfits are usually private
business enterprises conducted by two or thre
farmers in a district, each with his own outi
Essentially, however, it is a form of eo-opem
tion, and under American conditions probab^
the most effective form in which co-operatiw
can be carried out, the small profits of the owne
being a negligible factor compared with
convenience, and in fact, the necessity to l
individual farmer of such an apparatus wliid
is too expensive for his own private use unlet
he has a farm of enormous size.

CENTEAL STATION SEEVICE 35

rThe same principle can be readily applied in
the case of large electrical macliinery, such as
for electric ploughing and threshing, wood-saw-
ing and electric truckage of products in large
quantities, and water-pumping for irrigation,
as well as for such other purposes as may
be found feasible.

If, as will be the case in many instances,, no
1 farmer takes up, as a private business venture,
I such utilisation of electrical machinery, it will
[ be found perfectly feasible for a group of
; farmers to eo-operate in its use and ownership,
I either in the form of a partnership, or as a so-
I dety or corporation. Central stations could
I also interest themselves financially in such un-
l dertakings, which would be conducted not for
Iprofit but for mutual benefit.

One of the great advantages of central-sta-
ftion participation in such matters lies in the
I feature of maintenance and repairs. The cen-
rtral station would at all times have supervi-
l.sion over the machinery, and would have it in-
I'speeted regularly and repaired without delay
■"when out of order. The farmer being relieved
liOf this responsibility would have every encour-

36 ELECTEICITY

agement to adopt electrical machinery, and onc9
made acquainted by practical experience witl
its great advantages be would find new an^
profitable uses for it.

Co-operation between central-station compa-
nies and farmers, and of groups of farmers, in
whatever form it may be carried out, offers i
great field for national enrichment. For the
farmer to be fully equipped with every modern
appliance will enable him to get from the soil
the greatest source of national wealth, the big^
gest crops with the least expense. This meana
cheaper food and greater net incomes for everyj
body. No better way of reducing the cost of
living can be found than this, and no better way
of investing surplus capital devised.

The subject is one that deserves the most pro-
found consideration of bankers and capitaliata
throughout the country and the particular at=
tention of all electrical companies.

The matter may be taken up directly, as hai
been pointed out, by the central-station compai
nies, through the issuance of bonds and the pu*
chase of farm machinery with the proceede
Separate farm equipment companies could 1

CENTRAL STATION SERAaCE 37

organised for the purpose of supplying farmers
with implements, and such equipment eompa-
.nies could be financed by local bankers and busi-
ness men, an important farm equipment com-
pany being organised in each locality.

Capital for Farming Operation, — One of the
best forms of security in the money markets of
the world is railroad equipment notes, and there
can be no doubt that farm equipment notes
■would be just as desirable. It is, indeed, the
duty of local capitalists and bankers to place
their funds at the disposal of farmers, as such
use of the money in the surrounding region re-
lets favourably upon local conditions. Large
bankers in central cities could also find a profit-
able employment for millions of capital in the
iromotion of farm equipment companies on a
large scale. Such companies could both manu-
facture as well as sell the farm machinery, and
also be interested in, if not the proprietors of,
central-station companies.

The capital of the country, owing to the for-
ation of trusts, has largely been absorbed in
lanufacturing developments which, though pos-
libly of greater immediate profit, have taken

^L lei

inH and Blepped down lo a low voltage foi

money away from rural investments. This
left agriculture neglected and incapabL

" m

le ofl

■ CENTEAL STATION SERVICE 39

keeping pace with other phases of progress,
with the result that all forms of manufacturing
are now sharply checked by the drag of the
farm in the form of high prices of commodities,
a condition which would never have arisen had
farmers had ample capital placed at their dis-
posal on tenns as favourable as those granted
to manufacturers.

Agriculture must now he given its proper en-
couragement, and enabled to contribute its share
to the prosperity of the country, and this can
be done in no way so well as by the expansion
of the use of electricity on the farm. A most
powerful element of stimulation will then be in-
jected into the veins of the whole country and
a new era of prosperity will ensue.

QUESTIONS
. What is the usual voltage employed for the trBiiBmiaaion

Bterns of central station eoncerna!
; What are tlie usual charges for electric current for ceutral-

station service?
'. What is a kilowatt-hour!
k Why are two different rates charged, one for light and

the other for power t
L What 19 underatood by a rural central station?
, What is the purpose of the co-operation o£ cenfrftl sta-
tions and farmers?
pfi Would the farmer beiitfit in making use of central station

CHAPTER III

GENERATING ELECTRIC POWEE

It is generally recognised that central sta-
tions and public utility companies are tbe best
sources of supply from which to draw electric-
ity, owing to their reliability, cheapness" and
convenience. The advantage of using central-
station service may be enumerated as follows :

Smaller investment; no capital tjptl up in generating ap-
paratus, fuel, supplies, etc.

Eeliability oi supply; failure almost unknown.

Any accident t« a machine is confined to it and does not ai
feet any other portion of the shop. In all other syBtom
the machines are not titus independent.

ivailability of supply at any mornent, day or night, and cot>
for power always in proportion to amount of work beinj

Ample overload capacity.

No delay from lack of power; power always ready.

Good voltage regulation; lights steady and motor-spoeda ooa

Freedom to locate machinery ans^i-here within several ffiitej
of the farm building, and to relocate it at any time -with
out reference to power supply.

Ability to enlarge fann capacity at any time in order to Iceq
pace with demands, without expensive changes in pown

QENEEATINO ELBCTEIC POWER 41

Freedom from all expenses and annojance chargeable to opern-
tioii of (lower plant; this includes labour troublea, fuel
shortage, break-downs, etc.

When the user, however, is located beyond
the reach of the distributing lines of central-
station companies, it is neo-ssary to install an
isolated plant to snpply light, heat and power,
and such a plant is a much more profitable in-

I vestment than the installation of other kinds
of power, such as individual gas, oil or steam
engines, to operate the different farm machines.
The great advantage of using electricity on the
farm for light, heat and power, is amply dem-
onstrated in other chapters.

Isolated Plants. — ^For the purpose of gener-
■ating electricity in isolated plants, various
forms of power are utilised, depending on the
locality of the farm or country residence and
the nature and source of the available fuel or

' -water supply. The various methods of gener-

[ ating electricity will be discussed in the follow-

[ ing order:

Watebpoweb plants.
Steampowbk plants.

ItSTERSAl.-fOMnUaTION ENOIKB PljANTS.

Wihuuill PoirEB pi.asts.

ELEGTBIO 8T0BAGE BATTEBIEB.

42 ELECTEICITY

THE WATERPOWER PLANT

Water Available. — In order to generate elec-
tric energy from waterpower, it is necessary to
take advantage of a fall of water, and if a
natural fall is not available, an artificial fall
must be erected; and the higher the fall, the
smaller the quantity of water necessary to ob-
tain the desired capacity of the generating
plant. It is not necessary that the waterfall be
located on the premises or estate, for it may be
many miles distant without affecting the result ;
yet for the sake of convenience, first cost and
other kindred reasons, it is desirable to have
the plant near at hand.

In many instances, where the stream runs
through the property or in the neighbourhood,
cheap power may be derived by building a dam
across it, thus increasing the height of the water
for driving a wheel or turbine. Where the
stream is of more than ordinary size, part of
the water may be deflected and led through con-
crete, wooden or steel conduits to the water-
wheel. The water discharged from the wheel
may, in many cases, be distributed for irriga-
ting purposes, a factor of vital importance in

GBNEEATING ELECTBIC POWER 43

ill branches of agricultare, as will be discussed

^■later on.

Water-Wheels.— One of the first essentials

|ls to choose the right type of water-wheel.
This depends on the height and volume of water
iiivailable. For a high-head fall, a Pelton wheel,

J^jonsisting of a steel disc with buckets mounted

won the rim, ^ves best efficiency. The water is
directed against the buckets, causing the wheel
(to run at high speed. For low-head falls, tur-

libines of the different designs should be chosen

) fit the particular cases at hand. A low-head

tirbine, as the name implies, is designed to use

arge quantities of water with a low fall.

These turbines operate at low speed. There

iire, of eour.se, many other factors to be con-

pidered from an engineering point of view, and

giuch depends upon the ability of the engineer

^ho is chosen to build the plant. With all

irater-wbeels, proper regulating devices must

i installed, so that the operation of the plant

May be as automatic, as possible, thus mate-

Hally cutting down the operating expenses and

noing away with constant attention. It is an

isy matter to so equip a small waterpower

44 ELECTRICITY

plant that the entire plant can be started, con-
trolled or stopped from the residence, or from
any distant point on the farm, at any hour of

the day or night.

Generators. — The energy of a rotating- water-
wheel is converted into electricity by means of
a dynamo or electric generator, driven either ■
by a belt from the water-wheel or directly con-
nected to its shaft. From the generator the I
energy is led over copper wires to the switch.-

GENEEATING ELECTRIC POWER 45

ward, from whieli it is distributed to the differ-
mt places where it is needed, sueh as in the va-
rious power-motors and lights in the house, barn
tor garden.

The illuBtration (seo opposite page) ehowa the exterior view
I waterpowor plant on a large farm. This plant aiipplies
Jurrent to oporala all kinds of labour-saving devices and ma-
chiaery.

The pomer-housG was built by a farmer with up-to-date
ideas. His farm liad running tlirough it a good sized stream.
He conceived tlie idea of harnessing the water, converting
3 energy into electricity and using the current to operate
I farm machinery. By engaging a, competent engineer, be
1 enabled to get more horsepower than he figured. The
r designed the proper kind of dam for the stream, and
a the best type of house for tlie conditions at hand.
f The moat efUcient water wheels and generators are best known
[/to engineers, and unless one ia well veraed in engineering, he
is likely to buy machines and apparatus which would not be
suitable, because he would not be able to state the correct con-
ditions for his needs. The farmer or any one else putting
_li^ a generating station, whether it be large or small, will not
Mp astray by consulting a, competent engineer.

P Size of Equipftient— It requires close study-
to ascertain the proper size and most econom-
ical machines for the particular conditions.
■Q'he work on the farm must be divided up so
pat all the heavy work of different kinds is
■ot being done at the same time. For instance,
f the total horsepower for all kinds of niachin-
7 amounted to thirty-five it would not be nee-

48 ELECTRICITY

power-house is necessary. The starting andi
stopping of the water-wheel in this case is dona
from the residence by pulling a quarter-inch;
steel cable, running over sheaves on the pole-
line carrying the copper wires; but this prim-
itive device could better be replaced by an up-
to-date method operated by pushing a button iH:
the residence.

The current is used for lighting the residence,
the barns and the grounds, and for actuating"
several electric motors. One S-horsepower
motor, by means of shafting, operates a churn,
a cream-separator and laundry machinery ; an-
other 3-horsepower motor is installed in a dairy
bam for operating milking-machines, while a
large IS-horsepower motor is mounted on skids
and transported from place to place as desired,
for cutting and grinding feed, cutting ensilage,
shelling corn, sawing wood and operating a
grain elevator and a deep-well pump. The op-
erating expenses of the plant are exceptionally
low, amounting to but ten dollars per year, and
the total equipment cost only $1200.

Another concrete example of the cost of a
water-power plant for farm use, according to

GENERATING ELECTRIC POWER

Leo]

The American Agriculturist, is found in Port-
age County, Ohio. A dam, 350 feet long, was
nstructed, of which 320 feet was built of earth,
bile the remainder was of concrete, so de-
signed as to act as an overflow weir in time of
freshets. The water-wheel works under a head
of 10 feet, 8 inches, drives an electric generator
at a speed of 1300 revolutions per minute, and
is able to furnish electric current for 100 16-
-eandlepower lamps, or their equivalent in the
("Working of small motors. The machinery is
placed in a small separate building, 12x14 ft.,
and little attention is required for it, except to
start and stop the water-wheel, and to oil the
wheel and the generator, which is done every
two weeks. The cost of this installation was
more than would be required for similar plants,
because a long dam had to be constructed and
a long transmission was necessary. A brief
outline of the cost is as follows:

Dam excavation, etc $ 367

Flume 40

Power-houae 50

Machinery 2ff8

TraiiHiniaeioii-line poles (cut on iarm) 20

-^- T wires 124

-wiring and fixtures 1 85

Total $1022

^^gOpper wire
^■B^ne-wiriiif

H 50

I ""

■ Stal

^H stre

ELECTBICITY

Waterpower Developments on Farms in the
State of New York. — ^Waterpowers on small
streams afford tlie means of bringing many elee-

trical conveniences arid labour-saving appliances
to neigbbouring farm homes. An interesting
account of some of these farm-waterpower in-
stallations in New York State is contained in
an illustrated report, "Water-Power for the
Farm and Country Home," prepared by David
E. Cooper, engineer-secretary for the New York
State Water Supply Commission. After di-
recting attention to the many small streams
which might be harnessed to do useful work,
the report enumerates the many uses hereto-

GENERATING ELECTRIC POWER 51

bfore mentioned for electrical energj' on the
rfarm, and in the buildings.

Examples of actual work done by electric
Ipower are given by Mr. Cooper, as follows :

A 6-hp.* motor viili thresh 250 bu. of oats, grind 20 bu.

1, grind 48 bu. of feed, grind and press 250 bu. of apples

BBven cords of hard-oak stovewnod an hour, in the last

blstance taxing the ability of four men to stack the wood in

fast as it is sawed. A 12-hp, motor driving a 50-iii.

jtircular saw will cut 4000 ft. ot oak or 6000 ft. of poplar

in a day. A 10-hp. motor running a 16-iii. ensilage

nitter and blower will deliver ensilage into a 30-ft. silo at

B rate of 7 tons per hour. A 1-hp. motor will supply water

r ordinary farm-house use.

Actual installations described in the report
yield the following data:

At Oneida.— The 100-acre farm of Mr. E. B.
Siiner, near Oriakany Falls, Oneida County, N.
, is devoted to bop raising, mixed farming
nd dairying. The sons of the family studied
engineering at college and, becoming convinced
Spf the possible uses of the stream near their
borne, designed and built up the 17-hp. water-
bower plant and dam which now supplies the
Electricity for lighting the farm buildings and
aves many chores. This timber-crib dam, 36 ft.
k>ng, raising the water four feet, is carried on

• Hp. = horatpower.

ELECTRICITY

heavy concrete sills cast in a 2-ft.xl.5 ft. ditch;
dug across the stream bed. Above the crest'
of the dam is a row of 1-ft. flash-boards held
erect by chains locked by pins which can be
withdrawn by a capstan, dropping the boards in
case of high water. There is also a supple-
mentary 4Q-ft. Kpillway, with its crest a few
inches higher than the main dam, helping to dis-
charge heavy floods. From the dam a 60-ft.
canal and forehay leads down-stream to the
power-house, where a vertical -shaft 17-hp. tur-
bine wheel is installed. A double-pulley ar-
rangement increases the speed of the water-
wheel's rotation to the 1100 r. p. m. (revolutions
per minute) required by the 12,5-kilowatt belted
generator at the far end of the 12 ft. s 16 ft.
power-house.

Oriskany Creek, at the point utilised by Mr.
Miner, drains 14 square miles, furnishing
throughout nearly all the year the flow re-
quired to drive the water-power plant at full
load under the available head of 6 ft. From'
the power-house to the farm buildings, 1700 ft.'
distant, an aluminum wire is carried on 20-

GENERATING ELECTRIC POWER 53

' ft. poles set at 100 ft. intervals. The energy
thus delivered is used to operate a circular saw,
machine lathe and drill press, vacuum-cleaning
system (used also for operating milking-ma-
chines in the twenty-flve-stall cow-barn), a
cream-separator, chum, grindstone, ventilating
and cooling fans, electric iron, sewing-machine,
egg-beater and water-pump. The house is also
warmed by five electric heaters, maintaining an
indoor temperature of 75 degrees when it is at
Eero outside. The water-wheel and generator
run continuously night and day, and self-oiling
attachments cause the plant to require little at-
tention. Mr. Miner says the waterpower is
worth to him several times its cost, which ho
does not state, but which engineers estimate to
I have been about $1800 complete for dam,
I power-house, line and equipment.

At Lake George. — Mr, Stephen Loines, of
I Brooklyn, has a summer home on the shore of
[ Lake George, his property including a seven-
! acre pond at an elevation of 180 ft. above the
I lake. The outlet of this body of water is
E caught in a 6-inch spiral riveted pipe and con-

54 ELECTEICITY

veyed 1600 ft. down a gnlley to the little power-
house, which contains a 10-hp. 24-ineh impulse
wheel, operating under a 165-ft. head. The 6.5-
kw. generator delivers energy to a sixty-cell
house-lighting battery; an eighty-four-cell bat-
tery for a 35-ft. cabin launch; a forty-eight-sell
battery for a 20- ft. open launch, and a forty-cell
battery for an electric roadster, all of which are
in nearly continuous use five months in the year.
Another development on the estate comprises
a 2-inch pipe with a fall of 110 ft. in its 1200
ft. length, operating a 3-hp. impulse wheel used
to drive a saw belted to a shaft. An unusual
use of hydroelectric energy^ on the Loines es-
tate is the operation of the roof of the private
astronomical observatory just above the cot-
tage. The dome roof is mounted on wheels and
is moved by a 1.5-hp. motor.

At Lawyersville. — Mr. J. Van Wagenen, of
Lawyersville, Schoharie County, N. Y., a prac-
tical and scientific farmer, utilises the 15-ft.
head created by a disused saw-mill dam. His
5-hp. water-wheel is belted to a 3-kilowatt, 125-
volt generator, the output of which is conveyed
over 3700 ft. of pole-line to the houses of the

GENEKATIXG ELECTBIC POWEB 55

owner and a neighbour. As it was undesirable
to visit the plant half a mile awav^ night and
morning, to stop and start the turbine, as well
as inadvisable to waste water during the dry
season by letting the plant run all the time, the
turbine valve has been attached to a pull-wire
extending to the bedroom window of a neigh-
bour living 700 ft. distant. Pulling this wire at
5 A. M. starts the plant, and releasing it at night
allows a counterweight to drop, turning off the
water. For this service of starting and stop-
ping the machine the neighbour gets his elec-
tric service free for his house and bam. The
cost of maintenance of the plant has been tri-
fling. The owner wired his house at a cost of
$40 for material, doing the work himself. The
plant cost a little over $500 (see below), the
dam being already built and most of the instal-
lation work being done by the owner and at
odd hours.

Dynamo, 3 kw. (leeoiid-luLiid) $ HOJff)

Water-wheel, 9 lew. (naked wheel; 5r».rKi

Governor (new) TT,tttt

Wire (7,400 ft.) Zlh^ttt

Labour ( inataUing whwrl i ih^ft$

Fixtures (lampi and tlMr ]iJ^ » . . ^/^ '^i

One amaO motor 2 bp. 'nnnrf . V; V;

Total V..>//j

56 ELECTEICITT

Such a water-plaut Mr. Van "Wagenen de-
clares to be equivalent to a liired man's serv-
ices, doing away with many chores and labo-
rious duties about the place.

At Delhi. — Mr. J, T. McDonald has a farm
near Delhi, N. T., which is equipped with three
water-wheels utilising the 15-ft. head created
by a dam and 900 feet of I'aceway. A 25-hp.
turbine runs a saw-mill and a feed mill ; a 3-hp.
wheel runs small saws and machine tools ; and
a 6-hp. wheel drives the electric generator.
The turbine gate is opened and closed by a
switch in the owner's house, while the field cir-
cuit and rheostat are brought to the same point,
enabling the voltage to be regulated closely.

Mr. Prank Caspar, in Scholiarie County, has
a water-wheel driving a generator which lights
a furniture factory, church, village street, and
his own house. The plant is started and
stopped by a pull-wire which opens a small
valve admitting water pressure to a cylinder,
the piston of which operates the gate.

In addition to a 36-inch impulse-wheel oper-
ating under a 210-ft. head and driving a saw-mill

^ ating

GENERATING ELECTBIC POWER 57

on the place of Mr. Arthur Cowee, near Berlin,

!N. T., a Bmaller impulse-wheel is directly con-
nected to a 3-kw. (kilowatt) generator supply-
ing electricity to 160 lamps. The penstock for
the main wheel is a 10-inch cast-iron pipe 1680
feet long.

At Chazy.— One of the largest farm water-
power installations in America is that at the
Heart's Delight" farm, of Mr. W. H. Miner.
There are two waterpower sources for this.
The smaller is a group of three small dams built
tcross Tracy Brook to create storage reser-
'oirs. From the lower of these a 44-ineh pen-
stock 670 ft. long carries the water to the power-
house under a 19-ft. head. Here two turbines,
of 30-kw. and 12.5-kw. capacity respectively,
,re installed, driving 220-volt direct-current
tnerators. At the larger source a concrete
[am is built across the Chazy River, and the
■ater is led through a concrete penstock, 48x60
inches in section and 630 ft. long, to a second
power-house, where a fall of 30 ft. is obtained.
Here two turbines drive alternators, the effect
if which is conducted to the farm buildings

ELECTKICITY

three miles distant. Hydraulic rams are i
used for water-pumping on this farm. Twenty-^
five motors are installed for a great variety of I
purposes, for nearly every modem use of elec- J
tricity is employed on this farm.

STEAM POWER PLANTS

One of the most widely used means of gen<d
erating electric^ity is the steam engine. Steam^
for the purpose is produced in a boiler, by burn-
ing coal, oil, wood, refuse, eto., but in most cases J
coal is used, and that in grades of various qual- 1
ities.

Coal is divided into two main classes,
thracite and bituminous ; the former resembling J
carbon or coke, the latter pitch or bitumen*.!
There are a number of degrees in the nature o^
these two qualities of coal, which are grj
commercially as aemi -anthracite, semi-bitunai^-rj
nous, gas or eannel coal and lignite. Some of 1
these coals are very soft, the most recent forma-fl
tions or lignites being the softest, while othersJ
are of a hard nature, and very often the classi")
fication is made of "hard" and "soft" coal iii'*

GENEEATING ELECTEIC POWER 59

place of anthracite and bituminous. Anthra-
cite coal is supposed to be the oldest and deep-
est coal formation in existence.

Engineers rate coal by heat units expressed
in British thermal units (always abbreviated B.
T. U.), and it should be bought on this basis,
because a ton of one kind of coal may produce
twice as much available power in a boiler as a
like quantity of another grade. On the other
band, with certain kinds of boilers and grates,
and possibly additional equipment, more iiower
may be obtained from a lower gi-ade or cheaper
coal. It is from such conditions and probable
combinations that the kind of coal to be used
for the most economical operation is deter-
mined.

The user of coal must bear in mind that coal
contains a certain percentage of moisture,
volatile matter, fixed carbon, ashes and sul-
phur.

Storage of Coal. — Coal, particularly in large

quantities, should be stored under a roof, as

otherwise it loses much of its heat value, due

m/to slow chemical changes which start as soon

60 ELECTEICITT

as the coal is mined and continue until it i
burned. These losses are greatest with sof
coal and greater in warm weather and in thi
tropics than in cool air. The losses are slig^
when the coal is fresh, but increase rapidly i
it ages. Care must be exercised in the storiiH
of coal to prevent spontaneous combustioH
which is more troublesome with soft coal thai
with hard. The raost obvious remedy is to pro
vide proper ventilation, and to avoid storing i,
in high heaps.

Boiler Room. — The boiler room for a fan
or country estate, from the point of view e
safety, is best located in a separate house, ye
in many instances, conditions warrant the uB/
of the basement of the residence or bam.
any case, wherever the boiler may be placed
the coal-bin must be so located that the cost e
handling the coal is a minimum. Along wit3
the handling of the coal, the easy and eeonona
ical removal of ashes must 1

Engine Room. — ^The engine room is p^efeI^''
ably located alongside the boiler room, sepa-
rated from it by a partition wall. When this is J

GENERATING ELECTBIC POWEK 61

not possible, tlie engine must not be placed too
far from the boiler room, because then long
steam pipes would have to be installed, which
will cause the steam to condense in the pipes,
even when it travels with high velocity. When
large quantities of water, due to condensed
steam, get into an engine there are possibili-
ties of accidents. Of course there are instances
where the engines cannot be separated from the
boilers, as for example in the case of the port-
able engine mounted upon the boiler.

Sise of Engines. — For plants of the size
shown, it is the common practice to install two
engines, so that on a light load one engine is
running, and when the load is heavy both en-
gines carry it. For instance, two 50-bp. en-
gines are installed, and when the load increases
above 50 hp. the single engine running will
carry the over-load for some time. When the
load passes 65-hp., however, both engines must
be put into operation, and together migbt then
be called upon to carry a load of up to 130-hp.
for some time. In addition, by the adoption of
the two-engine installation, repairs on one of

62 ELECTEICITY

the engines can readily be made without shut-
ting down the entire plant.

Efflciency. — The problem involved in the con-
struction of a steam-electric power-plant must
necessarily be treated in conjunction with the
cost of construction, operation and mainte-
nance ; as it is the ultimate aim to produce elec-
tricity at a minimum of expense. The ef-
ficiency of a steam-electric power-plant is low,
ranging from 5 per cent, to 14 per cent, of the
heat value of the coal. Fourteen per cent, is
extremely economical and can only be secured
by the best designed and equipped plant and by
scientific operation. The average plant of re-
cent construction operates with an eifficiency of
from 8 per cent, to 10 per cent.

The following table taken from the au-
thor's ^* Steam Electric Power Plants,'' shows
the approximate loss per pound of coal in a well
conducted, first class power plant. It will be
noticed that the coal is assumed to have a heat-
ing value of 14,000 B. T. U., of which the equiv-
alent of 12.8 per cent, or 1792 B. T. U. are de-
livered to the switch board.

GENERATING ELECTEIC POWEE 63 1

APPROXIMATE LOSSES IN A WELL-CONDUCTED FIRST- 1
a.ASS POWER PLANT, PER POirND OF COAL ■

Losses in B. T. U. and Per- M
centages per pound of coal H

14,000 B.T. U.

lOOJJ,

Items

Aahea

Eadiation and leakage of boiler . .

Jaaes through chimney

B]ow-off and leakage

Radiation and leakage of piping .

Miction and leakage of engine . .

[ejected to condensers

210

140
1900
210
210
140
8640
28
910

12008

1.5

4.
1.0
14.

1.5
1.6
I.O
61.
0.2
Q.5

92.2

toquired for all auxiUariea ....
Total

Returned by Peed Water Heater 5 per cent, or 700 B. T. U.
(British Thermal Units).

Delivered to the buB-barH 105-02,2 = 12.8 per cent, or 1702
B. T. U.

Since the efficiency of a steam-eiectrie power-
plant is so low, every increase in economy, be it
even a fraction of a per cent., should be looked
after, and it will be to the advantage of the
plant owner to consult an engineer who is ex-
pert on the subject. The exhaust steam of the
engine or turbine, which usually is wasted, can
be utilised for heating the feed for the cattle or
heating water for general purposes on the farm,

ELECTRICITY

or it may be used for heating the residence in
winter, or in making ice in summer.

INTEBNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE PLANTS

Where natural or illuminating gas is at hand,
or in the neighbourhood, it can be made useful
in operating an electric generator set. When
not available, a gas may be generated or pro-
duced on the premises and used in driving an
engine just the same as natural gas. Suoh in-
stallations often are slightly higher in cost at
first than a steam plant, but the operating cost
sa. Close calculations are necessary to de-
termine ■which power may have the advantage.

Producer Gas. — The gas-producer plant con-
sists of a producer, scrubber and a gas-tank.
The producer is a furnace where the coal is
burned at a low rate of combustion. With the
hopper and magazine to the furnace properly
filled, no attention is necessary for some time.
The gas is slowly generated and led to a tank
filled with coke, called a scrubber. Here the
impurities of the gas are removed by passing
through a spray of water playing on the coke.
The gas is next led to a comparatively small

I GENERATING ELECTEIC POWER 65
tank or reservoir, which supplies the gas en-
gine.

Some of the advantages of a gas-producer

^T i— Jn ~ '^Bl"

lp.„ . „ l^.l

H \

filant are : economy, simplicity of the machin-
y, safety 'm operation, low maintenance cost ;
|io nuiaanee from smoke, and ease of starting
;nd stopping.
Gas Engines. — -A gas engine appears to be
^ery similar to a steam engine, but has this dif-
ference, that the steam engine has steam ex-

66 ELECTRICITY

pansion on both sides of the piston-head, while
in the gas engine, the gas explosion takes place
on one side of the piston-head only. The gen-
erator is usually directly connected (mounted
on the shaft of tlie engine's fly-wheel), and
in some instances it is driven by a belt f^rom the
engine's pulley.

In the producer-gas engine plant, a total effi-
ciency of 15 to 17 per cent, and even higher is
obtainable, through the proper selection of ma-
chinery making up the plant.

The producer plant can be operated on different kinds of
fuel. Tliose in most common use are "pea" and 'buckwheat"
antliraeite, lignite, foundry or gas-house coke (broken to small
size), and in some cases, charcoal. The relative values of
different coals can be approximately determined not only by
chemical analysis, but by combustion in a coal calorimeter,
or by actual trial in a gas producer. With the calorimeter
test, the standard unit of heat is the British thermal unit
( B. T. U. ) defined as the amount of heat required to raise
the temperature of one pound of pure water one degree (1°)
Falir. This is equivalent to 778 foot-pounds of energy, from
which we find tliat 1 hp. is equivalent to 2545 B, T. U.'s per
hour. The anthracite commonly used has a heat value of ap-
proximately 13,000 B. T. U.'s per pound.

The fuel consum])tion with some producer-gas plants does
not exceed 1^ pounds of pea-size anthracite per brake horse-
power per hour, on test-runs at a rated load of 10 to 12 hours'
duration. This is equivalent to 16,250 B. T. U.'s of heat sup-
plied per brake liorsepower per hour, and to a complete plant
efficiency of 2545 -^ 1C250 = 15.7%.

GENEEATIN& ELECTEIC POWEE 67

■ A Gas-prod/ucer Plant. — ^An interesting ex-
" ample of a gas-producer installation is that on
a De Kalb County farm in the northern part of
Illinois. Here there is a gas engine and dy-
namo, and a pole-line distributing electricity to
about 150 electric lamps, to various types of
machinery in use about the farm, aud to one
small motor in the house. There is also a stor-
age battery of 52 cells, so that electricity is
available at night or other time when the plant
may be shut down. The owner utilises the gas
from his producer as fuel under the boiler of
his steam-heating system in the bouse. An-
thracite pea coal is used to charge the producer,
and about two bushels per day are required.
One hired man operates the plant, and he is
enabled to give considerable time to other du-
ties.

Gasoline and Alcohol Engines. — Inspired by
the demand for a high state of perfection in
this type of machinery for operating automo-
biles and launches, inventive genius and manu-
facturing skill have combined to produce
gasoline engines fully equal to the best steam
engines in reliability, and far excelling them in

ELECTEICITt

Lfor :
railr

economy. For years gasoline engines have beeii
built by various concerns to meet the exactinj
specifications and rigid tests of the Unite^
States Government.

This type of engine is of the general "inter-J
nal-combustion " type, in which the fuel is fedifl
into the engine in the form of a gas previoualja
vaporised in a carbureter, then compressed ill
the engine and exploded by an electric spark.

Fuel Alcohol. — A very important auhstitutl
for gasoline or other fuels used at present, anci
particularly for the farm, is alcohol, which ma«
be produced by the farmer himself from a va-
riety of materials raised by him. Any of tlM^
starchy plants yields alcohol, as the Boutb.
em cassava, sweet potatoes, white potatoes;!
and sugar beets. Com cobs yield 11 gallons ofl
alcohol to the ton, and sweet cornstalks 7 gal4
Ions. Many refuse plants may be used and als
much unmarketable fruit and vegetable matte:^
Alcohol, as produced on the farm, is ready t
supply light, heat and power when other souD
of fuel fail. Many localities in the West sufEej
for fuel in winter, when storms are severe (
railroad cars are scarce. Alcohol manvfiU

Hpnt

GENERATING ELECTRIC POWER 69

tared for snch. use will not be subject to a rev-
enue tax. Potatoes which may be frozen, and
of no use for other purposes, are for this pur-
pose equal to good potatoes.
Petroleum Engines. —Instead of using gaso-
le for fuel, in localities where petroleum oil is
more readily obtainable, many engines are de-
signed to run efficiently on the heaviest and
cheapest grade of petroleum. Even the Cali-
fomian crude oils, containing a large percent-
age of asphaltum, may be employed without the
slightest difficulty. On many occasions oils
have been tested experimentally, which were too
heavy to run from the can at ordinary tempera-
tures, but which on being warmed up became
liquid enough to handle and were found to be
entirely satisfactory for fuel in an engine. The
ordinary grades of crude oil produced by the
various refineries as a by-product in the manu-
facture of kerosene and gasoline are well suited
for use in this class of engine; and may be ob-
tained in large quantities at the price of 3 to 5
cents per gallon, depending on the cost of trans-
portation.

The operating expenses of these engines are

70 ELECTRICITY

exceptionally low, and the entire plant is a
simple one. It. consists of the engine, a small
water-circulating system and a storage tank.
When the engine is shut down, and the oil sup-
ply shut off, all expenses cease until ready to
start again. The fuel oil is preferably run by
gravity directly from the tank-car in which it is
received into a storage tank, from which it is
pumped into the engine itself. No refuse of
any kind is produced in the operation of this
engine. Robinson, in * ^ Gas and Petroleum En-
gines, '^ tabulates the results of various tests of
a 25-hp. oil engine, and shows that the lowest
oil consumption per actual or brake horsepower,
is a trifle less than % lb., while the average is
just one pound of oil. As the gallon of fuel oil
weighs approximately 7^/4 lbs., it will be read-
ily seen that one horsepower per hour can be
produced at a cost of 2 cents. This cost does
not include overhead charges such as insurance,
interest and depreciation of plant, labour, etc*

WINDMILL POWER PLANTS

Another source of energy for generating elec-
tric power is the windmill, Tyhich is extensively
used throughout the country for pumping water

GENERATING ELECTRIC POWER 71

and for other rural puposes. It ia a maeliine
which has been in use for some thousands of
years to absorb the power of moving air and
convert it into useful work. In the early part
of the tenth century mills of the Dutch type
were in general use throughout western Europe,
and with the advancement of the art they have
been steadily improved. The Dutch wheels
were built from 50 to 100 ft. in diameter and
produced from one to ten horsepower. They
were used in Ho lland_ to operate the water-
drainage lifts, for driving mill-stones, and for
numerous other purposes requiring power. A
few of these wheels were built in America, but
the settlement of our great prairies developed
a necessity Tor the use of a smaller wheel, the
cost of which would be within the reach of the
farmer and ranchman. It was found by va-
rious builders that a small wheel, 12 to 15 feet
in diameter, filled with wooden slats, would give
sufScient power and approximately the proper
speed to operate such pumps as were commonly
built for band use.

About 40 years ago the American wheel waa
made safe and practical by grouping the slats

ELECTRICITY

or sails in sections which were pivoted under
control of centrifugal governor-weights which
altered the exposed surface of the slats, thereby
preventing the wheel from running too fast in
high winds. Another method of governing the
speed of the wheel was by means of a side vaue
which was attached to a horizontal arm rigidly
fixed to the head carrying the wheel, springs
or weights being used to retain the wheel per-
pendicular to the main vane in light winds.
High winds acting upon the side vane would
turn the wheel slightly, thereby reducing its ef-
fective surface and preventing danger-produo-
ing speed.

A windmill should be able to run in a light
wind; and it should swing easily on its turn-
table, to enable it to face up in such a light wind.
The wheel itself should he at least 15 ft. above
all houses, barns and trees, or any other wind
obstruction within 400 ft. ; in other words, the
tower should be high enough to catch the light-
est wind which may blow from any point of the
compass, and at the same time it should be
above eddies and changeable air currents.
Fortunately, high winds occur more frequently

r GENERATING ELECTRIC POWEE 73

during the winter months, when most of the
grinding, feed-cutting, wood-sawing and other
work requiring power is to be done. While a
IKiwer windmill will do an astonishing amount
of work in a moderate wind, the best results
can be obtained in winds blowing from 25 to
35 miles per hour. With a 30-mile wind one
man can scarcely shovel corn into a two-hole
self-feed sheller fast enough to keep the hopper
full, and three or four men will be kept busy to
handle poles or cordwood and the resulting fire-
wood while operating a wood-saw, while a man
with the help of a boy can scarcely sack the
feed-meal produced by a mechanically operated
grinder.

Windmill Construction. — A power windmill
which will not take care of and regulate itself
in any wind less than a tornado is an unprofit-
able investment, as the owner cannot always
take advantage of those high winds which really
furnish the best power. It is therefore essen-
tial in order to obtain the best economy, to se-
lect a form designed to take advantage of the
moderately high winds. One of the most widely
known windmills is a machine built entirely of

74 ELECTRICITY

steel, and properly galvanised to protect it from
all kinds of weather conditions. The following
table shows the horsepower of such wheels in
different wind velocities :

C ^

per
hour

miles
per
hour

miles

per

hour

miles

per

hour

1— 1

i-H

12-ft. .

.67

1.6

3.12

5.4

8.5

IG-ft. .

.36

.21

2.9

5.5

8.6

15.3

In tests by Prof. F. H. King, of the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin, a 12-foot windmill of this
type connected to a grinder for reducing corn
to f oed-moal produced the following results :

Wind velocity in miles,

per lioiir 10.4 15.3 20.8 25.9 28.6 31.3

jVfeal ground per hour,

in pounds 130.2 236.8 474.5 831 1006 1068

Oats and other light grains will feed slower
than corn in proportion to their weight. Also,
if exceedingly fine meal is to be made the quan-
tity will be less in proportion to its fineness.

The 12-foot windmill will grind through the
j-^ear on an average, 75 to 80 bushels of meal per
day, and with proper attachments do all the
pumping, feed-cutting, shelling and wood saw-

—mil
pail

r QENEEATINa ELECTRIC POWEE 75

ing for a large farm. The 14 and 16-ft. ■wind-
-inills are propoi-tionately more powerful.

Electric Generating Equipment. — The wind-
Siill is readily and easily applicable to an elec-
tric generating set which should be equipped
with the automatically regulating devices. Al-
though the windmill plant regulates itself auto-
matically to the speed of the wind, a valuable
adjunct to it is a storage battery, which is fed
automatically from a generator, and when fully
charged is automatieally cut out until needed,
when it is again put into service, but this time
giving up energy instead of storing it. Tlie

itorage battery is a necessary feature with an
^ectric generating set for any farm or resi-
lenee.

BBsi

ELECTRIC BTOBAGB BATTERIES

The principal function of a storage battery in
small plants is the furnishing of current for a
considerable period of time, as at night after

generator has l>een stopped. The operation
the battery consists of cycles of charge and

leharge covering practically the capacity of
the battery. The engine develops mechanical
energy, which is transformed into electrical en-

76 ELECTRICITY

ergy by the djTiamo. The storage battery acts
just like a water tank; it is a reservoir which
stores this electrical energy to be drawn upon.
whenever needed, so that it is unnecessary t(j
run the engine and dynamo continuously in
order to have electric light at all hours of the
day and night. Storage batteries may
charged each day, but larger batteries require
charging only once in two or three days, and
others still larger will store current for a week
or more. Batteries require an engine to be run
four to ten hours to charge them, the time de.
pending upon how much electricity has pre-
viously been used from the battery.

Function and Service. — In plants for farms,
and country residences, the capacity of engine
and' generator must be sufficient for the maxi
mum normal load; but duiing certain hours of
each day no such amount of energy is required.
This means a low degree of efficiency and high
fuel costs. The installation of a storage bat-
tery corrects this condition by permitting thef
operation of the generator at the full or the
most economical load and then .shutting it
down entirely, the battery providing the cnr-

GENEKATING ELECTRIC POWER 77

rent for the balance of the time. When on
special occasions an extra heavy load is re-
quired, the lottery may be discharged in par-
allel with generator, and demands equal to the
combined capacity of the battery and generator
may l>e supplied. Also, the generating eqiiip-
[ mert may ])e stopped for adjustment or repair
I "without interrupting the service, the battery
pbeing always available for unexpected demands
I for power.

Installation, — Storage batteries for light and
■ power plants are usually Installed either in
glass jai's, glass tanks or lead-lined wooden
^ tanks. The cells of the small type are installed
ss jars resting on a bed of sand contained
^lass or wooden sand-tray, supported by
j^our glass insulators under its corners. Cells
M medium capacity are usually installed in
anke of pressed glass resting on insulators
lapped by small cushions of either lead or rub-
ber to ke,ep the hard surfaces out of contact.
^ead-lined wooden tanks are often used for
plants of medium size and always for those of
large size. This tj'pe of cell is assembled at
hhe place of installation. Cells which are not

78 ELECTRICITY

too heavy are generally installed on two-tier
wooden racks in order to save floor space. The
larger cells are set in one tier, the wooden
stringers being supported by vitrified brick set
upon the floor or by another set of glass in-
sulators resting on vitrified tiles.

The number of cells is determined by the
voltage of the system. Isolated plants of the
various voltages require batteries of the num-
ber of cells, as follows :

Voltage of System

Number of

GeUB

110

115

125

220

120

230

126

250

138

The size of the individual cells needed is de-
termined by the number of lamps, their candle-
power and efficiency, and the length of time they
must be supplied on one discharge.

Rating. — Storage batteries are rated in "am-
pere hours." This method defines their capac-
ity, and is the product of the number of
amperes of discharge multiplied by the number
of hours such discharge can continue. The
capacity at the eight-hour rate is considered
the iiomial. As the ampere discharge is in-

GENERATING ELECTKIC POWER 79

creased above this rate, the ampere-liour ca-
pacity decreases, as will be seen by the follow-
ing example:

Bat«, Houra Ampheri

Thus while 12^ amperes may be obtained
for eight hours (100 ampere-hours) if the dis-
charge be made at 25 amperes it can be con-
tinued for but three hours (75 ampere-hours),
the remaining capacity of the battery being,
however, available at a lower rate. On dis-
charge at less than the eight-hour rate, the
capacity of the batterj' is slightly greater, but
this need not be considered in ordinary calcu-
lation.

The size of a 110-volt battery can be approx-
imately determined by the method outlined in
the following example, the conditions being
that the battery wilt be charged at any time dur-
ing the day convenient to operate the generator,
and that the battery will be able to furnish cur-
rent for lamps according to the following
schedule :

ELECTRICITY

5 p. M. to 10 1'. M. Twenty :

10 P. M. to II A. M. Two

(J A. M. to 8 A. M. Six :

The last discharge-rate is three amperes, an(
there will be required a battery of sufficient sizi
to furnish 60 ampere-hours at a three-ampefi
rate. This \iemg less than the eight-hour rati
a battery having a normal rating of 60 ampere*
hours is required.

The above example shows a condition where
the full normal capacity of the battery is use*
in carrying the load.

RURAL POWER DISTEIBUTION

Electric power distribution may be divide*
into high-tension and low-tension systems, tl«
former used for long-distance transmission and
the latter for local distribution. For high-ten^
sion lines alternating current is usually usedj
and for low-tension distribution, the direct (^
continuous current. Both systems are tiB«
with great success, and it cannot be said ab
solutely whether alternating or direct curreai
is the more advantageous for rural distribtl

GENEEATING ELECTRIC POWEE 81

n; it depends entirely on the oonditions at
and.

I Direct Current. — In making comparisons be-
tween the two systems, the following; points
may be of interest: In direct-current transmis-
Bon, the construction of the line is very simple,
Sily two wires being required, which are
Tung on a single-pole line. The insulators are
mple in construction and comparatively
iieap, so that a high degree of reliability

82 ELECTRICITY

against a break-down of the line is assure
A direct current may be used as generated (
rectly for power and ligbting, and tlie powet
motors of the various farm implements can I
connected with the distribution system fo
lighting. Where large power-motors are coil
neeted to a direct-current lighting circuH
however, it is preferable to run a separat
power-circuit, as otherwise in starting and s
ping the motors fluctuation in a lighting-systei)
may occur. Direct-current motors have
slightly higher efficiency; they are more con
pact in construction than the alternating-ci;
rent motors, and they have a greater overloi
capacity.

The speed-regulating and starting devices <
these motors, as well as the wiring system, i
very much simpler and cheaper than those i
the alternating-current motor system. As in^
cated, the direct-current transmission systt
should be used for long-distance transmiasicM
aa the bnrrent cannot be transformed withoi
the medium of motor generators which are t
rect current transformers. The latter are fs
more expensive than the static transforms

OENKRATINrf KLEOTRTO POWER 83

Fig. fl. Portable tranBformcr anJ field ttlpphone fonnettiun.

frbsed in eoimection with alternating current sys-

Altematmg Current. — The advantage of the
[temating current can best be realised when

ELECTRICITY

high voltage is applied. A distant waterpowe?
can be economically utilised with this syateni^
and the voltage can be stepped down to the
pressure desired at the place of consumption.
The transformers are, of course, extra items of
expense, and owing to the power-factor of alter-
nating-current generators larger generators
and motors must be used than for equivalent
direct-current machines. These machines ar^
therefore slightly more expensive than direct-
current ones of equal capacity, and the regu-
lating device is more complicated and more!
expensive.

Owing to the additional equipment which id
necessary in higli-voltage alternating-current
transmission systems, the efficiency is slightly
less than in a direct-current system, but thesft
disadvantages are outstripped by the possibil-
ity of transmitting an alternating current a
long distance. For instance, in present prac-
tise, alternating current is being transmitted
about 280 miles, while direct current seldom i*
transmitted more than 15 miles. By_ the use
of alternating current, cheap fuel or waters
power at a distance may be utilised.

■ GENEBATING ELECTRIC POWEK 85

^m-Portable Transformers. — ^In many instances
• etirrent is wanted in a certain section of the
field for a short time only, and to install a
stationary" transfonner would be poor policy.
To fill such an emergency, a portable trans-
former is used, mounted on wheels drawn by
two horses, which can be placed in position in a
short time, and then returned to the barn. A
number of fanners can own such a portable
transformer in common, and a large saving in
first cost be thereby gained.

Transmission Lines.— A typical rural distri-
bution high-tension line running through a field
is illustrated {Fig. 8). The upper lines are used
for transmitting electric power at high voltage
while the two lower lines are for a telephone,
so that communication between the operator of
the farming machinery and the central station,
can readily be established. It will be noticed
that on the pole in the foreground there is a
device near the wires of the high-tension lines
which is designed to protect the system against
lightning. Prom this lightning-arrester, a wire

tads into the ground by which the lightning is
d to the ground. Such lightning-arresters

86 ELECTRICITY

are placed at intervals, thus reducing the dam-
age possible from electrical discharges in
storms.

QUESTIONS

1. Describe the various advantages of central-station service.

2. What are the sources of power for isolated plants?

3. What is a hydroelectric plant?

4. What should be the size of the equipment in relation to

the power developed?

5. Describe the method of calculating the horsepower of a

given water.

6. Give a description of a complete hydroelectric installa-

tion of an Illinois farmer.

7. Give some examples of waterpower developments on farms

in the State of New York.

8. Describe the methods of generating steam.

9. How is coal rated?

10. How should coal be stored?

11. How should boiler and engine rooms be arranged?

12. What is the average efficiency of a well-designed steam-

power plant?

13. What is an internal-combustion engine?

14. Describe the action of a gas engine.

15. What is producer-gas?

16. What is the average efficiency of a producer-gas plant?

17. What is an alcohol engine?

18. How could alcohol be produced at the farm?

19. What is an oil engine?

20. What is the cost of producing one hp.-hour, excluding over-

head charges, at the engine shaft?

21. As this cost does not include losses in transmission and

in motors, etc., would it be fair to compare this cost
with the charges made by central-station concerns T

22. How may the wind be utilised to do farm work?

23. Describe the difference between the early Dutch and the

modern American windmill.

GENEEATING ELECTRIC POWER 8T

:. How should the speed of a, mill be regulated?

i. Give the horsepower of some windmillB of a designated size
and wind- velocity.

i. What should the electric equipment of a win dm ill- power
plant consist of!

'. What ia the purpose of storing electric energy!

!. Describe the installation of a storage -battery plant.

I. What is the rating of a storage- battery plant!

'. Describe the different systeniB of rural power distribution.

■ What are the advantages and disadvantages of alterna-
ting and direct -current systfima!

. What are the advantages of portable traneforn

CHAPTER. IV
ELECTRIC MOTOR APPLICATIONS

Small electric motors are revolutionising the
methods of performing many of the operations
of modem rural life. Almost any process that
must be performed repeatedly with little or no
variation can be done successfully and much
more economically by a motor-driven mechan-
ical device than by any other means. Electric
motors in small sizes are rapidly passing from
the class of luxuries into the class of necessities,
and it is safe to say that within a few years
these little labour-savers will be doing the
larger part of the routine work on the farm
as well as in the home, inn, shop, or factory of
the town.

Convenience and Safety. — They may be lo-
cated in almost any place where current is sup-
plied for electric lights, and can be started and
stopped as simply as turning light on or off,
so that the machine operated may be placed

ELECTKIC MOTOR APPLICATIONS 89

[here or there with sole reference to the con-
venience of the work to be done, the light, ven-
tilation, etc., and with little regard to the source
•at power. An ordinary flexible lamp-cord with
a connection-plug serves to conduct current for
the smaller sizes of motor from any convenient
Jamp-socket, and the whole de™e can be moved
#bout, even while working. Perfect safety to
■the operator, to the motor, and to the material
being handled or the work being done, is as-
sured. All conducting parts are effectually
covered so that electric shock is practically im-
possible, and moving parts are so covered that
clothing or material cannot be injured. They
are so extremely simple that even the most in-
experienced person can operate them success-
fully and safely.

Great Economjf. — Economy is also a consid-
eration in favour of small motor-operated de-
vices, many of which, able to do more work
than a full-grown person can do by hand, cost
not over one cent per hour. Moreover, as cur-
rent is taken only while the motor is operating,
JLthe expense stops when the machine does. The
^feeonomy of space gained is sometimes an im-

■

90 ELECTRICITY

portant matter. Motor-operated devices
cupy minimum space, and the output of a farm
can be materially increased by substituting
them for older methods of driving, often in
preference to enlarging the space.

The Electric Motor as a Household Servant.
— In many a country home the small motor has
solved the servant problem, either by making
it possible to do without a servant, or by mak-
ing the work so pleasant and agreeable that
good servants are glad to remain indefinitely,
Small motors do the hard work, such as turning
the washing machine and wringer, moving the
carpet-cleaner, floor-polisher, dxsh-wasber, butT-
ing and polishing wheels, etc. The sewing ma-
chine, for instance, a necessity in every house-
hold, and always so trying to the strength of
many housekeepers, can be "rim" with perfect
satisfaction by a motor, and with practically
no effort on the part of the operator except to
guide the cloth. After having driven a ma-
chine by foot-power, and experienced the result-
ing feelings of weariness and possibly backache,
what could be more agreeable than to have a
motor do the work? The tiresome rocking mo-

ELECTRIC MOTOR APPLICATIONS 91

tion of the treadle ia no longer necessary; the
motor takes all the drudgery, working quietly
and tirelessly, for a minute, an hour, or the

irhole day as desired, — and all at a surprisingly
■ low cost. The control is perfect, much better
than when operating by foot-power, and is
easily learned. Pressing a button or turning
a small switch starts the motor as easily as
lighting or extinguishing an electric lamp.

92 ELECTRICITY

Slight pressure on the toe of the treadle then
starts the machine, and the speed depends en-
tirely on the pressure applied, varying froin a

few revolutions per minute to full speed.
single stitch can be taken or the machine can,
be run rapidly and then stopped almost in-
stantly.

Motors are extensively used for drivingf
washing and wringing machines. The presence
of such motor-operated machines in the houses
hold is a very material aid in solving the

ELECTRIC MOTOR APPLICATIONS 93

ant question, since thug the more laborious and
distasteful features of wash-day are eliminated.
The operation is extremely simple and can be
readily learned by any one. When the clothes
are in the washer and the cover is in place, a
turn of the switch starts the motor. No atten-
tion is required, and since no rubbing is neces-
sary the clothes are not torn or injured. The
power is easily transferred from the washer to
the wringer, when the clothes can be fed
through the rolls.

Thus small motors are demonstrating in a
practical way the advantages of individual mo-
tor-drives for small machines, and are success-
fully operating thousands of labour-saving
devices. The following is a partial list of ma-
chines which may be advantageously so driven,
and for many of these services no other form
of power could be used, and in no case could
any other power compete successfully with the
small motor.

Air Pump PoTtably Motor Outfit

Water Pump Hay Press

Churn Tlirualier

Cream Separator Ensilage Cutter

Cow Milker Bono Cutter

Feed Cutter Drier

94 ELECTRICITY

Corn Sheller Wood Surfacer

Shredder Planer

Drill Mangle

Horse Clipper Elevator

Ice-Cream Freezer Refrigerator

Ice Machine Meat Grinder

Washing Machine Lathe

Ironing Machine Circular Saw

Sewing Machine Band Saw

Vacuum Cleaner Ice-Making Machine

Hay Hoist Sprinkling System

Grist Mill Plough

Husker Truck

In selecting a motor to drive a given machine^
great care should be used to choose one suitable
to the particular purpose in view. It is evident
that too large a motor will make the outfit un-
necessarily expensive; on the contrary, if the
motor is too small, failure will result. The mo-
tor must be of proper size and must be adapted
to the work in order to produce the most satis-
factory results.

Nearly all such machines may be operated by
portable motors, so that one or two motors
(preferably of two different sizes) will suffice
to run a dozen or even more machines at once.
To facilitate application, the motors, particu-
larly those of small size, are placed on trucks
or hand-carriages, and the latter arrangement

ELECTRIC MOTOE APPLICATIONS 95

makes it possible and convenient for the motors
to be carried up and down stairs by two per-
sons. Large motors, say above two-fiorse-

•'ms. II. Molor-upenUeJ disbwusker und I'lhausl fnu in u (urra kitchen.

power, are best placed on a small hand-trucli,
or on skids, and drawn from place to place by
band or by horses. With eaci motor goes a
long flexible insulated copper cable and a ping,
by which connection is readily made with the
distribution system through outlets located at
convenient places.

ELECTRICITY

Group Drive. — Where it is possible to hav^
several famung machines such as dairy i
parafus, laundry machinery, hlacksraith-shopl

machinery, etc., in a single room, it is best tQ
operate all of them from a shaft driven by )
single motor. Leather belts are used to trans^
mit the power from the driving shaft to thd
several machines and such a system as tbifij
is known as a "group drive."

ELECTEIO MOTOE APPLICATIONS 97

^■l The illustration (Fig. 12] on the opposite page gives a strik-

^nng example of electric^nlly operated macbiner; in a dairy of
B large farm. The first thing noticeable is the use of the
group drlTe. The motor and starter being on the floor are
easily accessible and the shaft being on the ceiling is ouV of
the way, while it also Beryes to give the belts their proper
length. Aa the motor and shaft have a Uxed speed, and the
various machines require different HiieeiiH, it ie only neces-
sary to use pullejs of various Bizea to get the correct
speed on each machine. Aa the periods of operation of the
machines differ, and as it is thus necessary to stop a single
machine without shutting down the motor and thus stopping
all machines, each machine has adjoining the driven pulley
an idler pulley which turns loose on the machine or shaft.
When tbe machine is to be stopped the belt is slipped on to
the idler pulley and the machine cornea to rest while the belt
continues to run. Although the original machinery is in-
stalled by competent engineers, alterations are often desired
later by the user tn accommodate additional machines; and
as it is necessary to calculate the size of pulleys and belts re-

HNpiired to drive the additional machines the following data

^■bee page 1)8) may be of assistance.

■ Belt Transmission. — A simple rule for ascer-
taining transmitting power of belting, without
first computing speed per minute that it travels,
is as follows : Multiply the diameter of the pul-
ley in. inches by its number of revolutions per
minute, and this product by the width of the
belt in inches. Divide the result by 3300 for
single belting, or by 2100 for double belting,
and the quotient will be the amount of horse-
power that can be safely transmitted. The re-

96 ELECTBICITY'

aistance of belts to slipping is independent
of their breadth, consequently there is no ad-
vantage derived in increasing that dimensioa
beyond what is necessary to enable the belt to
resist the strain to which it is subject,

A leather belt will safely and cDntinuously resist a strain;
of 360 lbs. per square ineli of transvt^rBc section, anil a oe
tion of .2 of a square incb will transmit the equivalent i
I horsepower whea running at a Telocity of 800 feet per mi;
ute over a wooden drum, and .4 of a square inch will traasm
a like power running over a turned cast-iron pulley.

Long belts are more effective than short ones.

A single belt, 1 inch wide, travelling at a velocity of 8(
feet per minute will transmit 1 horsepower.

A double belt, that is a belt of two layers of leather,
inch wide, travelling 5E0 feet per minute, will transmit 1'
horsepower.

When a double belt ia long and runs over large pulleys,
may be calculated to do 1 borsepower of work at & speed
400 feet per minute.

The upper side of the pulley should always carry the slaek
of the belt.

To throw a belt on to its pulleys properly
after it has been laid off requires that it should
always be laid first over the pulley that is not
in motion, and then be thrown over the edge
of the moving pulley to its face. A belt will
transmit about 30 per cent, more power with
a given tension wben the grain (smooth aidft
of the leather) is in contact with the pulley,

ELECTEIC MOTOE APPLICATIONS 99

■ than with the flesh side turned inward. The
H leather is also less liable to crack, as the stme-
Btnre on the flesh side is less dense, and the fibres

more extensible. The adhesion of belts is
greater on polished pulleys than on rough pul-
, and. is about 50 per cent, greater on a
Beather-covered pulley than on a polished iron
pulley. Belts should be kept soft and pliable
iby applying tallow oeeasionally, and neat's-foot
r liver oil mixed with a little resin when they

100 ELECTRICITY

become hard and dry. Rubber belts should al-
ways be kept free from grease or animal oils.
If they shp, moisten the inside of the belt witt
boiled linseed oil. Some fine chalk sprinkled on
over the oil will help the belt.

Sise of Belts. — In calculating the length of
a belt, add the diameter of the two pulleys te-
gether, multiply by Sy^, divide the product by
2, add to the quotient twice the distance between
the centre of the shafts, and the product will
be the required length.

For example, to aHcertain the length of a belt for a. twelve-
inch pulley and a, Bix-inch pulley, on Bhafting 5 feet and 3
inches between centres; Add the diameters of the pulleya
gether (12 + 6 = 18 inches} ; multiply 18 by 3i =

IS 25 4S0

— X — ^ — = 501 inchee.
1 8 S

Divide 66J by 2 = 28i; add to the quotient 28J inehea, twice
the distance between the centre of shafts (10'- — (i") equali
12 feet lOJ inches, the required length.

This is only a rough rule, and in ordering a
belt it is a good policy to add from five to ten
per cent., which may be cut off when the belt
is put in place. It is also a good rule, when
there is plenty of room, to place the machinery
so that the distance from centre to ceuti
of shaft is twenty times the width of the beltt

BLEOTHIO MOTOE APPLICATIONS 101

^1 The horsepower of any belt equals its velocity

in feet per minute, multiplied by its width and

divided by 800 for single and 550 for double

belts.

k Size of Pulleys. — Eules for determining size

^Hud speed of pulleys or gears are as follows:

H (The driving pulley is called the driver, and

^[^e driven pulley the driven. If the number

* of teeth in gears is used instead of diameter,

in these calculations, number of teeth must be

substituted wherever diameter occurs).

To determiDe the diameter of tlie driver, the diameter of
tnd its revolutions, and a.1ao the revulutionB nf
Mriver being given;

meter of driven X revolutiona of driven Diameter of
Revolutions of driver driver

To determine the diameter of the driven, the revolutionB of
Vbe driven and diameter and revolutions of tbe driver being

Diameter of driver X revolutiona of driver Diameter of
RevolutionB of driven driven

To determine the revolutions of the driver, the diameter and
olutions of the driven, and the diameter of the driver being

^^%.:.

Mm,',

Diameter of driven X revolutions of driven Revolution of
Diameter of driver ' driver.

To determine the revolutiona of the driven, the diameter and
:a volutions of the driver, and diameter of the driven being

of driver X revolutions of driver Kevolutiou

Diameter of driven driven.

102

ELECTRICITY

Portable Motors. — Electric motora required'!
for threshing and other heavy machinery, arel
larger and heavier than the small motors. Ai9i|

the large threshing and other machines arSj
located in various parts of the farm, the moton
and starters are placed in wagons and hauled t
the grounds by horses. The motors are plac<

t ELECTRIC MOTOR APPLICATIONS 103
in a closed carriage, the pulley end of the shaft
projecting through the side of the carriage.
The belt is readily applied to the motor and

threshing or other machines to be driven. A
flexible cable is easily connected to a convenient
plug of the wiring system at the barn, or on
a pole in the field.

As with ordinary threshing and other ma-
chinea which are shifted from one farm to an-
other, a motor mounted on such a truck may
be sent from farm to farm, thus saving expense.
A village or group of fanners may own a single
such machine ui common or a progressive
farmer may own one and rent it out. The fol-
lowing tables give the horsepower required
to operate various machines :

Threaher

Cow Milker ,

Grindatone
Grist MUl . . .
Refrigerator ,

fc:

HIT PBEBa

18" Bale Cliamber

Hakee a. ba,le of ajiproximatel; 120 Ibe.

104 ELECTRICITY

FEED GBINDEB

8'' large or small make . . . Capacity, 8 bu. per lir. 4 Hp.
16" " " " " ... " 36 " " " 10 "
Machine runs at 75 r. p. m. for each HJP.

10" Capacity, 16 bu. per hr. 6 Hp.

10" " 60 " " " 16 "

HUSKEB

6 roll. Capacity, all that one man can. carry .... 15 Hp.

Two 6 roll. " 300 to 400 bu. per hour 12 "

4 roll. " 175 " 250 " " " 8 "

2 roll. " 100 " 200 " " " 4 "

COMBiNATlOX CHUBN AND BUTTEB-MAKEB

Capacity

50 Gals 1 Hp.

100 " 1 "

200 " 2 "

300 " 2 "

PASTEUBIZEB

600 lbs 2 Hp..

CBEAM SEFABATOB

Capacity, 350 gal. of milk per hr \ Hp.

" 450 »»»"»" .... A ^

" 050 " " " " " .........,...V, I »

i* 850 " " " " " 1 *'

" 1000 " " " " " ........... WW \ »»

QUESTIONS

1. What are the advantages of using electric motors for op-

erating farm machinery?

2. Is it safe to use an electric motor in the barn?

3. Where can electric motors be applied?

4. What are the different kinds of machinery to be operated

on the farm?

5. Describe the group-drive method.

6. Calculate the size of belt for a motor of given horsepower.

7. What are the proper speeds of single and double belts?

8. Calculate the size proper of pulleys under given conditions.

9. What benefits are to be derived from a portable motor?

In order to give in concrete form, an estimate
i of the amount of electric energy necessarj' on
a farm, the following figures from a 100-acre
farm are given. It is assumed that two-thirds
of the products are of a stalk nature, and that
the live stock of the farm includes three horses,
ten cows, fifteen swine, etc. The figures are not
fictitious, but are an average, taken from the
actual experience of a number of farms. It
is also assumed that electric energy for power
purposes is five cents per kilowatt-hour, which
is a reasonable figure for current used for
power only, when purchased from a public-serv-
ice corporation.

Pumping Water. — The water-pimip is the
most necessary part of the farm equipment, and
in nearly every case is the first thing to be
operated by electrical energy. The average

head; for swLiie or sheep 1 to 21/2 gallons. Fo
pumping 1,000 gallons to a tank elevated 35 ft
the power necessary is about Vs kwh., at a cos
of 5 cents, so that the yearly average energy f oi
3 horses, 10 head of cattle, and 15 swine :
about $4.

Threshing.— For a thresliing machine of th(
smaller size, capable in ten hours of threshing

V COST OF OPERATION 107

Hweamng and sacking, ready for the market, 80
to 200 bushels, 3 to 5 electric horsepower are
required. For machines of from 160 to 240

pnshels capacity 5 to 7 horsepower are neces-

*sary; and for 300 to 800 bushels, from 10 to

20 horsepower are required,

The energy required for the various products

^Uo be threshed and cleaned, per 100 bushels is,

^Bor rye, 25; wheat 22; oats 19; barley 21 kilo-

106 ELECTKICirr-

watt-boon, or on tbe average, 22 kwh., costing
$1,10, which is at the rate of 1.1 cents per
bOHhel. If hay-haUng machines are attached to
the thresher from 4 to 6 additional horsepower
are re^jaired.

Fodder Preparation. — Fodder cntters, vary-
ing from 1 to 2 horsepower consnme per 100 lbs.
of fodder 1-80 kwh. costing 1-16 cent a cut,
and UH 10 hnad of cattle consume per year 60,-
0(H) IbH. of cut beet, etc., the total yearly coat
for tiie energy used to operate the fodder ma-
chincH IB 50 cents per head.

(hie of the by-products of cotton-seed or
Iliisi>i>d-i)l1 mills is sohl as meal or as cake, and
to livi'ak it up a special machine is needed.
Such II iiuu'liinc often lias a capacity of 2000 to
IHHtO Itis. per hour. The average food per head
of cattlo ia 2 to 3 lbs. per day, which amounts,
for U» hoad, to about WOO lbs. per year. The
iHwl of pkH'trio onei-ji)' for operating this ma-
chilH' is iJri rt'nts? H year [ler head.

As \\w *Ntttlo are fed from 2 to 3 lbs. of
ort^sh<Hi jrT«»" (vr day jwr head, and as there
*n^ to «U^.^s^*t^H'^ in the 10fi-«cre supposition,.
A »«,>tor^tri\t»tt jftrsin-Ajmsber is ne*>ied capable'

COST OF OPERATION

109

of crushing some 9000 lbs. per year. This
could be prepared at one operation by a large
mill, but for the purpose at hand, a motor vary-
ing from 3 to 5 horsepower, according to the
size of the mill employed, will do the work eon-

opera ud by dire

veniently. To grind 100 lbs. costs 3 cents for
the energy consumed, or for the 9000 lbs., $2.70
I>er year.

Cream Separating and Churning. — For run-
ning the cream separator, a small motor, about
y^ hp., can separate 300 quarts of milk per
hour, consuming .3 kwh., at an expense of li^
cents. As the average production for 10 cows

110 ELECTRICITY

is about 30,000 qts. per year, the yearly cost
for operating the separator is $1.50.

A churn for 300 quarts of milk, assuminj
average conditions, requires from y^ to ^ hp.^
as also does the butter-kneader, and the cost
is negligible.

Vacuum Cleaners, — A comparison of the
costs of vacuum cleaning with a large and a
small machine will serve to illustrate the im-
portance of proper selection and arrangement
of apparatus so that the overhead charges will
not prove disadvantageous. A portable vac-
uum-cleaning machine operated by a ^/^-hp.-mo-
tor, costing complete $125, is used by ona
woman for 260 hours per year, cleaning 208,000'
square feet of surface. It cleans 500 square
feet of surface in 30 minutes. The cost in-
eluding everything is $43.19 for the year. A
large vacuum-cleaning machine, operated by i
3-hp.-motor, costing $1365 and capable of clean-
ing 14 rooms, or 2500 square feet of surface,
in 1 hour and 53 minutes, is used twice weekly^
It carries a 26.5-ineh vacuum, which is piped
throughout the house, with a controlling rhe-
ostat on every floor. The vacuum in use i*

r COST OF OPERATION lU

about 10.5 mches. The apparatus is used 156
hours, cleaning 260,000 square feet of surface
and requiring the time of one woman. The to-
tal cost is $248 per year, or 9% cents per 100
square feet of surface cleaned.

In the small machine the cost of cleaning is
but 2 cents per 100 square feet of surface
cleaned. This fact is due to the cost of installa-
tion, the larger machine costing eleven times
as much as the smaller. Thus the depreciation
is $136.50 per year and interest $81.90, a total
of $218.40, compared to $20 for the smaller
machuie. In this instance the depreciation esti-
mate is quite high for the stationary equipment
of the large machine, since a considerable part
of the installation consists of piping which will
last for many years.

To get the best results from the installation
of electrical machines, it is thus necessary to
exercise judgment as to the machines and the
method of installation. The farmer is too apt
to overlook the overhead charges and consider
the cost as simply the amount of tbe running
Rxnense. The same tendency is seen in many

Eterpower plants, both large and small, in

112 ELECTRICITY

which unnecessarily large turbines and eqm,
ment are installed, so that when depreciatii

and interest are figured, although the wat<
costs nothing, the power costs more than ;
would if taken from a steam plant using pni
chased fuel.

■ COST OF OPERATION 113

^m Washing Machine. — A "washmg-machine, in-

^Klnding wringer, operated by -a i/4-hp. motor,

^Rosting complete $165, is used 260 hours a year,

Kor some five hours a week. As other work cau

be done by the woman operating it, her time

amounts to but 65 hours during the year. The

machine turns out three washes an Lour, and

the total expense of the whole 780 washes is

$35.41, This includes all labour, power and

every expense, including overhead charges, and

the same applies to the figures for the following

Hpiachines.
I Horse Groomer.-^A horse-groomer costing
$75, operated by a 1-hp. motor, cleans four
horses in 36 minutes. It is used 328.5 hours
during the year, or 2190 groomings, and re-
quires the services of hut one man. The cost
amounts to $72.93 or 3'/2 cents per horse per
grooming.

Cream Separator and Churn. — A cream-sep-
arator having a capacity of 1350 pounds per
hour is operated by a IV^-hp. motor, and costs
$350 complete. It is used 183 hours during the
year, separating 237,900 pounds of milk at a
cost of $88, or 3.7 cents per 100 pounds.

114 ELECTEICITY

A butter chum having a volume of 300 gal
ions and a capacity of 100 gallons per
churning, operated by a 2-hp. motor costa
$118.50. It is operated 88 hours a year,
churning 15,000 pounds of butter at a cost of
$36.60 or two-tenths of a cent a pound. This
includes churning, "washing and working the
butter ready for packing.

Meat Grinder and Stuffer. — The plant for
making sausage consists of a grinder, a mixer
and a stuffer. The grinder has a capacity of
750 pounds an hour and costs $71, It is op-
erated by a 4-bp. motor costing $145, a total
equipment-cost of $216. It is used 80 hours
a year and grinds 60,000 pounds of sausage ai
a cost of $60, with one operative, a cost of one-
tenth of a cent a pound.

A sausage-stuffer complete, costing $229.5fij
stuffs 116 pounds an hour with two operatives.
It is used 517 hours a year, stuffing 60,000
pounds at a cost of $226 or 37-100 c^nta a poundri
which with the grinding makes the manufacture
of the sausage cost slightly less than half
cent a pound, ready for boxing.

Hay Hoist. — The hay-hoisting motor is one

COST OF OPERATION

115

of 10-hp. and costs $163; in addition, the rig-
ging costs $105. The bam is 300 feet in length
tand the hay has to be raised 25 feet and dis-
■■tribnted on either side an. average of 75 feet,
|A load of 2450 pounds is hoisted and placed

Fig. 19. Dometl

1 position in 13 minutes. The overhead charge
3 $42.88 a year, and the cost of placing a single

Road of one ton is 21/0 cents for power and 10
lents for labour, in addition to the overhead

^harge.

Root Cutter. — ^A root-cutter with a capacity of
► tons of turnips an hour costs $26.30, and is
perated by a 2-hp. motor costing $86. It is
ised 52 hours a year, principally during the

116

ELECTRICITY

winter months, cutting 300 tons of beets and I
turnips at a cost of $35.94 or 11.9 cents a ton. J
Milling. — The milling plant is provided with!
several machines operated by a 25-hp. motor iu-

another building. Tlie oat-rolling machine has
a capacity of 111 bushels of rolled oata an hour,
is used mostly during the winter and rolls about
40,000 bushels of oats a year. The labour and
power cost is four-tenths of a cent a bushel.
A grist mill, operated by the 25-hp. motor when
the oat-roller is not in use, has a capacity of

■ COST OF OPERATION 117

HfO bushels of cracked corn an liour. It uses ^4

■ more power than the oat-roller. A corn-crack-
ing machine, for supplying cracked com to the
grist mill is operated hy the same motor, and
the power used is practically the same. In the
same plant are also corn-shelling-, corn-grind-
ing and fine-com-grinding machines, similarly
operated from the same motor. The plant is
thus very complete, and grinds some 16,000
bushels of com a year in addition to the 40,000
bushels of rolled oats. Sach a plant is, of
course, far too large for the average farm, and
is large enough for the ordinary requirements
of a whole countryside. A farmer with an ad-
vantageous power-site conJd readily co-operate
with Lis neighbours in the establishment of such
a plant.

Fodder Cutter.- — A fodder-cutter, having a
capacity of 3 tons an hour of dry fodder, costs
$128.10 and is operated by a 10-hp. motor cost-
ing $118.50. The outfit is used 88.70 hours a
year, and will cut ISO tons of fodder at a cost
of $54.85, with one operative, a ton cost of 30

118

ELECTEICITY

QUESTIONS

1. What does it cost to pump 1000 gallona of water to e

height of 35 feet, assuming that one kilowatt-hour costs
lU cente!

2. What is the horsepower required to thresh 80 to 200 bnsh-

els of wheat T

3. What is the horsepower required for f odder-cuttera t

4. Does not the eapacity of the motor depend on the size

of the maehine to be operated!

6, What is the cost of operating various types of vacuum-
cleaners, assuming 5 cents per kwh. as the cost of
current !

6, Calculate the cost of operating milling plants, assuming
6 cents per kwh. as tiie coa

CHAPTER VI

MANUFACTURE OF FARM BY-
PRODUCTS

The farmers in a community may combine
and erect a co-operative electric plant for tak-
ing the surplus of vegetables, fruit and other
plants, and converting it into various forms of
by-products, "Where the central station is op-
erated by steam or gas, the drying of leaves of
beets and potatoes for cattle food, and the dry-
ing of potatoes, as later described, may be con-
veniently carried on. Many of the products
of the farm which are now allowed to go to
waste, could thus be turned to good account,
and made into marketable goods.

Sugar. — Nearly all fruit is rich in sugar, va-
rying in contents from 5 to 10 per cent. Of the
common fruits, the grape yields the largest
percentage of sugar. The normal wine-grape
contains from IG to 30 per cent., with an aver-
age of 20 per cent. The two most important

120 ELECTEICITY

plants for yielding sugar, are the sugar-canel
and sugar-beet. The Louisiana su^ar-cane con-

tains 19 to 40 per cent, of sugar, while augar-^j
heets yield from 12 to 18 per cent, of augar.i
Sorghum contains in the stalk, at the time thdl
seed is matured and the starch hardened, from' J

r FAEM BY-PEODUCTS 121

8 to 15 per cent, of sugar, and Indian corn con-
tains from 8 to 15 per cent, according to the re-
port of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Cider. — In packing fruit for market, such as
apples, grapes, etc., only sound fruit is selected,
that which is in any way bruised or in the first
stages of decay, being thrown out. Instead of
allowing this refuse to go to waste, it may, by
the use of electric-operated presses, or stills, be
turned into cider or grape-juice. The pomace
which remains may be used as fertiliser for the
soil. The amount of electric energy needed to
operate the machine necessary for such pur-
poses is less than 5 horsepower.

Starch. — Farm products from whicli starch
may be obtained as a by-product are the potato
and cassava. The American potato contains 15
to 20 per cent, of starch, which in turn may be
converted -into alcohol. In many instances po-
tatoes are accidentally exposed to severe cold
frosts, or are frozen in storage, and thus ren-
dered worthless. In Europe potatoes in such
condition are made to yield a considerable per-
centage of alcohol of Mgh strength. This
especially is a common practice in Germany.

122 ELECTEICITY

Cattle Food. — Recent German reports, ia
stating facts on electrically operated farmflj
show that since the engineer has worked in har-
mony with the farmer a number of plants havi
been installed for drying the leaves of tb
potato and the beet, to be used as food ic^
cattle, because they are high in protein or fat
producing elements. The records show that S
million tons of green leaves are utilised for drj
ing yearly, giving about 6 million tons of pn
served food stuff having a value of nearly
$12,000,000. The annual yield of potatoes ;
Germany amounts to some 50 million tons
which when put into bins for storage shrink il
value about 10 per cent., with a loss of approa
imately $25,000,000.

By-Products from Potatoes. — In these day(
of rising values of all meat products there is t
demand for a manufactured product which wil
aid materially in decreasing the cost of cattitf
raising, and this is particularly true wher*
stock raisers are largely dependent upon fod-
der transported from a distance.

The potato crop of 1912 was the greatest in
the history of the United States, aggregating.

■ FARM BY-PRODUCTS 123

401,000,000 bushels for white potatoes alone.
It is estimated that approximately 36,000,000

Fig. 23. Grin mill

bushels of that year's crop were furnished by
Michigan, 28,000,000 bushels by Mimiesota and
32,000,000 by Wisconsin.

[

124 ELECTEICITY

Within the last ten years nnmerons planfa
have been installed throughout Germany
utilise a vast amount of potatoes for making
potato flakes, potato cakes, dried potatoes and
potato flour. In 1901, when the crop of thft
country reached the enormous total of 53,6f
010 short tons, efforts were made to discovM
practical and economical methods of preservio]
potatoes so that the surplus could be stored an^
utilised in supplying future demands. Prize*
were offered and a number of processes wen
submitted, in the more important of which thft
potatoes are dried by steam, forming- what i
called "kartoffelflocken," or potato flakes^
which can he used for feeding stock, for dis-
tilling alcohol, for making starch, and for other
purposes for which potatoes are used, or thej
can be ground and bolted for human constimp'
tion.

According to the tJ. S. Daily Consular Re-
port, there are 436 plants established in Ger:
many for drying potatoes with an estimate^
production annually of 110,230 to 165,345 shorj
tons, or 3,674,000 to 5,511,500 bushels. Of th^
above plants, 350 are for the production

FAEM EY-PEODUCTS 125

potato flakes, and in 86 plants the potatoes are
cut in dice or slices and then dried. Of the
327 plants in operation during the season of
1910-11, besides potatoes 13 dried grain, 11
diied the leaves of sugar-beets, and 20 dried
other agricultural products; 181 of the plants
worked day-and-night shifts of 12 hours each.
The 417,641 tons of potatoes used by the 327
drying plants in 1910-11 equalled 15,345,659
bushels of 60 pounds each. The following is a
brief description of some of the principal sys-
tems in operation in Germany and wliich could
advantageously be introduced into the United
States and Canada.

Potato Flakes.— In one process for the pro-
duction of flakes, the raw potatoes are wasted
in such a washing machine as is eoraraonly used
in distilleries or starch factories, and then con-
veyed by an elevator to a steamer erected over
the drying apparatus, where they are cooked by
means of low pressure steam, as if the potatoes
were to be used for feeding stock. The drying
apparatus proper consists of two smooth, hol-
low, cast-iron revolving drums, about 4 feet
long and 3 feet in diameter, each with a clear-

■ the po

H^ steamec

126 ELECTRICITY

anoe of about 0.039 ineb, The drums are snp-
ported upon a cast-iron framework, on the top
of which there is an iron hopper fitted at the
bottom with emasculators, or crushers. The
drums are heated by steam of 5.5 to 6 atmos-
pheres led through a pipe passing through their
axes. The interior of the drums are ridged
longitudinally. Condensed water is taken from
the drums by two small pipes and returned to
the boilers. i

The potatoes after being steamed are allowed
to fall by gravity into the hoppers and through
the crushers, where they are reduced to pulp,
and in this shape are forced on to the drying
drums which turn in opposite directions at five
revolutions a minute. The heat drives off the
moisture of the potato pulp, leaving a firm niaas
that is scraped off by means of knives set par-
allel to the main axes of the drums. The dried
mass falls into a spiral transporter fitted with
revolving arms, where it is broken into flake^
and conveyed to the packing room.

In another system for producing potato flakes
the potatoes are washed, then thorough^
steamed, after which they are passed betweM

FABM BY-PEODUCTS 127

B'two rollers heated to 284° F.; the thoroughly
crashed and dried sabstance in the shape of
small flakes is then removed from the rollers by
stationary knife blades and passed through a
cooling funnel, after which it is ready for use
or storing-. A third system consists of washing
potatoes, then after cmshing them into a cold
pulp, the matter is passed into a gas or steam-
heated drum for drying purposes ; when thor-
oughly dry it is spread for cooling and then
ground into flour.

There are many other systems but the above
will suffice to show the fundamental principles for
manufacturing potato flakes and potato flour.

The price of potato flakes varies from 14 to 16
pfennigs {3.3 to 3.8 cents) per kilo (2.2 pounds).
The estimated cost of the production of the
flakes is 6.30 marks ($1.50) per 50 kilos (110.2
pounds).

Potato Flour. — ^In the production of potato
flour the flakes are ground and bolted. There
are but few concerns that manufacture the flour,
each having its own process. The flour is a yel-
lowish-white product, rich in carbohydrates. Ac-
cording to experiments made by the "Institut

128

ELECTEICITT

'or the Fei^

fiir Garunga-Gewerbe" (Institute for 1
mentation Industry) in Berlin, the prindpal"
constituents of the flour are: Water, 10.69
per cent.; protein, 6.59 per cent,; fatty sub-

;s, 0.23 per cent.; and ashes, 2,58 per ceon
This flour is naed principally by bakers for ad^|
ing to rye and wheat flour in making breaiB
The proportion for wheat bread is 5 to 10 per
cent, of the ground potato flour, and for rye
bread the amount can be increased to 15 per -
cent. It is claimed that the addition of pota^fl
flour to rye or wheat flour gives bread a gooJ^
flavour, makes it more digestible, and keeps it
fresh for a comparatively long time. This flour

FABM BY-PRODUCTS 129

is also used to a slight extent in thickening
soups and sauces. It is known to the trade as
"Walzmehl" "Kartoffel "Walzmehl," "Patent
Walzmehl" and "Fiddiehower Walzmehl."
The prices vary according to the potato crop
and the quality, and range from $4.76 to $7.14
per 100 kilos (220.46 pounds).

Miscellaneous By-Prodncts. — There are many
vegetables and plants grown on the farm which
can be converted into one form of by-product
or another, and especially into alcohol. There
is over twenty per cent, of starch in the South
Carolina sweet potato, for example, and as high
as 2600 lbs. of starch per acre has heen pro-
duced. The average yield of sweet potatoes
per acre is of course much less than in the
South Carolina case, where heavy fertilisation
was practised. On plots to which fertiliser was
not added, the yield was about 8000 lbs. of sweet
potatoes an acre, yielding in round numbers,
about 1900 lbs. of starch. The quantity of
sugar in the 8000 lbs, was about 350 lbs., which
makes about 1250 lbs. of fermentable matter.
This can be turned into industrial alcohol yield-
ing about 160 gallons of 95 per cent, proof.

130 ELECTEICITY

QUESTIONS

1. What hy-products are to be obtained on the farm by a

of electric powerl

2. What was the potato crap of the United Statea in I

3. What are the by-products from {lotatuuH!

4. Wliat arc potato flaJtcs?

5. What is potato flour?

6. What are the principal S'lurcee of induatrial alcohoj

7. What is the percentage of sugar in varioui Iruitaf

8. Wliat is understood hy "the co-operative Hystem" in

nection with farm by-producta?

-m

CHAPTER Vn

' PBESERVATION OF FAKM PRODUCTS

Nearly every farmer can make use of a cold-
storage plant, to keep meat in proper condition,
and to prevent butter, milk, eggs and other per-
ishable goods from spoiliug. Tlie greatest
benefit of such eoUl storage for the farmer lies
in the fact that he is not forced to ship his
goods immediately to market, for he can pre-
serve them until the market prices advance.
In many cases, especially with fruit, the farmer
is forced to let his product lie on the ground
and rot, because the price offered does not pay
the expenses of picking, packing and shipping
his goods to the commission merchants. A
cold-storage plant would enable him to pick
!ruit in the proper season, and keep it until the
rice becomes profitable.

1 Cold Storage of Fruit. — Some kinds of fruit
^e better adapted to storing in cold tempera-

PRESEEVATION OF PRODUCTS 133

■Condition throughout the winter and spring
Emonths. On the other hand, berries and other
Ismail fruits are not stored to nearly so great
lian extent, on account of their highly perishahle
Inature.

The storage of small fruits is a problem
lomewhat different from that of the more du-
brable fruits. Winter apples and pears are
jisually too hard and immature when stored to
f fit for immediate consumption. Cold stor-
age insures the safe kenping of these fruits, and
nder proper management brings out their fin-
est flavour and - quality. The fruits ripen
ilowly in the low temperature of the storage
iiouse, acids diminish, the starch changes to
BUgar if the transformation is not already com-
pleted when the fruit is stored, and the fine
avour and aroma of the fruit are developed.
j Small fruits held in cold storage are placed
liere to protect them temporarily from decay
ntil they can be placed in the hands of the con-
mmer. Shipments of small fruits are fre-
uently delayed in transit and reach their
ifitination too late for the early morning mar-
There is often little opportunity of dis-

ELECTEICITY

posing of them until the following movning, or
in ease of the late arrival coming on Saturday ■
the fruit can not be sold until the following |
Monday morning. Without artificial refrigera-
tion, the fruit would deteriorate rapidly, and in 1

many cases would become worthless before it-l
could be sold. Advantage is often taken of an I
overstocked market for the cold storage of con-
siderable quantities of small fruits when there i
is a reasonable prospect of a stronger demand ]
and better prices within two or three days.

A Combination Plant. — "Where the steam^lec- I
trie plant is of considerable size, supplying a J

PEESERVATION OF PRODUCTS 135

bumber of farms with electric energy, it is an
KODomical proposition to utilise the exhaust
iteam for making ice. For instance in a small
^ant of 100-horsepower operating 12 hours per
lay, with the steam consumption of the engines
lilt 20 lbs. per horsepower-hour, some 6 tons of
"iee daily can be made as a by-product and dis-
tributed among the farmers stipplied with elee-
„ljicity. In the installation of an apparatus
Vsing the exhaust steam for ice-making, the
fervices of a competent engineer in the plan-
ng and installation is a wise investment, for
lonsiderable exiierience is necessary to get all
the component parts fitted so that a harmonious
nd economical operation results. Once in-
stalled, the apparatus can be attended to as
lasily as any farm machinery, as it does not
jtequire constant attention.

Refrigeration Plants. — People are becoming
more and more alive to the superiority of refrig-
_*rating machines, popularly called ' ' ice ma-
ihines," for producing the cooling effects for
which natural ice is now employed. Such a
aiachine can be used to make ice, which will be
core solid and will last longer than the natural

136

ELECTRICITY

product. It can and siould be made from ■wa-
ter of known purity, so as to make it abso-
lutely hygienic. More often, however, it is
simpler and more economical to let the machine
itself do the coolinj^ that ice was formerly em-

Flg. 2E. Dtasrai

ployed to do, equipping it, if desired, with anx-
iliary appliances to make ice in small quantities,
as for drinking water or for making ice-cream.
By mechanical refrigeration, boxes and chilling-
rooms are given a drj', clean coldness that, even
when above the freezing point, preserves their
perishable contents much longer than ia possi-
ble with ice placed in an overhead bunker or

[PEESEEVATION OF PRODUCTS 137
ed in any other manner. Each compartment
IS given the temperature especially adapted to
its particular contents. And if freezing tem-
peratures are desired for the long storage of
•■butter, poultry, fruit and other articles, a re-
I frigerating machine is a practical medium.

Sometimes the machine is made to chill brine,

I ■which is then pumped into lines of piping, ar-

I ranged along the top or sides of the room to

I be cooled — and this is known as the "brine sys-

Item." A simpler method, and usually the

preferable, is the "direct expansion system,"

I which anhydrous Uquid ammonia passes di-

Jfectly into the pipe lines, called "expansion

■coils," and as it vaporises takes up the heat

»from the chilling room, fresh-water tank, or

other place that is to be kept cold. In either

feystem, where a room is to be refrigerated, the

piping is placed behind non-conducting shields,

liBo as to insure a proper circulation of the cold

|iair.

Principle of Refrigeration. — This principle

of physics, that the vaporising of a liquid will

Itake heat from surrounding objects, is at the

J>asi3 of nearly all of the present-day commer-

138 ELECTKICITY

eial macliineB, and, for practical purposes, an-
hydrous ammonia, usually designated simply as
"ammonia," is the best refrigerating agent.
(This is not to be confused with the common
aqua ammonia, which is ammonia gas in solu-
tion with "water ; if, however, the gas is driven
off by heating the solution and is then cooled
under sufficient pressure, anhydrous liquid am-
monia is obtained). If one pound of anhydrous
liquid ammonia is allowed to pass from a small
orifice in the vessel containing it into pipe lines,
where it expands to a gas, it will in vaporising
take up enough heat through the walls of the
piping to lower the temperature of rather more
than 500 lbs, of water one degree, or in other
words to absorb over 500 B, T. U. But after
having done this work, the ammonia, now in a
gaseous form, has exhausted its capacity of
absorbing heat until it has again been made
dense by compression, and has been cooled by
passing through pipes in contact with flowing
water, such as is drawn from street mains, so
as to bring it back to liquid form.

Where electricity is available on a coun-
try estate, an electric motor is readily

PRESERVATION OF PRODUCTS 139

■lapplicable to a refrigerating plant, which
nothing more than an ammonia com-
pressor, generating a cold temperature as low
1 necessary. Such a generating set needs

I to operate only for a few hours, twice a day,
to keep a constant temperature in the cold-
borage room. When the temperature rises,
the machine automatically starts and oi^erates
until the set temperature is reached, when it
automatically stops. The greatest variation in

tmperatnre is thus not more than five degrees,
fie advantage of this refrigerating system is,

140

ELECTRICITY

that atl the moisture in the air collects on the
pipes as frost, leaving the air practically dry,
while, with the use of ice, the air is more or
less moist, and such an air is not best for
keeping some kinds of fruit and vegetables for
a considerable length of time.

QUESTIONS

1. Why ia cold storage of advantage to the farmer?

2. What are tlie advantages of ueing a refrigeration plan^

instead of solid ice in preserving farm products!

3. What are the prineiplBB of refrigeration I

4. How may the refrigeration plant be operated automatitt

ally!

Oip^-#

CHAPTEE VIII

TKANSPOETATION OF FARM PRODUCTS

The problem of transportation on a farm of
any size is a factor of great importance, espe-
cially in unsettled weather, when the products
have to be hurried under cover. For thousands
of years transportation has been dependent on
the physical exertion of man or some animal,
but to-day machinery is ready to do the work,
and the self-propelled electric vehicle has filled
the gap.

Methods. — In considering^ - any method of
'ansportation, there are three things to be
considered : The road, the load and the vehicle.
In transportation other than on tracks, the road
must he accepted as it exists. In commercial
work the load must be accepted as it is received
and raust be delivered as ordered. These two
factors of transportation are the same, no mat-
ter what method is employed. Hills, bad roads,

1^'

142

ELECTKICITY

frequent stops and starts, long routes or heavy I
loads, are eqnal in the demand made on animalaj
or maclilnes of any kind. The third factor, thd

vehicle, is the only one with which the solution
of transportation problems can be made e
Just as the electric street ear has solved tb
problems for passenger transportation in cities J
so has the electrically driven wagon openedj

TRANSPORTATION

lie way to a simple freight and delivery t

The electric vehicle for tracking and delivery
s purely a mechanical proposition. It is a ma-
Like other macliines, it can be built to
do a given amount of work in a definite time
At a certain cost under any known conditions,
afely carried load in pounds or tons is
he basis of its mechanical design and construc-
The specified speed with full load on a
ard level determinea how much power will be
tequired. The specified duration of continuous
Operation at full load on a hard level determines
' the amount of energy that must be stored in
its battery at one time, and fixes the size of the
battery. The power and speed required deter-
mine the size of the motor and the gear ratios,
while the total weight affects the tire design.
Cost.- — Accurate engineering can be applied
rto the problems of transportation with greater
iiatisfaetion with electric vehicles than with any
jpther type. Electrical measuring instruments
reveal, and record if necessary, the condition
and performance of storage batteries and elec-
[trie motors. The cost of producing electricity

144 ELECTRICITY

is a known quantitj-, and the amount neceasaryi
to charge a battery is measurable. The amount:
of electricity delivered to an electric motor by"
the battery is a known quantity, or can be measr^
ured. The performance of an electric motor ia
accurately specified for any conditions. Its ef-
ficiency is easily determined.

The work of moving a ton a mile per hour
on a hard level road is expended in starting it
from rest and in overcoming the resistance of
the road, the tires, the bearings, the electrical
circuits and the air. If the road is not hard
or not level of course more work will be re-
quired to overcome its resistance or to move the
load up a grade. If it is necessary to start
often from rest more work must be done than
for continuous motion.

The Question of Value. — The cost of doing
this work depends on the amount of energy ex-
pended and the cost per unit of power.

An electric vehicle cannot be used profitably
where it is not needed. Where the work to be
done is less than half the ability of the machine,
proper value may not be derived from the in-
vestment. There are also localities where op.

TEANSPORTATION 145

feratiikg conditions prevent a satisfactory return
for investment. But in thousands of cases the
owner of a few horse-drawn delivery wagons,
a couple of trucks or two or three heavy drays,
Can profit at once by replacing them with one
or more electric vehicles. His work will be
done quicker, his stable may be smaller and Ms
expense will be much less for a given service.

here a large number of vehicles are used the
advantage of electricity becomes more apparent
and the efficiency of the service is improved
itill more.

An example of tlie utilisation of electric
trucks for rural transportation purposes may
be cited — that of the nursery of the Brown
Brothers, about four miles from the business
section of Eochester, N. Y. During the ship-
ping season, the firm employs a 31^-ton electric
truck for delivering trees and shrubs to the
depot ; the truck returning with fertilisers and
supplies for the nursery. During the harvest
season, the same truck is utilised in harvesting
the hay and wheat. In one of the accompany-
ing illustrations the truck is shown with a load
of 617 bundles of wheat, which after being

146 ELECTRICITY ^H

■;g. 29. Electric molor -n-ith ,.,nlroller operating hoy hoLst on s Nai
Yu.k frum.

hreshed yielded 45 bushels. The regular two
lorse load is 260 bundles. Where the tiine-el&

TEANSPOETATION 147

ment in getting the wheat to the thresher, due
to variable conditions of the weather, is so im-
portant, one can readily perceive how progress-
ive farmers may find it profitable to avail
themselves of modern appliances.

The price paid for an electric vehicle does
not necessarily determine its full value to the
owner, for this, value depends on the use to
which it will be subjected, and, of course, upon
its constructive features. There are many
farmers who desire a pleasure vehicle, and who
do not have sufficient produce to handle to war-
rant the purchase of an electric tnick for trans-
portation purposes only. They should choose
a type which is suitable both for light trucking
and pleasure. To suit country-road conditions,
snch a vehicle should have high wheels and
solid rubber tires.

IndUiStrial Railroads. — A more extensive sys-
of transportation for farms of more than
ordinary size, is an industrial railway, consist-
ing in essential features of a narrow-gauge
track, a copper electrical conductor strung some
12 feet above the tracks, and an electric loco-
motive. The electric current is sent to the lo-

rl48
como
to tin
trie 1

ELECTRICITY

comotive over the copper wire, and returned
to the generator through the tracks. The elec-
tric locomotive is somewhat similar to the ordi-

nary trolley car, on a smaller scale, and is
capable of hauling the number of ears suited
to its size.

The accompanying illustration Bhowt a transport a tinn aj-Btem
which once employed horses to haul the c
Within three years the total yearly haulage of the new electric
ayKtem has increased many fold. The ease with which farm
products can be loaded, transported and unloaded in the plac
desir«d is obvious. In most instanccH the tracks can be laid
into the Btorehouse or barn, a train-load ot products e

TRANSPORTATION

Electric Hoists. — For loading and unloading
jhe farm products at the bam, small motor-
jperated hoists are used to lessen the labour.
With, a single lift, a whole load of hay, wheat or
(traw, can be taken from ihe wagon and placed
1 the loft. With manual labour, usually three
to four men are often required to unload a load
>f hay, while with an electric hoist, one man
:an do the same work, in a fraction of the
The cost for electric energy is almost
legligible, when compared with the number of
i required for manual labour.

QUESTIONS

1. How nia.y the problems of traDsportation of farm products

Bolvod ]>j means of electric truckageT
8. WLat are the ndvantagea of electric vehicles!

3. Would electric haulage by means of narrow-gauge tracks
id locomotives be of advantage on large farEiLs!

4. What may be accomplished with electric hoiata for un-
loading farm products?

CHAPTER IX
ELECTEIC PLOUGHING

Ploughing is the father of industries, the in-
dispensable primary operation upon which civ-
ilisation has depended from the earliest ages,
and the plough is thus the most useful and neces-
sary implement which has ever been designed
by mankind for his own advancement. Without
the plough agriculture is impossible, and with-
out agriculture no industry can exist. Yet in.
spite of all the progress which has been made
in mechanical arts, and in the sciences, the
plough of to-day remains the same in principle
as the plough of dozens of centuries ago. The
furrow is still turned in the old way, and mod-
ern science has added nothing in principle to
the plough except different means of drawing
it across the field.

Farmers in Germany, where during the past
15 years the steam plough has been used to
a great extent, have made increasing use of

ELECTRIC PLOUGHING 151

^nhe electrically operated plough, which is now
far beyond the experimental stage, and is in
many respects superior to that drawn by steam
or gasoline tractors, saving both time and

Lfenoney.

H The Single-Motor Plough. — There are in
Germany in successful operation, two different
systems, known as the single-motor and double-

I motor systems. In both methods a plough is
ipuUed across a field by means of a cable wound
on a drum. The single-motor system utilises
tone motor-wagon and a so-called anchor-wagon,
*hile the double-motor system has two motor-
wagons. In the case of the single motor an
endless cable runs around the drum of the mo-
tor-wagon which is placed on one side of the
field, and thence around the sheave of the
Itmchor-wagon on the other side of the field.
fc-The plough is pulled back and forth between
[the two wagons, one man operating the motor
ad another the plough.

After the plough has covered a course across
he field, a man tips the plough so that another
let of ploughshares is ready to turn furrows
I the opposite direction. The motion of the

162

ELECTRICITY

drum on the motor-wagon is reversed and the
plough 18 pulled back across the field. By a |l
certain device on each wagon, both the motor-
wagon and the anchor-wagon advance after the '

plough has traversed the field in one direction, I
just enough to start the plough on a new set I
of furrows. As it is necessary tliat the anchor- i
wagon remain in a fixed position while the 1
plough is travelling, the rims of its wheels are j
provided with large flanges, which, by the pull J
of the plough cable, are forced into the groand,
holding it firmly in place. (See Fig. 32).

ELECTRIC PLOUGHING 153

The Double-Motor Plough. — The two-motor
|)Iough system consists of two motor-wagons,
md the plough is pulled back and forth between
fcthem by a single cable. As seen in the illustra-
rtton (Fig. 33), the'plough and each wagon has
■'an operator, so that three men are necessary to
this system. The wheels of the motor- wagon
have broad rims to give a large bearing, thus
I aiding the machine to travel over soft ground.
BFlie rims of one pair of wheels are provided
Srith ribs so that locomotion over any kind of
ground is readily accomplished, while the rims
of the other pair of wheels are provided, as in
the single-motor plough, with large flanges set
at right angles to the pull of the plough-cable,
This arrangement gives an anchorage when the
reable becomes taut.

P The plough is so designed that it can turn
furrows in both directions. When it has
reached the limit of travel in one direction, it
is tilted in the reverse and is ready to plough
on the return travel. One set of ploughshares
is always in the ground. By equipping the
iloagh with a number of shares, a number of
rrowB may be turned at the same time.

154

ELECTRICITY

The motor-wagon is provided with a reel ofii
cable which is paid out aa the machine advances^
One end of the cahle is plugged in at a portablel
transformer and the other end is connected toj

the motor of the winding wagon. The cabh
is flexible and well insulated, and can he lai(
on the surface of the ground without any daai-
ger.

Speed of Electric Ploughing. — It may be oJ
interest to give some facts and figures regard-
ing the speed of an electrically operated plougib
The test figures given were taken in the early
development of the system at AlbrechshauseHj

*£

ELECTRIC PLOUGHING 155

Germany, in May, 1900. The length of the fur-
rows were 1200 feet, and the plough was made
to accommodate four ploughshares, so that the
width of the ground turned was S'/^ feet. The
speed of the plough was approximately 200 feet
per minute. As the tilting of the plough re-
quired 45 seconds at each end of the travel,
this means that % of an acre were turned per
hour. The furrows were 9 inches deep, and the
power required at the station was 40 horse-
power.

To-day electric ploughs are much more effi-
dent, and turn as much as two to three acres
per hour, depending upon the depth of the fur-
row. When our American manufacturers of
farm machinery, who lead the world in their
branch, take up the subject, these results will
no doubt soon be exceeded.

The following are figures derived from actual
practice showing average conditions in the
field, and are not of an experimental nature.

In a twelve-hour day, with an 8%-inch
deep furrow, 27 acres were ploughed, at an
average current-consumption of 19.2 kilowatt-
hours per acre. In a twelve-hour day, with a

156

ELECTEICITT

re ploughed I

10% -inch deep furrow, 23.1 acres were j
at an average current-consumption of 23.2 kilo-
watt-hours per acre. In the same length of
time, with a 14i/^-inch deep furrow, 20.4 acres
were turned at an average electric consumption -i
of 33,6 kilowatt-hours per acre. '

Cost of Electric Ploughing. — The following
table is derived from the foregoing data, and
shows the costs of electric ploughing under .
various conditions. The electricity is dgured
on the basis of three cents per kilowatt-houTj
which is fair for such a purpose. Three men
are required for operating the plough, and theil
combined wages are figured at 45 cents pet
hour. Furrows are 8%, 10%-inch and 14:^
inches in depth and the latter is made up of
an SiA-inch upper cut and a 6-inch lower or
subsoil cut.

Depth of furrows iJi inelips

Acres per hour

Minutes per acre

Kilowatt-liours jter acre

Cost of Eleetrieity per acre in cents ....
Wages per acre for three men in cents .
Total coat of plougliiiig per acre in uenta

lOJ

100.^
27.9i
12S.7<

It will be noticed from the foregoing that tly
cost of electric ploughing varies directly wil

t 158 ELECTEICITY

the depth of the furrow. The speed of thfti
electric plough can be easily varied accord-
ing to the depth of the furrow. It is cus-
tomary to run more rapidly than with other
kinds of ploughs, which has the additional ad*
vantage of pulverising the ground more thor-
oughly than when the plough is drawn slowly.
The average speed of a 80-hp. to 120-hp. plough,,
with four shares for nine-inch furrows, includ-
ing time lost in tilting the plough at the enda
of the furrows, is 1.16 metres per second or 315
feet per minute. This is at a speed of aboul
Sy^ miles per hour, which is considerably bettei
than a fast walk. This is the average of a
twelve-hour day and might be readily continued
twenty-four hours a day with an extra shift of
men, and the use of electric lights such as are
seen abroad in threshing in the iield, etc.

It is often wondered why German farms are
more productive per acre than American farms,
One of the reasons is the depth of the furrows
ploughed, which, when the ploughing is done
by horses, is likely to be very much less than
with the electric plough. By a proper rotatiofli
and selection of crops, and by the time saved

ELECTRIC PLOUGHING 159

tween the harvest of one crop and the sowing of
the next, largely effected by the speediness of
the electric plough, the German fanner reaps
with its aid two crops a year on much of hia
land, harvesting on an average 2600 acres of
crops annually from 1600 acres of land.

There are in the German Empire some 60,-
000,000 acres under cultivation. There are
some 282,000 farms ranging from 50 to 250
acres, 21,000 farms ranging from 250 to 1200
acres and 4180 farms of more than 1200 acres

iaeh. The electric plough is available for use
iOn farms of all sizes, but as it is somewhat
expensive in first cost, it is utilised only on very
large sized farms, except where rented out by
an owner or purchased in common by a group

if small farmers.
Comparative Costs of Electric and Steam
-A one-motor, 80-hp. to 120-hp.

ilough-system costs about $8000, while a two-
motor plough-system costs about $11,000. A
steam plough of the same capacity is more ex-
pensive, costing from $U,000 to $15,000. It
will be seen that those farms which can afford
a steam or gasoline tractor-plough, could be

160 ELECTKICITT

equipped much more cheaply with elect™
ploughs.

Overhead and operating charges, such as i
pairs, maintenance, fuel {either coal or gaso-
line), continuous transportation of fuel
means of teams to the tractor in the field, th^
coat of having such teams in readiness and th^
loss of their services when needed for othe(
farm work delaying the planting of a new crop,;
and danger of fire and explosion at the tracta*
itself, or where the fuel is stored with increase*
insurance costs, all go to make the steam o;
gasoline plough much less desirable than the
electric plough ; indeed, any single item is s
cient to throw the balance in favour of th&'
latter.

The electric plough, however, it may be fairly-
stated, has the disadvantage of not being selfj
propelled from the storage barn to the fields
It could, however, readily be made self-pro^
pelled by having a trolley wire of a simple
nature run from the barn to the field, similar
to the trackless-trolley system; and this could'
be suspended from the poles of the generdjl
transmission system.

ELECTEIC PLOUGHING 161

^B Advantages of Electric Ploughing. — Other

^Rdvantages of the electric plough are that it

Bis lighter in weight than a steam or gasoline

tractor-plough, more readily operated on soft

ground, as well as more readily conveyed over

bad roads and light bridges; more applicable

I for use on hilly ground, where the steam plough
cannot work on account of the drainage of wa-
ter in its boiler away from the fire bos; and
^tter adapted for use in all sorts of weather,
especially during cold snaps when the steam
plough would freeze up overnight. The electric
plough requires fewer operatives and less ardu-
ous labour, and altogether its advantages are
so great that it is unfair to the other ploughing
systems to compare them with it.

^In the development of electric farming in
^rmany, an entirely new conception of agri-
culture has arisen, and one which must be taken
into consideration in order to understand the
progress which has been effected.

Co-operative Electric Ploughing, — The new
wnception of agriculture is that it is a raaoa-
Sieturing industry of a more or less co-opera-
nature. The German farmer does not

162

ELECTRICITY

isolate himself and conduct his operations adl
such operations have been conducted for cenJ
turies, but he constantly seeks and receives thtffl
benefit of t!ie advice of both the Government I

and the distributing electrical companies, as to J
how to co-operate with his neighbour, and how \
such co-operation can be made to pay.

In addition to the smaller farmers, who to "I
so large an extent act in unison, the managers I
of large estates also conduct their operationsJ
on the principle of manufacturing industries;
at every turn, the most modem and efficient ]
machinery is utilised, and electricity is em-
ployed.

ELECTEIC PLOUGHING 163

Proposed System for Electric PloiigJis. — In
■Order to remove the harvest as rapidly as pos-
sible and thus prepare the way for the second
ploughing, which must be quickly done in order
to obtain two crops in a single season, many
farms are provided with inexpensive electrie-
lianlage systems. Snch a system consists of a
track of light rails, about 20 inches apart, se-
;ured to cross-ties, laid directly on the ground
With little or no grading. An electrical con-
dnctor suspended about twelve feet high, feeds
ft small electric locomotive. Such a track costs
very little, and when laid in sections can readily
"be taken up and stored or laid to another field
as needed. An early development of agricul-
ture will be the placing of inexpensive but per-
manent tracks over fields in parallel rows, five
hundred to a thousand feet apart, to be used
both for the speedy removal of crops, and for
the windlass-wagons of electric ploughs. The
distance between the tracks would depend, of
course, on the size, shape and lay of the land.

1. How is electric ploughing aceompiialiedT

2. Btate the different methods of electric ploughing.

r and two-motor

ELECTRICITY

I. What is the difference between a o

plougli-ajetem ?
I. Describe tbe construction of the plough proper,
i. Deacriba ft single or one-motor plough-ajitem,
1. Describe a double or two-motor plough-ay stem.
'. Describe an anchor- wagon,
I. How manj men are required to operate a single-motor

plough-system?
I. How many men are required to operate a double-motor

plough-system T
I. Describe an electrically operated plough with a track sys-

. Describe the advantages of the latter system.

1. What is the speed of an electrically operated plough!

1. What is the oist of electric ploughing per acre with fur-
rows 81, lOJ and Hi inches deep?

■. What is the first coat of a single-motor plough -sy stem f

i. What is the first cost of a double-motor plough-system!

i. Could the first cost of an electric plough be reduced if our
large domestic manufacturing coucems built them?

CHAPTER X

DIVEESE APPLICATIONS OF ELEC-
TRICITY

In addition to the more important uses of
I electricity in the principal farming operations,
I'there is a wide variety of applications of elec-
f tricity to minor operations, by which it proves
wof the greatest utility and convenience, reliev-
King the farmer of many tasks of the most irk-
|>Bome nature, and thus at a very slight expense

adding greatly to the pleasantness of rural life.
Among such uses the following are especially

interesting :
L Domestic Water Supply. — For pumping
Pwater for domestic purposes two systems are

now in use, known respectively as the open tank

and the pressure-tank system. In the former,
, a tank large enough to hold about one day's
■supply for domestic purposes should be used.
■This can be placed either on a hill or on a tower
■sufficiently elevated to get the desired pressure.
JThe usual city pressure ranges between forty

166 ELECTRICITY

and fifty pounds per square inch. To get a
pressure of forty pounds per square inch will
require a tower nearly ninety feet high. As
this is quite expensive, a tank is usually put but
little higher than the upper floor, and in some
eases in the attic, giving a pressure of possihly
fifteen pounds per square inch. With this pres-
sure the water flows very slowly from the tapa
on the upper floor and is practically worthless
in case of fire. It is therefore preferable to use
the pressure system when a hill is not avail-
able on which to place the tank. When an open
tank is used it is possible to put in a float con-
nected to a switch, which will start the motor
when the water has reached a predetermined
low level and stop it when the tank is full.

Pressure Tank. — In the pressure system the
pump delivers water into a closed air-tight tank
which can be placed in the basement or in any
other convenient place. As the tank becomes
fiUed the air becomes compressed in the top.
When the tank is half full the air pressure is
fifteen pounds, and when three-quarters full
forty-five pounds. This pressure, when a faucet
is opened, forces the water out with a velocity

DIVERSE APPLICATIONS 167

I dependent upon tbe pressure in the tank and
the difference in level between the tack and the
faucet. Let us suppose that a faucet thirty-five
feet above the tank is open; then the water will
flow until the pressure, due to the static bead,
equals the pressure in the tank, which is about
fifteen pounds. This means that the tank will
still be half full. To obviate this air is forced
into the tank either by a differential plunger,
small compressor or otherwise, so that the pres-
sure at any given fulness of the tank will be
increased. Thus, instead of the pressure being
ififteen pounds when the tank is half full, it will
|l)e thirty pounds, so that the tank can be emp-
I tied from a faucet thirty-five feet above the
J-tank level. An automatic pressure-switch can
^e installed that will start or stop the motor,
keeping the pressure always within a given
B-ange of a few pounds.

Attention is called to the small size of the pump and motor
that can he used with either of these ajBteniB. By reducing
the 8i;!e the first cost of the outfit, including the tank, is cut
down in a. markeii degree. As the starting and stopping of

fitoT are done automatically and the outfit requires no
inal attention, the motor may be run continuously.
the outfit is not automatic, attention ia such an item
Dperation as to preclude the use of anything but a large

ELECTRICITY

Automatic System — A newer and more effi-
cient system for snpplying water for domes-
tic purposes is that in which a specially de-
signed pump is automatically controlled in
suph_a way tbat no tank is necessary. Thus a
large expense and all danger of flooding is
obviated. The pressure throughout the sys.
tem may be uniformly regulated as desired.
This system is probably the best of all.

Electrically Operated Milking Machines.
The histoiy of eow-milking machines dates back
over a century. Besides the United States,
Australia and New Zealand are the two most
prominent countries where real work along this
line has been done, and at the present day
these countries are second in the use of sadi
machinery.

Professor Oscar Erf, an authority on the sub-
ject, states:

"... The labour saved under practical cimilittona has been
conservatively estimated to range from 30 to 40 per cent.
Hence, more responsible men can be employed and hi
paid. ■ . ■ By the use of a milking machine the objectionalile
part of hand milking is greatly eliminated. The
fortable part of milking is the position in which the

DIVEESB APPLICATIONS

169

gaust place biniBelm. The cuntinuouB opening and closing of
;erfl beooiueB tiresome. In the auinraertime it is ex-
Bedingly warm work and in winter it ia cold, and in Ry-
ia very disagreeable. By the use of the machine.

'all of these objectionable features are eliminated. . . . Ma-
chine milking is cleaner th»n hand milking. ... In all
cases milk taken from the milking machine remained sweet
for a, longer time, varying from one hour to ten hours longer

_thaii that obtained by hand milking. , . . We have found

170 ELECTEICITY

that milking machines, if tlie vacuum is normal and the
cups fit well, are more comfortable to tlie cow tlian band milf
ing. Some cows can be milked by milking machines that
a, rule cannot be milked by hand. . . .

"A milking machine will milk cons ds thoroughly a» i
average milker. Some cows give more milk when milked w
a machine than when milked by hand. To reach the highest,
degree of succeaa cows should be selected and bred to respond
to maeliine milking. If this factor is taken into consideration,
machine milking will be equfilly as successful as the best
milking. . . ."

Professor Lane, describing experiments he
carried out on milking machines, states that.

"One good careful man or woman can operate four maehinei'
milking eight cows simultaneously, and an additional hand'
can not only carry away the milk, hut can assist in manipulat-
ing the cows' udders. Tlie operating expense of the machines
is comparatively small."

One man has milked 60 cows on more than one
occasion, the time required being two hours. If,
however, we include the time of the extra man,
the saving in time is reduced to one-half, or
58.45 minutes per day for the 10 cows. These.
figures furnish suflBeient proof for the statement
that the machines are time-savers.

Naturally the large dairyman will be the first.
to adopt the cow-milker, for the reason that his
equipment will cost him less per cow than the
small dairyman. Again, the large dairymait

iRSE APPLICATIONS ' 17l

lias more at stake and lias to depend entirely
upon the hired men to do the work. If they fail
him the large dairyman is much more inde-
pendent, and could himself milk a herd of 50
I cows without assistance. However, there seems
I to be no good reason why a dairyman with a
I, herd of even 10 or 12 cows could not use a ma-
I chine with profit.

Milking Devices. — One of the successful milk-
bag devices consists of two parts, one being the
lilk can or receptacle, and the second the ma-
chine. The milking-machine consists of a cover
I'which fits air-tight on the receptacle by means
pof a small rubber casket. Mounted on the
f cover is a frame, a pair of vacuum-pumps and
a pair of double valves. The pumps are op-
erated through a crank-shaft by a small electric
motor of 1/6 hp. Operatively connected with
wthe crank-shaft is a drive which puts the double
"valves into motion. On one side of the frame
is a small vacuum-gauge which indicates the de-
gree of vacuum created in the can. Beneath
^.the vacuum-gauge is a needle-valve by means of
^hrhich the degree of vacuum desired to milk the
^Kovs can be exactly regulated. The double

172'

ELECTKICITY

valve is equipped witli a" stopcock on whieb
is fastened a rubber tubing about S^A feet ui
length, a transparent and flexible conneetiott
with shut-oif clippers to a pair of teat-cup8
carrying pneumatic cusltions.

While excellent results have been obtained
with cow-milkers, yet in many cases, through

carelessness in operation, the results have not.l
been so encouraging; and before going into the J
subject extensively, it should be thoroughly i
vestigated. It is much more successful wil^
some cows than with others, owing perhaps 1

DIVERSE APPLICATIONS

173

^e individnal idiosyncrasies of the animals ; and
some farmers having careful helpers are more
fortunate in their use of mechanical milkers
than others whose ^ork is done by careless per-

Vacuitm-Cleaners. — The principle of cleaning
hy suction was the direct outgrowth of the com-
ing into use of compressed air, and has been
employed on a large scale for a number of years
in planing mills and wood-working establish-
nients for removing sawdust and shavings.

174

ELECTEICITY

Its use in homes, stables, etc., is comparatively
new.

Four distinct types of vacuum-cleaning ma-
chines are in general use: (1) fan type, (2)
diaphragm-pump type, (3) rotary-pump type,
(4) reciprocating-pump type, all made in a va-
riety of sizes and forms designed for portable,
semi-portable and stationaiy service.

Construction of Vacuum Cleaners. — ^The es-
sential features of any vacuum-cleaner are its
inlet, a dust-catcher, a motor-driven pump or
fan, and an exhaust. To the inlet is connected
the hose through which the dust-laden air
passes. The dust-catcher in the smaller ma-
chines is usually a cloth or felt bag, often con-
cealed in a metal chamber. The motor-driven
pump or fan produces the vacuum or suction,
and the exhaust merely disposes of the dust-
free air, which may often be used for blowing
purposes, using the same hose ordinarily at-
tached to the inlet. It is obvious that these-
various essential parts can be arranged in many
ways and the result is machines that differ
widely in appearance.

The smaller vacuum-cleaning devices are in-:

DIVERSE APPLICATIONS 175

tended for portable use close to the operator,
■while the larger stationary outfits are generally
placed in the basement of the house or stable,
the building being piped so that a hose can be
coupled to the suction pipe, usually placed near
the floor in the various rooms or compartments.
A large variety of cleaning tools are em-
ployed, any one of which can be connected di-
rectly to the end of the hose, making the de-
■viee suitable for many varieties of cleaning,
such as for cleaning carpets, heavy rugs, tapes-
tries, hard-wood floors, walls, books standing in
the shelves, clothes on the individual, etc.

Electric Fans. — Good ventilation is as essen-
tial to comfort as good illumination, especially
where many persons congregate, as in stores,
restaurants, theatres, clubs, etc. Such places
would have scant patronage, particularly dur-
ing the summer months, were they not pro-
vided with artificial ventilation by the modem
electric fans.

The small cost of operating well-designed
fan-motors makes them a paying investment in
the office or factory, for wherever the ease of
employes may be increased by comfortable

176 ELECTRICITY

surroundiiiga and cooling breezes the result ig
increased quantity and better quality of work.
The borne should certainly be as comfortable as
the office, and when it is considered that an
electric fan-motor, suitable for the home, costs
less to operate than one standard incandescent
lamp, that is, from one-fourth to one-half of a
cent per hour, it is evident that the proper ven-
tilation of the various rooms during the hot
weather is easily within the reach of the most
modestly appointed home.

Electric Fans in Winter, — Most users of elec-
tris fans store them as soon as the cool weather
sets in, evidently assuming the fans to be use-
ful only for making them comfortable during^
the warm days and nights; but a study of the
indoor air will show that the fan really can
serve a greater variety of useful purposes in
the average room during the winter than dur-
ing the summer. Indeed, the refreshing effect
produced by the use of fans during warm
weather is due only in part to the cooling of
the skin, the rest of the action being explained
by the diffusing of the air so as to distribute thtf
carbon dioxid and other products of exbala-i

DIVERSE APPLICATIONS 177

tion. This dissemination of the products of
breathing can be aceompHsbed just as effectively
.in winter as in summer by a forced circulation,
and even in somewhat underheated rooms it will
have a refreshing effect on the occupants if so
;placed that injurious cold drafts are not set in
motion.

In the average steam-heated room, the ordi-
nary convection currents of air are too slow
to create an even temperature, so that it is quite
common to have the immediate vicinity of a
radiator overheated while the opposite side of
the room is far below the normal. In such
cases it is easy to use an electric fan to inter-
mingle the air-strata and thereby distribute the
heat more evenly. This is usually done by set-
ting the fan on the floor and letting it blow the
air towards the radiator, a simple expedient
which should be more generally used in sick
rooms where patients are so often uncomfort-
ably cold, although within a few feet of hot
Tadiators.

Electric Fans in Stores. — In stores the un-
even distribution of heat is not apt to be so
"bothersome as in residences, but the coating of

178

ELECTRICITY

winflow panes with a film of frost or of mois-
ture interferes seriously with the business-
drawing powers of the store windows. As this

coating fonns only because the gliis.-, i^ oo much ,
colder than the air in the store, the remedy con-
sists in simply blowing a current of hot air J
against the window glass long enough to warm I
and dry it. While this same frosting or dim- I

DIVERSE APPLICATIONS 179

ming of the window panes in a home is not ob-
jectionable from a commercial standpoint, it ia
serious in other ways, as the moisture thus de-
posited must be taken from the air of the room
which is thereby robbed of a part of its healthful
humidity, hence any method of redistributing
"Hie moisture through the air of the room will
Hnprove its healthfulness. Here, as in stores,
"the deposit on the windows is soon removed by
Jetting- the fan blow against the lower panes,
jfor which purpose the fan may need to be placed
©n a chair or table. Most users of steam or
■iot-water radiators know that the use of water-
:pans in the arid rooms is ineffective, -largely for
the reason that the air moves over the surface
^of the water at a very slow rate. The forced
.drculation of this air by a fan, allowing more
of it to absorb moisture, will increase the hu-
midity of the air in the room. At present even
our hospitals are paying too little attention to
..this important question of humidity.

Osonisers to Purify Air. — The air of the
. **piney woods'* has a soothing and pleasant ef-
fect on the lungs. The turpentine contained in
the pine produces and sets free in the air small

180 ELECTKICITT

quantities of ozone, and the volatile oil of pine,
which gives the fragrant and aromatic odour,
also has the power of accumulating ozone. Na-
ture constantly vitalises out-door air by sun-
shine, winds, rain, snow and electrical dis-
charges. The peculiar fresh, invigorating, pure
and wholesome air after a thunderstorm is due to
the ozone produced by the electrical discharges.
Ozone is a colourless gas with a pungent
odour, like that of chlorin, formed variously, as
by the passage of electricity through the air.
It is regarded as another form of oxygen, con-
taining three atoms in the molecule, and is an
extremely powerful agent in causing a compound
tO;, unite with oxygen chemically. It is both an
antiseptic and a deodoriser, having the great
advantage over all other disinfectants that it
both destroys deleterious matter and imparts
to the atmosphere properties which make it
purer, healthier and more invigorating. When
inhaled, ozone fills the blood with oxygen — ox-
idises it — and causes it to circulate more quickly.
It also increases the oxyhfemoglohin in the blood,
stimulates the appetite, and assists in produc-
ing sleep.

the I

DIVEESE APPLICATIONS 181

Oxygen is a colourless, tustelesa and odourless gas elemeut,
the moHt abunduut and most important jet diapovered. The
L;Hfoight of the oxygen of the globe exceeds that of all other
lements combined. It forms by weight about 3-4 of the ani-
3 of the vegetable, and 1-2 of the mineral worlds, I-S
' ty volume of the atmosphere, and 8-9 by weight of water.
ItE inhalation by human beings and animals is essential to
life; hence it was formerly called vital air. Pure air is 21
per cent, oxygen, 78 nitrogen and 1 per cent, argon, with vari-
able quantities of aqueous vapour, carbon dioxid, ammonia,
ozone, acid compounds of nitrogen and sulphur and small
amounts of many other gases. Its oxygen is not only essential
to animal heat and life, but is also a source of power, tight
and electricity. The use of air that has been contaminated
ever so little from any source is injurious. With feeble pa-
tients it may be the deciding factor against recovery. Air
I which has been inhaled and exhaled is charged with poison-
iBUS waste, — carbon dioxid, broken-down cells, water vapour,
iiiiBease-germs and its oxygen is muph reduced. Such exhaled
^T ia a real poison.
I The ozoniser is an ozone-producing appa-
Tfitns for purifying the air of dwellings, offices,
and public buildings. It is run by electricity.
By merely turning a button one is able to pro-
duce in the bedroom, office or worltshop all the
life-sustaining powers of fresh mountain air.
At the ordinary temperature of the living-
rooms, large quantities of ozone are produced,
the foul air is revitalised and filled with pure
life-sustaining atmospheric ozone. The elec-
tricity can be taken from the ordinary house

182 ELECTEICITY

wire in the same manner as for lighting, and
costs no more than a single lamp.

What the Osoniser Does. — The ozoniser imi-
tates the action of the lightning on the outdoor
air, and diffuses a constant supply of pure
ozone, thus destroying germs and dangerous
floating matter in tlie atmosphere. It makes
the air of the apartments as fresh and pleasant
to breathe as a breeze from the pine forests.
No chemicals are used in the apparatus. No
foreign matter is introduced into the natural
air. Silent discharges of electricity restore
free ozone to the atmosphere. If you cannot
keep your windows and doors open to let in
the necessary oxygen and carry out the poison-
ous gases, because you cannot stand the draft,
the ozoniser will give you better air than that
outside.

The Ozoniser in Refrigerating Chanrbers. —
The nece.ssity of keeping up a pure supply of
air in refrigerating chambers, in order to keep
the provisions stored therein, in a fresh condi-
tion is imperative, and for this purpose ozone is
invaluable. The oxygen contained in sneh air
must not be allowed to fall below a certain de-

I DIVERSE APPLICATIONS 183

Ifree and the -undue saturation of the air with
the emanations of the provisions stored therein
' must be prevented. The latter precaution is of
. particular importance, because such emanations
tend to favour the development of bacteria,
which act detrimentally on the provisions. The
preventive measures generally taken against
this evil, consist in allowing a certain amount of
fresh air from the outside to enter the refrig-

» crating chamber from time to time, and to mix
with the air confined there. But this necessary
proceeding has the disadvantage of requiring
an increased manufacture of cold air, because
the yearly average temperature of the air out-
side is higher than the air in the refrigerating
chamber, thus requiring greater cooling than
the air circulating in the chamber, and secondly
I because the outside air contains much moisture
f.and deposits much aqueous vapour.

The great advantage for using ozone for this

purpose consists in its property of purifying en-

^osed air, by destroying the above-mentioned

manations, provided that the air thus treated

kept in constant circulation. The electric

"ent consumed per apparatus for 100 cubic

184 ELECTEICITT

metres of air per hour amounts (without count-
ing the fan) to 30 watts only. The air of the
refrigerating chambers is always regenerated
by the aid of these ozonators in the same pro-
portion as it is conducted to the chambers, and
therefore the drawing in of the outside fresh
air with its attendant disadvantages becomes
quite superfluous.

The degree of concentration of the ozonised
air is of importance for the success of the proc-
ess. Too great a quantity of ozone acts det-
rimentally, whereas too small a quantity of the
same would not produce the desired effect. Ex-
periments have proved that the lowest limit
for the amount of ozone is 0,05 milligram, and
the highest limit 5.5 milligrams per cubic metre.
The requisite amount of the ozone is regulated
according to the circumstances. Every trace
of an unpleasant smell in meat-cooling and
pickling (salting) houses, etc., disappears with
the use of ozone.

Felling Trees by Electricity. — The forests
have been long immune from inroads of elec-
tric progress, for it has not seemed feasible to
change the historic methods of felling trees.,

DIVEESE APPLICATIONS

185

The woodman's axe still resounds through the
forests, though every wasted chip now means
the loss of timber much more valuable than

formerly. To imitate the effective stroke of the
axe which strikes from continually changing di-
rections would require a complicated mecha-
nism and one liable to serious damage if a tree

186 ELECTEICITY

should fall upon it. The same breakage-riafe
would be met in any attempt to drivt; a saw by

electricity, as is found to be the case in the.
steam-actuated tree-felling' saws made for co-
lonial use by English manufacturers. Besides,
a sweep of a power-driven saw like that of the
ordinary double-banded saw of common prac-
tice requires considerable space, thus prohibits
ing the use of any such instrument until one
or more trees have been chopped down wher-,
ever they are closely bunched. The steam"
driven tree saw also requires a crew of men'
for operation, besides a team for moving the
plant about the forest. The fact that these
steam saws are proving economical, in spite of.
such difficulties, shows that power-cutting is
needed, and that there ought to be a field for
a tree-feller with fewer handicaps.

Aside from chopping and sawing, a third
method of tree-felling consists in burning
through the base of the trunk. To do this with;
a bonfire is at once slow, wasteful of timbe*
and likely to cause a forest conflagration.
Burning experiments were made a few yeai
ago with a high-resistance wire heated by eleo-

■ DIVERSE APPLICATIONS 187

tricity and looped around a tree so as to burn
its way through. This proved too frail and
costly for practice, though the trials showed
that by such means a tree could be cut much
closer to the ground than otherwise.

Cutting by the Friction Wire. — More recently,.
as described in The Electrical World of Feb. 2,
1911, a German inventor, Hugo Gantke, has per-
fected another method of cutting timber by the
use of a hot wire. The heat in this case is sup-
plied not by the passage of a current of elec-
tricity, but by the friction of the wire on the
tree Itself. For this purpose a steel wire is
looped tightly around the tree and pulled back
and forth about 1500 times a minute by an elec-
tric motor. The cutting wire itself need only
be a little longer than half the circumference of
the tree, being coupled to a steel strand cable
which leads to the motor, thereby allowing the
latter to be placed 100 ft. or even 150 ft. away.
The cut can easily be started close to the earth
(or, if desired, a trifle below the surface) so that,
instead of the usual stumps which interfere
with the transportation of the timber, no ob-
structions are left above the ground. This

188 ELECTRICITY

lowering of the cutting adds to the length of
the log a foot or two of the wide-spreading
base, thereby enlarging the average diameter-
from which the lumber feet in the log are i
"ured. With the hot-wire method no wedging
is needed aa in sawing, and the end of the 1(^
is charred so that it can be marked with cray^
ons. The carbon coating also protects the cut
ends against the action of the weather if ths
log is left IjHng on the ground for a time. Cott
sequently it is fairly claimed for the new
method that it increases the amount of lumber
obtained, avoids the expense of stump pulling,
decreases the cost of transporting the logs, and
reduces the amount of rotting if the timber is
not promptly moved.

Considerations of Cost. — The labour-cost vi
riea with the size and hardness of the timber
Experiments have indicated that the time rff
quired for cutting trees of a given size increase^
with the hardness of the wood in about the
same ratio for the hot-wire method as for i
double-ended saw in the hands of a skilled worfc
man, the ratio being about 3.3 minutes for Ger?
man linden or ironwood and 1.8 minutes ten

DIVERSE APPLICATIONS 189

beeeh or oak, in proportion to every minute
needed for catting pine of the same diameter.
However, the required time does not increase
nearly as fast for the frietion-wire method as
for hand-sawing with an increase in diameter of
the same wood. Thus the cutting-time for
Scotch fir (which cuts about sis per cent,
faster than pine) is as follows :

Diameter of fir, inches 7.6 12 10.2

Minutes for hand sawiDg 1.5 4 12

Minutes for hot-wire cuUing 0.7 1,8 4.6

For beecli, Eimilar tests showed this comparison:

Diameter of beech, inches 7,6 12 li).2 30

Minutes tor hand sawing 2.7 6.n 18.0 120

Minutes for hot-wire cutting 1.3 3,4 8,5 20.8

In these comparisons it mu.st be remembered
that the hand sawing required two men and for
fair-sized trees a third at the wedges, while
the hot-wire method needs but one man, even
on the largest trees. This, minus rests, which
even experienced men take between cuts, means
that the real difference in output per man would
be tremendously in favour of the hot-wire
method. For large trees it would appear from
figures lately published in The Timber Trades
Journal, of London, that the steam-driven tree-
saws will do even faster work per tree, but they

■ELECTEICITT

require four men and a span of horses, besides
leaving the olijeetioTiHbh> stnmps.

ilvaiitu.qes of the

use of electricity for incubating and brooding J
eggs and chickens are many ; briefly : econ- j
omy in use, labour included; convenience in ]
cation of incubator ; absence of fumes
gases; perfect distribution of heat in the eg
chamber ; simplicity and accuracy of regulation.

Tests have demonstrated that it costs aboiit|
one-half more to operate an incubator of anj
given size by electricity at the usual rates peg
current, than it does by the use of keroaei

■ DIVEESE APPLICATIONS 191

oil, — when no account is taken of the labour
saved. AVhen electricity is used the labour item
is practically nothing. There is no lamp to
be cleaned and filled, no wick to be trimmed,
no dirt, no waste, and the machine can be lo-
cated where it will be most convenient for the
earetalier. An electrically heated incubator,
being entirely free from odour and gases, can
be operated in a living room where the temper-
ature averages above 70 degrees, and therefore
comparatively little electric current is required
to create and maintain a hatching temperature
of 103 degrees in the egg-chamber.

An electrically operated incubator or brooder
has another advantage over a lamp-heated ma-
chine; which is in the fact that in the electric
incubator the beat (or current) is "cut out"
as soon as the temperature in the egg-chamber
reaches 103 degrees, and thereupon al! expense
stops instantly, whereas when the regulator on
a lamp-machine opens the damper above the
lamp-flame, the consumption of oil continues,
the surplus heat being discharged into the apart-
ment in which the machine is located. Electric
incubators are undoubtedly superior to the
other forms.

^^H

192 ELECTEICITY ^^^

QUESTIONS

2
3

5
6

What IB tlie open-tant pumping syatemi

What ia the preaaure-taiik pumping system ?

What are the advantages of using electrically operate*

milking devices?
What are the disadvantages?
Describe the operation of milking devices.
Deserihe the construction and opera ti cm of vacuum-

cleaners.

7
B

What are the advantages of using a vacuuin -cleaner?
Describe the usefulness of electric fans.

What is ozone T

10
11

What is pure airt

Where should the ozoniser he installed! i

12
13

What ate the benefits of using ozonisers in refrigeration/
Describe an electric machine for felling trees.

What is the time consumed for felling trees of a giv^k

Describe the Gaiitke ti^feller.

^JJ

\^^^^^^p^^l' ■ '. . .iJ^B^^

|~^ 1"

Combined loasler and griddls.

CHAPTER XI
ELECTRIC HEATING

Electbic heating dates back at least to the
year 1800, when Sir Hmnphry Davy first pro-
duced the carbon arc by means of primary bat-
teries. From that time little was done to
further the use of electricity for heating, but
during the last years of the 19th century the
cost of producing electric power began to
be reduced to such an extent as to make it
available for certain heating purposes where
cost was not of the utmost importance. Within
the last five years an enonnous development has
taken place in its use, so that to-day there are
comparatively few industrial processes which
cannot afford to use it in some way or another.

Efficiency of Electric Heating. — ^It is possible
to obtain 100 per cent, efficiency from the con-
version of electric current into heat, but in
spite of this fact, for such purposes as heating
of buildings it is still far from a commercial

194 ELECTRICITY

commodity when compared with other heat
sources. Some figures taken from The Elec-
trical Record of June, 1910, will illustrate this:.

One kilowatt-hour will produce 3412 B. T. U.,
whereas one pound of good coal will produce
14,000 B. T. U., so that 4 kilowatt-hours are:
about the equivalent of one pound of coal, which,
at present commercial rates, places a very on-
erous hurden on the use of electricity for such
purposes. On the other hand it is highly
serviceable for some uses on account of its greal
convenience, cleanliness and adaptability.

Electric heating may be divided into tw<i
classes, domestic and industrial. In the formal
we find the heating of utensils, such as toasten
coffee- percolators, milk-warmers, etc., as
as flatirons, heating-pads and similar sick-
room necessities.

Preparing Breakfast. — Coffee is generally r
garded as the most important item of a break-
fast. Electricity will prepare this in a fefl
minutes at a cost of about 1 cent. Toasjl
enough for the family is made in from 10 to II
minutes at an equal cost, and eggs are boile
at a cost of V/^ cents. Or, if a heartier brea]

ELECTRIC HEATING

195

fast is required, 20 or 30 minutes will prepare
any one of a hundred simple eatables on the
chafing dish at a cost not to exceed 2 cents.

Thus 4 cents a day, or $1.20 a month, will get
the family through some of the most trying
hours of the day, without any particular trouble
or inconvenience to any one. No one has to get
up and go down to build the kitchen fire, or

196 ELECTRICITY

do any of the many things which are usually
necessary in getting the family started for the
day.
Electric Ironing. — Ironing day comes once a

week, and here again electricity makes its ap-
pearance. With an electrically heated flatiron

the ironing is done not only at a distinct saving
in time and steps over former methods, but
whenever it is most convenient. The week'fl
wash may be ironed at a cost of perhaps 20
cents, or another 80 cents per month, bringing
the total bill up to $2 per month.

Preparing Afternoon Tea. — On many other
occasions electricity may also be put to work,
getting the afternoon tea in 8 to 10 minutes at>
a cost of less than 1 cent, cooking a chafing^

■ ELECTRIC HEATING 197

dish supper at a cost of from 3 to 4 cents ; and,
in case of sickness, the heating-pad supersedes
the old-fashioned hot-water bottle, furnishing
the invalid with constant, even warmth all night
at a cost of 2 cents.

For the Bath. — Besides these smaller and
frequently used articles, there is another class
of electric heating which is very intermittent
in its use, but none the less welcome. A 2-kw.
radiator, turned on for 20 minutes or so in the
early morning, will render a bath-room comfort-
able at a cost of S cents. A portable plate-
warmer will keep some one's dinner hot for an
hour for 3 cents without drying it up or run-
ning the chance of ruining the dishes in an
oven.

"■ Electric Cooking. — The application of elec-
tricity to cooking is a most interesting one.
For light meals, like the breakfast described
above, it is very inexpensive. Many a meal can
be had with a disc-stove, or perhaps two, and
a few detachable utensils, at an expense of from
3 to 10 cents, depending on the menu. Two
small disc-stoves have long sufficed to get break-
fast for one man and bis wife, who take the rest

198 ELECTEICITT

of their meals out. On rising a cereal is put oa
and is cooked by the time they are ready for
it. Eggs are then boiled, poached or fried, on
one stove while the coffee is made on the other,
and finally each partner makes toast on tha
stove-top while the breakfast is being eaten.

An electric waffle-iron may be used on the
table or in the kitchen, as occasion warrants,
Waffles made in this way are much lighter than
those made over a tire, owing to the fact that
they are cooked on both sides at once. The
even distribution of beat over the entire sur-
face insures a perfect brown, and about one-
fourth less batter is necessary. The cost will
not, on the average, exceed 3-10 of a cent pepi
waffle.

With an electric broiler there are no gas or
aharcoal fumes to affect the nourishing quali-
ties of the food; and the placing of the meat
directly upon the heated surface so sears the
outside that practically none of the juice es-
capes. While the current consumption is con-
siderable, 114-kilowatts on the smaller sizes in
a few minutes will broil an ordinary steak at
a coat of 314 cents. Fish and chops will be^

BO!

ELECTRIC HEATING 199

cooked even more quickly, at a cost of 3 cents
or less for a family of four or five.

Griddles for frying pancakes, etc., and ket-
tles for doughnuts, croquettes, and other things
which are cooked In deep fat, may be operated
at a cost of 8 or 9 cents per hour.

Family Cooking. — To do the entire cooking
for a family on a competitive cost basis with
gas or coal is a different matter. All the above
prices have been figured at about the average
lighting-rate of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, but
an electric kitchen range demands, and in many
cases receives, a better rate. Current consump-
tion varies greatly with the scale of living, but
will average 1 or I14 kilowatt-hours per per-
son per day.

To attain these results some care must be

led. Maid and mistress must learn that cur-
rent may be wasted by carelessly leaving the
oven, stove or broiler turned on. Practically
all apparatus of this kind is provided with
controlling switches which regulate the in-
tensity of the heat. An article put on to
boil will take, say, 500 watts for 15 minutes to
bring it to the boiling point, but 125 watts will

[

200

ELECTRICITY

keep it simmering. Bread ia baked by perhapsf
30 minutes' use of a maximum amount to heat
up the oven, then 15 minutes on the mediunj,
and the completion of the baking without the

use of any current at all, a total energy expendi-J
ture of 1 kilowatt-honr.

The clock has an important position in th(
electric kitchen. After once timing a perfec
cake, it can be repeated indefinitely with ua^
varying success, and the ''slow fire" and tb(

ELECTEIC HEATING 201

"hot fire" terrors of the young housewife dis-
Jappear.

In many families the mistress does the cook-
ing. With electricity she finds most of the old
' drudgery gone. The heat, smoke and dirt have
disappeared with the wood-box, the coal-scuttle
and the ash-can, and the time and labour saved
for other things more than compensate for the
additional expense.

Keeping a range clean is a very simple mat-

The beating element itself requires prac-

mcally no attention save an occasional wiping

dth a damp cloth, as the utensil protects it

While in use. The broiler may be treated in

lie same way when still fairly warm. Aside

■cm the heaters there are no surfaces where

drippings can lodge and bum, for the rest of

the range always remains cool.

In hotels and institutions, large electric

femnges and grills are frequently installed. The

■former find them especially convenient as oecu-

|)ying less room than the coal range, being

leaner and more convenient. Hospitals find

Bhat not only is the cooking more sanitary, but

the conditions surrounding it are so im-

202

ELECTRICITY

proved that from the standpoint of health
alone an electric range is very well worth while.
In summer, when the heat of the ordinary
kitchen is to be dreaded, an electric oven ma7
be running on the maximmn with no perceptible
radiation 2 feet away, and windows may he

wide open, for there is no flame to be affected
by the wind.

Of more recent growth are the applications
of electric heating on a larger scale. The
laundry presents a good example, but here care
must be taken to provide the right equipment
or the installation may be a failure through
no fault of the apparatus. As the work is done
faster and more continuously than in the home,
the wattage must be greater, and, as a eonae-
quence, a laundry running idle quickly increases
greatly in temperature.

Heating Water. — To what extent water-heat-

ELECTRIC HEATING 203

Ling by electricity is practical depends entirely

ipon conditions. Anything like instantaneous

water-beating is almost out of the question on

■account of the large amount of current neces-

Isary, but small amounts of hot water may be

obtained with a small installation, provided

time be taken. A rough and handy rule is that

300 watt-hours will raise 10 gallons of water

flO degrees, but this may vary considerably

rith radiation, and 300 watts in a cold bath-tub

would be almost entirely dissipated owing to

Ithe great capacity of the tub itself for absorb-

' ing the seat.

Therefore the proper and adequate heat insn-
lation of any container of water-heaters is very
important. An electric boiler may be useful
and at a 4 cent rate, which is not uncommon
for this purpose, and with an initial water-
temperature of 50° F., such a boiler will furnish
100 gallons of water per day at 110° F., a warm
jbath temperature, for 60 cents, or 6-10 of a
lent per gallon. The heating element consists
of coils of tubing within the boilers, and these
are removable.

204 ELECTEICITT

A ceptt'b wobth or electbicity, at 10 cts, pbb kw-bb.
Will keep a 6-lb. electric flat-iron iiot for 15 min.
Will make four cups of coffee in an electric coffee percolator-
Will keep an 8-in. diac stove hot for 7 min., or long enough
to cook a steak.

Will operate a luminous radiator for 8 min.

WiU brilig to a boil two quarts of water.

Will make a Welsh rarebit in an electric cbaflng-diah.

Will operate a 7-in. frying pan for 12 min.

Will operate an electric griddle for 8 min.

Will run the electric broiler for fl min.

Will keep tlie foot-warmer hot for a quarter of an hour.

Will heat an electric curling-iron once a day for two weekl.

Miscellaneous Uses. — Baking ovens may be
had in various capacities up to 100 or more
loaves per day. These ovens may be accurately
timed to produce the best results, and the heat-
ers so disposed that the bread is evenly baked..

The purely commercial uses of electrical''
heating are , numerous and rapidly growing.
Many types of shoe machinery are nov
equipped and factories making clothing, over--
alls, shirts, and even lace curtains, use electric
flatirons. Bookbinders ' tools, rubber vnlcan^
isers, branding irons, embossing presses,
trix driers, hair driers — all are successfully
heated by electricity.

Doctors and dentists use electric sterilisers,

ELECTRIC HEATING

205

pdlectric ovens for sterilising bandages, and elec-

t.tric cautery needles and knives for operations.

Wood workers use electric glue pots, metal

Iworkers soldering irons, and bankers and ex-

Flc 4S. Eleetilc Iroo.

t-press companies electric sealing-wax pots.
The field is constantly broadening.

These details of beating are only an outline
of the subject. The art has grown enormously
during the last five years, and to-day there are
hundreds of different devices for domestic pur-
poses, ranging from curling irons to complete
cooking ranges, eliminating an untold amount
of danger. Electric household devices are not
only for the residences of the wealthy but also
for-the cottages and apartments of the less for-
innate, where they are of vastly greater service

206 ELECTRICITY

and importance, because in such bomos servants
are not commonly employed.

Heating of Rooms. — One of the manifold
uses to which electric heat is applied is the arti-
ficial heating of air in buildings on a compara-
tively small scale. While this method of
obtaining artificial warmth has not yet reached
a state of perfection permitting it to be eco-
nomically applied to the heating of the air of
large buildings, yet the convenience arisii^
from the facility with which the electric current
can be led to the heater, the comparatively smaB
size and portability of the latter, the readinesi
with which the current can be turned on am
off, the safety of the apparatus, its freedort
from fumes and dirt, and the ease with which
it can be managed, are being more and mors
appreciated and their use is rapidly increasing.

The subject of heating and ventilating roomg
is a very broad one, and is affected by so many
different conditions that no steadfast rule can
be laid. Some of the ever-varying conditiona-
are:

Sizes of the rooniB or buildiTlgB.
Amount of exposed wall Burface.
Thickness of walla.

ELECTEIC HEATING

^^H Amount of exposed glass surface.

^^f Whether the gtuss surface is single or double.

Building luaterinl used, as wood, brick, etc.

Temperature desired.

Minimum oiitsiile t^'mperature.

Number of times air is changed per hour.

As these conditions are frequently not known,

it is safe to figure that it requires one watt-
hour to raise the temperature of one cubic foot
if air about 200 degrees F.

In addition to raising the temperature of the
air to the desired degree, the loss of heat
through conduction and ventilation must be
taken into consideration. Electric energy sup-

208

ELECTRICITY

plied at the rate of one watt will raise the tem-
perature of a cubic foot of air at the rate of
0.0556 degrees F, per second, or approximately
3.3 degrees per minute.

The power required to keep the temperature at a given de-
gree can be roughly estinrnted by asauniiog the number of
cubic feet of air which are required per minute for ventila-
tion, multiplying thia by the number of degrees which the
temperature must he raised and then dividing the product by
3.3, which gives the number of watta necessary to maintain
the temperature. For example, assume a room 15 by 15 ft.
and 10 ft. high, in whieli the air is changed three times an
hour, and the temperature to be maintained 30 deg, above the
outside. The volume of the rQom=15 X 16 X 10=22fi0 cu. ft.,

2250

-= 112.5 cu. ft. per min.

To begin with, the
This will require

020 watts necessary to supply ventilation loss.
of the room muet be raised 30 deg.

2250 X -

- = 370 watt-hot

Therefore the total energy used during the first hour will be
1.020 + 0.370 = 1,390 kw.hr., and during the succeeding hours
it will be 1.020 kw.hr. per hour. It will be noticed that by
far the largest part of the energy is used in supplying tlia<
loss due to ventilation.

The amount of power for electrically heating
a room depends greatly upon the amount of
glass surface in the room as well as upon the
draughts and admission of cold air. An em-

I ELECTRIC HEATING 209

H&Tical rule, commonly employed, is to figure
^Bom IMi to 2 watts per cubic foot of space to
He heated.

■ According to European aothoritips, if a sitting-room with
a content of 100 cubic metres is to be heated to 17 degrees
centigrade, while the temperature of the outside is 3 deg. cent.,
the engineer estimates that 3500 kilogram calories are re-
quired per hour. Witli electric heating this means a con-
Gumption of 4 kw.hr. for every hour, while with coal fuel
about 3 kilograms of coal are required per hour. Experience
has shown, that for everj degree Cent, difference between the
lowest jjutaide temperature and the desired inside tempera-
ture, and for every cubic metre of space to be heated, 1 to
1.5 watts of electric power are required. As an approximate
average, 1.2 watts may lie assumed. For instance, if the out-
side teraperatura is 10 deg. Cent, below, and a sitting-room
of 50 cubic metres is to be heated to 18 deg. Cent., the differ-
ence of temperature is 28 deg. Cent. Hence 1880 to 1800 watts
are required, while the time in which the desired temperature
is obtained varies from one to three iioura, varying of course,
according to whether the neighbouring rooms are heated or not.

QUESTIONS
> Por how long a time have electric heaters been in usef
■ What is one kilowatt-hour expressed in heat units?
\t Describe the various electric iieating appliances for do-
mestic use.
i Give examples of cost-flgures for electric heating.
k Give examples of cost-figures for electric cooking,
b Give comparative cost-figures of healing by gas and eleo-

\ Give comparative cost-figures of cooking by gas and elec-

^ Can large rooms advantageously be heated by electricity?
h Give the calculation to ascertain the watt-hours required
1 for heating rooms.

CHAPTER Xn
ELECTBIC LIGHTING

There are few subjects whieh demand more
attention than the illumination of the home, as
tjie proper lighting of a house adds very much
to both its comfort and its appearance. Hlti-
mination has gone through many stages of de-
velopment. The earliest forms of lighting, thft
pine torch, the candle, and the kerosene lamp,
bear a marked contrast to the modern electrie
light.

With the introduction of electricity came thft
greatest step in advance. The use of matches
and the consequent fire-risk, the annoyances ot
filling and caring for lamps, the breakage of'
chimneys and parts, the prevalence of smoke
and disagreeable odours, the vitiation of the air,
inseparable from both oil and gas lights, have
aU been eliminated by electric lights.

However, as is usually the case with the in-

ELECTRIC LIGHTING

211

troduction of improved appliances, the cost of
apparatus for generating electricity and the
large amonnt of it required for lighting a home,

Fie. *T. Eleclricallj' ligliled Blablp,

limited its earlier use either to those who could
afford the expense of installing and maintain-
ing a large and elaborate plant, or to those who
lived within reach of a public service electric-
lighting station.

212 ELECTEICITY

The Incandescent Lamps. — The tungsten lamp
has made it possible to obtain the same amount
of illumination formerly afforded by the car-
bon filament lamp with one-third of the elec-
tricity. This lamp will wear longer than the
old style lamp and maintains its full brilliancy
during the greater part of its life. It is ala<J
less sensitive to the variations in pressures of
electricity, and therefore its use requires
complicated and expensive apparatus.

The reduction in the amount of electrical en-
ergy required per tungsten lamp has brought
about a proportionate reduction in the cost of
generating and storing electricity, so that now
the many advantages to be gained from the va-
rious uses of electricity are within reach of all
those of very moderate means. The conntrjl
resident or farmer, situated beyond the reacS
of a public electric-lighting station, is now able
at very small expense to install and operatfe
his own lighting plant. '

The need of an efficient lighting system for—:
farms has long been recognised as of great im —
portance for the country. "With better lights _
greater efficiency and cleanliness is secured al"^

Harou

ELECTBIC LIGHTING 213

I around, fire risk is diminislied and insurance

rates are reduced. Small electric lamps in

closets and in dark corners, in cellar or attic,

are very convenient. These small electric

vUgbts take the place of oil lamps or candles,

^^vhose light is unsatisfactory, and the use of

^LiFbich is inconvenient and dangerous.

^■i Electric illumination is the superior method

■ for the lighting of stables and barns. The use

of lanterns in and about barns and similar

places has been the cause of numberless fires

and the destruction of millions of dollars' worth

of property, as it is seldom that the country

house has available apparatus for successfully

fighting fires. Electric lamps require no

matches, and burn without flame, consume no

oxygen and therefore do not vitiate the air of

the room. They are turned off by a simple

switch placed in any convenient part of the

house. The electric system is not affected by

-■extremely cold weather, as is the case with gas.

Having electric current on the farm for op-

irating the various machines, it is but natural

hat advantage should be taken for the utilisa-

don of the current for lighting the house, bams

214 ELECTRICITY

and outbuildings, yard and grounds. In the
following discussion, the scheme and method
of lighting the various rooms, buildings and
yards will be treated separately. Two differ-
ent methods of lighting will come under con^
sideration, the incandescent lamp and the anf
light ; tlie former for small spaces such as
rooms, stairways, etc., the latter for large areas,
such as the interior of barns and sheds, and for
yard lighting.

Arc Lamps. — An important use for the arc
light in modern farming is found in the illu-
mination of the field during the time of harvest.
Threshing can be continued long after nightfall
by locating an arc-lamp or two in the vicinity
of the threshing machine. The advantage of
threshing after dusk is very apparent and the
arc lamp is a simple and convenient solution of
such a situation. "Winds do not affect the op-
eration or the intensity of light given out. The
general adoption of the flame arc-lamp for the
lighting of streets, barn-yards and large inte-
riors, and the growth in the number of installa-
tions for this class of service during the few
years since the lamp was first introduced in

• ELECTEIC LIGHTING 215

America, are due to its superiority wlien com-
pared with other lighting units. It is now gen-
erally conceded that this is the most efficient
illuminant yet developed, and that the penetra-
ting quality of the brilliant golden yellow light
is such that even under the most adverse con-
ditions, such as those imposed by fog or smoke,
it provides a highly satisfactory illumination.
Exterior Lighting. — Arc-lamps are suspended
from poles, brackets on buildings, or even from
cables strung between buildings. For illumi-
nating a threshing field, a portable pole can
easily be erected on the threshing machine it-
self, or on the motor-wagon accompanying the
thresher. Such a pole may be either of wood
or sections of pipe, screwed together and of
sufficient length to support the lamp high
enough in the air so that the most economical

Larea is lighted.

m For lighting a large interior by arc-lamps,
small lamps are made with the mechanism com-
pact and the light given out very intense. The
selection of such lamps must be left to the engi-
neer having charge of the installation.

Interior Lighting. — As previously stated, for

216 ELECTRICITY

interior lighting incandescent bulbs, with eithec>.
the old carbon filament or the new tungetei?.
style, are used. The introduction of the new;
metal filament incandescent lamii has pro-,
duced results of a far-reaching and most rev^
olutionary character in the lighting industry.
To its many advantages of convenience, safety,
adaptability, portability, low maintenance-cost,
cleanliness and reliability, the metal filament
has added a three-fold improvement in effi-
ciency which definitely establishes the incandes-
cent lamp as the idea! iiluminant, and ensures
it a supreme position in the lighting field.

The first metal filament lamp, the tantalum,
with its efficiency of 2 watts per candle, was
closely followed by the tungsten lamp with
efficiency of ly^ watts per candle. The tung*
sten lamp (also called Mazda) gives the higii
efficiency of 1 to 1^/4 watts per candle, and rep-
resents the highest attainment in this direction..

Electricity can now com])ete with gas and
other illmninants on an equal basis of cost, thus
opening a field for new business of almost un-
limited extent. A more liberal use of li^^
(larger lamps and longer hours of service) i«|,

ELECTRIC LIGHTING

possible without excessive cost, tlms improving
the load-factor of the central station. A much
liter quality of light is secured, a light that

^tt

218 ELECTRICITY

is not only superior in brilliancy and intensity;
but more attractive in colour and better suited
for general illumination.

While the tungsten or Mazda lamp thus ad--
vanees the art of lighting, it also maintains the ■
simplicity of installation and operation of the
ordinary incandescent lamp. It is available in.
small or large units having equal efficiency ; it-
has no moving parts, is applicable to all classes
of service, whether direct or alternating cur-
rent of any frequency, and, most important of
all, it involves no heavy investment.

The surprising increase in efficiency is givett'
by the filament and is due to two causes : first,
the fact that, due to selective radiation, the
filament gives more light at the same tempera-
ture than the carbon filament; second, that thsj
filament of the tungsten lamp can stand a much
higher temperature than the carbon filament.
A much higher degree of incandescence is thus
obtained, and a much greater volume of light!
per unit of energy is produced, as shown by the
remarkable efficiency of 1 to IVi watts per'
candle.

Example of Lighting Rural Residence. — For

■ ELECTRIC LIGHTINa 219

lighting farm residenaes and country Louies
in general, by the incandescent-lamp system,
the following outlines from a bulletin issued by
the University of lUinois, are of interest:

Since tbe living-room is the one in which most of leisure
time of the family is ipent, it ahoulil therefore be well lighted.
First of all there must be a light for reading purpoBPB. Since
the family is likely to be large, several persona will often want
to read at the same time, so a coosideraljle area should be
weU illuminated. The ordinary taliie electric reading-lamp
would be very eatiataetory for one or two persona to read
by if the room were otherwise generally illuminated. In tha
ordinary farm home, however, the lamp that furnishea light
for reading is usually required to furnish a general illumina-
tion for the room. This a table lamp will not do. Accord-
ingly, a three-light fixture is provided. In tliis fixture the
middle socket points directly downward, and is equipped with
a prismatic glass reflector. This will concentrate the light
under the chandelier for readiog purposes, and at the same
time give a moderate illumination of the walls and ceiling.
Thus, the single reading lamp becomes sufficient for ordinary
occasions. When a more general illumination is desired, the
middle lamp is turned out and the two outside lamps are
used. These two lamps are provided with prismotic reflecting
globes. Since the reflecting glubea will prevent the dazzling
direct rays from the filament from reaching the eyes of a per-
son in the room, unfrosted lamps may be used. The middle
lamp, however, may be seen from positions close under the
chandelier. Hence a frosted lamp should be used here. The
fixture should be bung so that the lamps are about six and
one-half feet from the floor.

A dining-room requires a strong illumination over the table
and a soft j>leasing light over the walls and ceiling. This can
be obtained by two lamps placed in prismatic bowl -reflectors
hung at a height of six feet from the floor. These reflootora

220 ELECTEICITY

will distribute the light well tp the edges of the table, whiW
the ceiling and walla will be suQiciently lighted to make t
room aeem cheerful, but not brilliant. Frosted-tip lampa
Bbould be used. A single unfrosted lamp placed in a glasa
reflector will amply light the ball. It should be hung about
eight feet from the floor.

The kitchen has such an important place in the life of tha
farm house-wife, that it should be well illuminated. Thia
can be adequately done by a single lamp in a pendant fixture
hanging rather high in the middle of the room, and provided
with opal bell-reflector. Over the stove and table where it iff
mi>Bt needed, there Ib an adjustable bracket-fixture with t
opal bell -reflector and a frosted-tip lamp.

One lamp placed inside of a prismatic reflecting ball is used
for lighting the porch. This is placed In front of the door
and directly on the ceiling. The upper fluted portiot
ball throws the light downward where it is needed. The lower
portion is frosted in order to soften the glare of the filament

The lights in the cellar are equipped with the flat enamelled
metal reflectors, and are placed on the ceiling.

For each bedroom a bracket fixture carrying one frosted light
in an opal bell -reflector is provided, and placed high enougb
to furnish a good light by which to dress beneath i
eight-eandlepower carbon lamp is placed in three of the cloaeta,'
These are simple drop lights suspended about 6J feet from thai
floor, and no extra length of cord should be provided, i
lamp may be hung upon a hook in contact with clothing. Then,
if the lamp is accidentally left lighted, a Are is almost s
follow. Simple, single-light pendant fixtures are provided for
the second floor hall and the bathroom. These are equipped
with opal be II -reflectors and are hung about seven and one-half
feet from the floor. The lamps should be frosted.

The following table is a summary of tbe num- !
ber and distribution of the lights of an ordinary J
country residence; and also shows the number J
of lamp-hours per twenty-four hours.

rELECTEIC LIGHTING 221

Dining Room: Two lights, on during
breakfast and supper

6:Uli— fl:30 a.m 1„, ,

6:3fr-7:00 p.m /^ '^"P ''™'^

Living Room; Tiiree lights, on only
after supper.

7:00 — 10:30 p.m lOJ lamp lioura

Kitchen: Two liglita, on morning and
evening.

S;St;:^S;;S; ::::::::::::::::;::::;:} '»-p-™

Front Hall: One light
8:00 — 10:30 p.m 2J lamp hours

Front Porch : One light
7:30 — 9:00 p.m li lamp hours

Rear Hall: One light

S;S:J;S;:S::::::::::::::::::::::4^»-»p»™

Bedrooms: Two lights

5 :00— 5 :30 a. m 1

0:00— 6:30 p.m I 21 lamp honrs

One light f "^

10:30—11:00 p.m J

Total 35i lamp hours

Tungsten or Mazda lamps ordinarily installed
an residences are of 25-watt oi* lO-watt size.
Using the 25-watt size, the daily cost of 351^
Hamp-liours would amount to 141/2 cents a day
«r $4.35 a month and with the 40-watt size, the
cost would be 18% cents a day or $5.62 a month.
Effect of Wall Colour. — ^In using lights, sev-
eral factors of great importance must be taken
into consideration, in addition to the placing

222 ELECTRICITY

of the lamps in the best positions and the i
of certain forms of globes, and these factor
are the colours of the shades, the colour of the
wall-paper and the effect of the combination oH
the eyesight.

The colour of the wall-paper increases or d&
creases the volume of light in a room in pro
portion to its reflecting properties. In a roou
coated with white paper, a large part of th*
light that strikes the wall is reflected back intc
the room while, when a chocolate colour is used)
only a small part is reflected ; the white-papered
room will be more than three times as effectively
illuminated as the other. Papers arranged ai
cording to their colours reflect light and add t
the illumination of a room in the following or-
der, expressed in terms of illuminating value:

White

Chrome Yellow

OrBnge

Plain Piiie Woi>d

Yellow Paper

Light Pink Paper

Yellow Paint

Emerald Green Paper

Dark Brown Paper

Vermilion Paper

Blue-Green Paper ■.

Cobalt Blue Paper

Deep Chocolate Paper

ELECTRIC LIGHTING 223

I Effect of Globe and Shade Colour, — The eol-
onra of the globes and shades have a greater
effect upon illumination than the colour of the
walls, as will be seen from the following tables.
The absorption of light in clear glass globes
is very low, while in cobalt-blue globes prac-
tically all the light is absorbed, as appears from
the subjoined list.

Colour of OlaBB Per cent.

Clear Glaaa 5 to 10

Light Sand-biaat«d 10 to 20

Alabaster 10 to 20

Canary-coloured 15 to 20

Light Blue 15 to 2S

Heavy Blue 15 to 30

Ribbed Glass 15 to 30

Opaline Glaaa 15 to 40

Ground Glass : 20 to 30

Medium Opalescent ,25 to 40

Heavy Opaiegcent 30 to 60

Flame Glass 30 to 60

Signal Green BO to 90

Ruby Glasa 85 to 90

Cobalt Blue 90 to 05

While to produce the greatest amount of light-
ing white walls and clear glass globes are
requisite, it must be remembered that a high
illumination may affect the eyes most unfavour-
ably. Conservation of the eyesight is quite as
important as conservation of electric energy
and certain principles should be observed.
Light should be so shaded that the rays are

224

ELECTRICITY

not reflected into the eyes as a glare. The di- '

rect rays of the incandescent filament should
not strike the eye. Light coming in large quan-
tities from an iinusual direction should be
avoided. An example of this is seen in the ef-
fects of foot-lights and spot-lights on the eyes
of actors. Both too much and too little light
should be avoided. Sources of light which pro-
duce streaks, and sharp contrasts, as between
a brilliantly lighted desk and the remainder of J
the room in darkness, should be avoided.

In a well-hghted room, the lighting should 1
be such that it attracts no attention to itself,
either from being too intense or too dim, just j
as a well-dressed man is one so garbed that his
clothing attracts no attention on its own a&-j
count.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the advantages of electric Hghtingf

2. Describe the old and new types of incaililescent lamps.

3. Where should an arc-lamp be UHed!

4. Deserihe interior lighting Bysteme.

5. Describe exterior lighting systems. .

0. Deaeribe en example of rural residence lighting.

7. What is the effect ot wall colour in illuminating a. roomt' J

8. What is the effect of colour in lamp shades?

9. What is the moat efficient colour for wall and lamp shadeal 1

CHAPTER Xm

THE TELEPHONE IN RUEAL COMMUNI-
TIES

The farmer of to-day, whenever he is
thoroughly convinced that a certain tool or
piece of machinery will do his work better, do
more of it, or increase his income, isn't very
long in becoming the owner of that tool or ma-
chine. That this attitude has proven benefi-
cial to himself and to his calling is demonstrated
by the wonderful strides agriculture has taken,
and the improved methods emi)loyed on the
average farm. But he must be convinced. He
is a careful, prudent man, not quick to jump at
conclusions.

The first thought that must have come to the
minds of a majority of farmers upon the advent
of the rural telephone line was, ^^Of what good
to the farmer is the telephone?'' This was
a very natural question.

Some farmers argued that they had gotten

225

226 ELECTRICITY

along so far in life without the telephone, why
not the rest of their days? This same argu-
ment, if carried out, would have kept hundreds
of other improvements, now considered abso-
lute necessities, off the farm, and would thus
have greatly retarded the march of agricultural
progress.

Because a man might walk from New York
to Chicago is no reason why it would not be
cheaper and more sensible to ride, as well as
being quicker and easier. Thousands of
farmers, however, were quick to recognise the
value of the telephone to the rural resident.
They foresaw the improved conditions that its
adoption would bring to them and their fami-
lies, and the consequence is that the building of
farm lines, which began a long time ago, is go-
ing on at a livelier rate than ever to-day. No
one questions the statement that time is money,
and very few will question the statement that
as a time-saver the telephone has no equal.
Time is an important item on the farm. The
need of a telephone connection is far more ur-
gent to the farmer than to the city man. Every
errand means a long trip to town or to the

THE TELEPHONE 227

neighbours, involving a loss at every step. Lost
time means lost money and lost opportunity.

Suppose in the rush of the busy season, when
every hour is precious, a piece of machinery
breaks down. What is the result! To get re-
pairs means a trip to town; lost time; perhaps
a wasted crop. With the telephone at hand,
the new part may be ordered in a moment and
be on its way by rural delivery before the
^*boy'^ could saddle his pony and get started
after it, often reducing the delay from a day
to an hour.

The product of the average farm in the Uni-
ted States is worth $850 but the progressive
business farmer who uses the most improved
implements and machinery produces 50 to 100
per cent, more than the average. There are
only about 200 good working days in a year on
the farm, therefore every day counts. When a
com field is getting weedy, a day^s work with
the cultivator will make a difference of $25 in
the value of the crop. When a field of wheat
is ripe, the delay of a day may cost more.

The successful farmer has to consider all
these things and he cannot afford the time to

228 ELECTRICITY

run errands when nature is calling him to the
fields. Help on the fann is scarce, and is more
difficult to find each year. The farmer must
help himself by using everything wliich will
save labour and make his time go farthest,
and a man with the most modem equipment
can do as much as two or three men with old,
out-of-date methods.

A Time Saver. — The farmer with the tele-
phone not only saves time which he can devote
to his fields, but if he needs a man for a few
weeks or a few days, the telephone gives him
the inside track in finding some one. If he has
a fence to build or some other odd job that be
cannot take the time to do, a moment at the
telephone will discover some one in a near-by
village or town who will be glad to do the job.
While it is getting harder and harder to find
men who will work for a year on a farm, the
telephone makes it easy to get transient help
just when you need it without losing or hunt-
ing for it.

In a hundred other ways the telephone saves
time and helps to keep thin^ goingj thus swell-
ing the profits for the year. It saves the hard-

THE TELEPHONE

HiWorked farm-horses many a drive when they
need the rest. When stock gets sick the farmer
can call the veterinary qnickly and thus per-
haps save the most valuable of his animals.
■^Fhen the threshers are in the neighbourhood
ffne can step to the telephone and make the
needed arrangement for "change" of work, hire
extra help for haying or harvesting, order pro-
visions down town, get market reports, and
save time in a thousand different ways.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed," and
perhaps the greatest service the telephone can
render is in the time of sickness. Medical at-
tention can be smnmoned, more than half the
time saved, — in many instances a precious life.
When accidents happen or a fire breaks out,
the telephone affords assistance that could be
obtained in no other way, and one such service
may easily repay its cost many hundred times
over.

Before haiding produce to town, the farmer
can know just what the dealer is paying; he
_doesn't have to go it blind, and take the dealer's
i or haul his stuff back home. He knows
«,t lie has the advantage. He is in a position

230 ELECTKICITY

to buy when prices are down and sell when
prices are up.

As a Biisiness Getter. — The telephone is the
connecting link between city, town and country.
In a social sense alone it is worth all it costs.
News of the neighbourhood flashes across the
wires before it gets cold. It helps to keep the
boys and girls contented at home. They are
no longer isolated from the society of other
young folks, and farm-life is not the dry drudg-
ery of the non-telephone times. The farmer
thus owes it to liis family to have a telephone
installed. Many times he is away from home
and his wife and children are in peril of the
encroachments of tramps and other offensive
characters, but by means of the telephone, they
can immediately summon assistance, which
could not be obtained in any other way.

Petty thieving can be often detected and in-
formation sent speeding of news of any outra-
geous conduct through the neighbourhood. Pil-
fering has almost entirely disappeared where
telephones are in general use.

The advantages of the telephone on the farm
are so numerous and valuable that it is difficult

THE TELEPHONE 231

to appreciate them at their real worth. With
its advent comes new companionship, new life,
new possibility, new relations and attachments
for the old farm, by both the yomig and old,
Lonesomeness is banished by the privileges of
city life being added through the telephone, and
the influx of country folks to the city has been
changed to an esodus from city to farming com-
munities, even to a much greater degree than
people who have not investigated realise.

The advantages of the farm telephone can-
not be overestimated, because their practical
utility is unlimited, and where installed, they
are never taken out. The fanner cannot keep
house without one, after once learning the con-
venience, time-saving and money-saving fea-
tures.

Telephone Lines. — A metallic telephone cir-
cuit consists of two wires on a single set of
poles, one for the outgoing current and one for
the return current. Metallic circuits are al-
ways preferable to grounded lines, as the serv-
ice is superior, being free from noise caused
by earth-currents, and the liability of damage
to apparatus by lightning is much less.

r
I

232 ELECTBICITY

Where several metallic circuits are run on
the same set of poles, they should be trans-
posed, that is, the wires of circuits should be
crossed and recrossed, which is done to pre-
vent cross-talk between the different circuits.
Cross-talk may be explained as follows : When
two telephones are in use, the subscribers on,
all the other lines on that set of poles can hear
the conversation going on, although there may
be no metallic connections, and if the lines are-
run for a considerable distance on the same set
of poles, this cross-talk would be so strong as-
to be objectionable. No definite rule can be'
given for this crossing and recrossing, as differ-
ent schemes are required for various numbers
of lines on a one-pole route.

A grounded line consists of one wire on the
poles and using earth for the return path of thft
current. Grounded lines prove quite satisfac-
tory where there are no trolley wires, electrio
light circuit or telegraph wires running very
close to the line. If such conditions as these
are encountered, a grounded line will pick up so
much noise from the other lines as to make it
almost impossible to hear distinctly, but thia

■ THE TELEPHONE 233

can be overcome by rmming a metallic circuit
Where a great many lines are run on the
same set of poles, and where a ground-roturu
will not be satisfactory, a common return wii-e
is sometimes used. This style of construction
was at one time of very common praetice with
telephone exchanges. It consists in running
several wires on the same set of poles and UHing
one larger wire for the common return. In
the common return line, only one ground is
made, this being located at the central offieo,
and it is important that an extra good ground-
ing should he made. Of course the number of
instruments that are to be used on a line de-
termines to a large extent which is the most
practical kind to build, a metallic grounded or
common return line.

After the conditions are known and the kind
of line decided upon, the first thing that be-
comes necessary in the building of a line in its
proper location. This is usually accomplished
by starting from an initial point and meanar-
ing off distances where poles are to be set, lo-
cating them by stakes as nearly as possible to
the measurements. The line should be bailt M

234 ELECTRICITY

straight as possible, avoiding sharp turns and
angles.

Telepfione Poles. — Cedar or chestnut polef
are the best. Poles should be peeled and tlig
top end roofed so that the water will run ofl
instead of collecting at the top and deeayinj
the pole. The length and size of the pole de*
pends entirely upon the kind of a line that ia
to be built. It is not well to use poles with less
than 5-incli tops, and 6 inches is a better size
The average length of poles is 25 feet. In som(
instances, where no roads have to be crossed
and where one wire is to he carried, 20-fooi
poles can be used. For a line with one or twc
wires at least 30 poles should be used per mile,
for four or more wires, 35 poles to the mile;
the more poles used the shorter the stretches
of wire, and the less liable is the wire to break

Brackets. — Brackets are usually made of oai
and are given two coats of metallic paint
They have a thread on the upper end to whic^
is fastened the glass insulator, of a type espe-
cially adapted to telephone work. Where only
one or two wires are to be carried on the polesi
brackets serve the purpose very satisfactorilji

THE TELEPHONE 235

They should be at least 18 inches apart. The
upper bracket should be 8 inches from the top
of the pole, and the other 20 inches below it on
the opposite side. The bracket should be nailed
to the pole with one 50-penny and one 20-penny
nail.

Cross Arms. — ^Where three or more wires
are to be run on the same pole cross-arms should
be used. They are made of sawed yellow pine
painted with two good coats of metallic paint,
and are of a length to accommodate from two to
ten pins. The size of the arm used for tele-
phone work is 2%x3% inches, bored for l^^
inch pins.

The proper way to attach the cross-arms to the pole is to
cut a recess about 1^ inches deep, 10 inches from the top,
and of such width as to cause a tight fit of the arm; then
fasten with a machine bolt, through the arm and the pole,
with a nut and washer on the opposite side of the pole. Two
lag screws can be used for this purpose, but they are not quite
as good. The arm may be further strengthened by two iron
**cros8-arm braces." These usually consist of straight flat gal-
vanised iron bars \\ inches wide by \ inch thick, varying in
length from 20 to 28 inches. IToles are usually punched in
one end for the reception of ^-inch lag screws, and in the other
end for |-inch carriage bolts. On straight lines, where the
distances between the poles are equal, the cross-arm should be
placed on alternating sides of the pole. On curves, the cross-
arm should be placed on the poles so that the strain of the
wire will pull it against the pole; then the strain of the wire

236 ELECTEICITY

is on the polo inatead of tht bolts. On curvea and cornera, tbe
wire should be tied to the side of the insulators awa; Irum
the strain. The quickest way t« erect a line is to do all the
work on the poles, aiieh as attaching brackets or erosa-oniiB,
before the poles are set into the holes.

Lightning Protection. — Evei^' tenth pole
should be equipped with a lightning rod, made
of No. 9 or No. 10 wire, stapled on the side of
the pole and attached every two feet by ^y ineU
galvanised iron staples. The rod should be ex-
tended to the top of the pole and have two turns
under the bottom end of the pole.

Setting Po^es.— Twenty-five-foot poles should
be set at least 414 feet in depth, and on curves
six inches or a foot deeper. The hole should
be large enough to admit the pole without hew-
ing or cutting, and to permit free use of the
tamping and digging bar. The refilled earth
should be thoroughly tamped, as it will greatly
lessen any trouble from poles pulling away.
when placed under strain. The soil should be
firmly packed around the poles to a height of
at least 12 inches above the ground. Every ,
corner pole and every pole not in line should be
guyed before the wire is stretched, or else the
line will not stand up properly and will always

THE TELEPHONE 237

be giving more or less trouble. The guying
can be done by a brace-pole, or by running a
No. 6 or No. 9 wire from the top of the pole to
an anchor which should be set in the ground
some four feet, or by running a guy-wire from
the top of the pole to a suitable guy stub.
Single guys to anchor should be used whenever
possible and set in the line of the resultant
strain from the line wires. When it becomes
necessary to raise the guy-strand to a sufficient
height to clear obstacles or cross the highway,
guy-stubs should be used. The poles should not
be guyed to fences or trees, as the former are
not permanent, and the swaying of the trees
will break the wire.

Telephone Wire. — No. 12 B. S. galvanised
iron telephone wire is the proper wire to use
for the telephone circuits. It will give the most
satisfactory results, and is by far the cheapest
in the end. It should be stretched tight, leav-
ing not more than 10 inches sag between the
poles. The wire clamp consists of a clamp
which has an automatic arrangement whereby
the wire is automatically gripped when a strain
is exerted on the pulley-blocks to which the

^L com

I Tel<

238 ELECTRICITY

clamp may be fastened. The clamp releasee
automatically as soon as the strain on it is re-
leased. Iron or steel fence wire may be used,
but it is very hard, or high in resistance, and
therefore cuts down the talking efficiency, and
not being so well galvanised, rusts in a short
time. Its cost per pound is somewhat cheaper
than galvanised wire, but the fact that it takes
a greater number of pounds of wire to reach
a mile than the No. 12' B.. S. galvanised iron
telephone wire makes the total cost greater.
For example, No. 10 ateel fence wire costs 3^1
cents per pound, and one mUe weighs 260
pounds. This brings the cost per mile to $9.10.
The No. 12 B. S. galvanised iron telephone wire
costs 4% cents per pound, and there are 165
pounds to a mile, making the cost $6.80 per mile.
Insulation.— The insulation of the telephone
line means its isolation from anything that
would tend to conduct the electricity direct to
earth instead of passing through the telephones
in such proportionate quantities as it should.
The insulation of the telephone line should, of
course, be as good as it is possible to make if.
Telephone lines must not be allowed to touch

r TEE TELEPHONE 239

or come in contact with, tree tops, for the limbs
and leaves wonld tend to ground the lines, and

the swaying of the trees might, in some cases,
break the wire. Where telephone lines run
through wooded sections, it is well to trim off
the tops of all the trees.

Making Connections. — To make connections
place the telephone on the wall as near the out-
side line wire aa possible. Rubber-covered,
weather-proof copper wire should be used to
run from the telephone to the line wire and to
the ground. In damp places rubber-covered
wire should also be used. In single-wire
grounded circuits, avoid making the ground-
wire extending from the instrument to the
ground any longer than is absolutely necessary,
as any unnecessary turns in it have a tendency
to cut down the efficiency of the line, since thus
an additional amount of resistance is intro-
duced. Either single-conductor or double-con-
ductor, rubber-covered, weather-proof copper
wire is the most durable and satisfactory to
run from the instrument to the line wires. Al-
ways take the covering from the wire where
it goes imder the binding posts and scrape the

240 ELECTRICITY

wire bright and clean. Tbe wire leading froi
the telephone line to the telephone instrumeu
should extend from the nearest pole to a per
eelain knob, fastened to tbe outside of th(
house near where the telephone is mounted^
If the nearest pole to tbe house should be over
100 feet away, it is advisable to run this line tfli
an oak bracket with pony glass insulator :
stead of to tbe porcelain knob. Insulated saddle
staples should be used to fasten the wires U
the walls of the house.

Ground Connections.— The most commoB
practice of making ground connection is to takft!
a sharp iron rod seven feet long by half an int^'
in diameter, having- a hole about three ineheBJ
from the top end, and drive the rod into the,
earth in some damp place so that enough of
tbe rod sticks out of tbe ground to attach the'
ground wire, which is done by inserting the wire-
through the hole near the top and making sev-
eral turns around the rod and then solder- '
ing carefully. Care shoiild be taken to drive
the rod into the earth in a place where the eartii
is damp continually, and not for a few monti

■ THE TELEPHONE 241

in tile year. The difficulty in driving this rod
can greatly be overcome by making a hollow
in the ground, filling it with water and letting
it stand for a while. Do not try to use a piece
of iron wire for ground, as it will not prove
satisfactory. Another good method of making
a ground is to solder a eoppei- wire to a copper
plate, dig a hole about six feet deep in some
damp place, place the plate in the bottom, cover
with charcoal, empty in a few pails of water
and cover with earth. Too much attention can-
not be given to this matter of making ground
which, if slighted, will c^use the strongest and
best telephone made to give no better results
than a much weaker telephone on a system hav-
ing good ground.

Inspection. — Telephones not subject to reg-
ar inspection by an experienced man, should
be equipped with dry batteries, as they require
no attention during their life, are cleaner and
do not freeze except under rare conditions.
They cannot be re-charged. They will last six
months to one year and a half, all depending
Lopon the work the instrument is required to per-

"ig J

242 ELECTEICITT

form. When exhausted, they are replaced byl
new batteries, installed by the owner of thtt;
telephone without any difficulty.

Wet batteries need careful attention. They^
should not be more than three-fourths full of
solution after the zinc and carbon are placed
in the jar. Do not use any more sal ammoniac
than will dissolve in the water placed in the
glass jar. While the sal ammoniac is being
poured into the water, stir the solution briskly
with a stick. When it refuses to dissolve, no
greater strength of solution may be obtained.
The use of more sal ammoniac is detrimental to
the solution, and a waste of material. If the
outside of the jar and the tops of the zinc and
carbon become wet with the solution, wipe them
dry with a cloth. Do not leave them wet, as it
will corrode the connections. Periodically, a
small amount of salts may be dissolved in the I
solution which keeps the batteries up to their I
highest efficiency. As in the case of the dry '
cells, the life depends upon the amount of the
work the battery has to perform. All party
line batteries should always be connected in

THE TELEPHONE 243

ISeries, that is, a carbon of one battery should be
iconnected to the zino of the other.
. All that is necessary for lightning protection
|fi to provide an easy path for atmospheric elec-
tricity to reach the ground. This consists of
itwo blocks of carbon with a strip of mica be-
tween them. In a metallic hridging line, the
line wires are connected to the outside posts
^ and the ground wire is connected to the middle
osts. These carbons are separated by a strip
»f mica which prevents the ordinary telephone
urrents from escaping, which would make a
l^liort circuit, hut which affords- practically no
■esistance to a discharge of lightning which
lasses through it into the ground. After a
btorm is over it is often found that dust has
collected hetween the blocks of carbon. This
would allow an ordinary telephone current to
pass through, making an easier path than the
telephone. The carbon block should therefore,
-he slipped out and wiped off thoroughly. Addi-
tional protection may be furnished by using a
larbon and fuse arrester on metallic grounded
^rcuits. These are usually placed on the in-

244

ELECTEICITY

side wall where the wires enter the house. On
some farm lines a knife switch is placed in the

line wire above the telephone, so that the tele-
phone can be out off from the circuit entirely
during an electric storm. The only objection to
the use of this switch is that if one forgets to
close it after a storm the telephone will not
Work and no one can call you — in fact, if it is
not properly connected, it would put the entire
line out of service.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the advantages ot telephones in rural dis-

tricts !

2. Why is the telephone necessary!

3. What are the earnings of the average farm?

4. How can the farmer increase his business?

5. Describe the telephone system.

6. Describe the construction of the telephone installation, such

as poles, conductors, ground wire, etc.

7. Describe the method of inspection.

CHAPTER XIV
ELECTRIC POWER IN IRRIGATION

By the help of a suitable electrically driven
pmap, water for irrigation may be raised to
practically any desired height. As this water
is best distributed during the night, the pumps
may operate at tbis time to advantage, because
the usual day load has then fallen off. By this
means a more even power-load is put upon the
distributing system at a time when it can be
readily carried. The public companies sell
power at an especially low rate for irrigation
purposes in order to induce a large consump-
tion.

The Gravity System. — ^Large sums are yearly
spent for irrigation purposes, and also on wa-
terways regulation, but in nearly every case
without consideration of a combination system,
wherein electric power could advantageously be
generated. In irrigation, the water-level of the

ELECTEICITT

river is usually raised, in order to get sufficient
head so that the water to the fields can be dis-
tributed by gravity, and the head in most in-
stances is sufficient to operate the necessary ma^
chines for the generation of electric energy,
which might advantageously be used for farm-
ing purposes and rural industries when the wa-
ter was not needed.

The same practice applies to river regulation.
There are a number of examples iu Switzerland,
and more particularly in Germany, where large
central stations are enabled by proper engineer-
ing to utilise the energy of a river. Advan-
tage can also be taken of the flow of water in
drainage canals by installing power plants at
suitable intervals.

Amount of Water Bequired. — The acreage
which may be watered by any given supply
varies greatly in different localities and for dif-
ferent crops. Fields in some regions need only
one flooding each summer, while in the most un-
favourable places water must be supplied at
least once per week. Shallow soil, over clay
or hardpan, holds its water too near the surface,
permitting rapid evaporation. Loose , sandy

lEKIGATION

247

subsoil permits the water to sink or to pass to
other substrata, slightly benefiting adjacent
fields to the detriment of the field irrigator.

Deep sandy loam soil, with clay or hardpan
subsoil, gives the best returns for a given
amount of water.

The crop itself in an irrigated field absorbs
very little water, but to enable this small supply-
to be constantly available to the plants, a liberal
supply must be furnished to replace that
which is lost by surface evaporation. To re-
place surface evaporation, three to seven
gallons per minute are required for each acre
in semi-arid regions, and from fifteen to twenty

248 ELECTEICITY

gallons per minute per aore in the arid regions.
Surfaces covered with alfalfa or similar dense
growth require loss water than crops planted
in rows with bare ground between, unless as
a result of cultivation a layer of loose earth
several inches deep covers the surface and
lessens the evaporative effect of the atmosphere.

Alfalfa south of the fortieth degree of lati-
tude, and red clover north, are the most profit-
able forage and hay crops on irrigated farms.
Both require a liberal supply of water the first
year, less the second, and very little thereafter;
consequently when the first field is a year old:
another may be planted, and so on until the acre-
age will take up the entire water supply. Fields
well flooded in winter will need less water in
the spring and summer, and a much larger area.
may be irrigated with a given amount of wa-
ter than if spring and summer flooding alonff
Is practised.

Motor-driven pumps are preferably located
in small houses, scattered over the field to be
irrigated. They may lift the water directly
into elevated reservoirs, or preferably pump
the water directly into trenches.

lEEIGATION 249

^B Water D-istribution. — ^Where the fields can be

levelled off, emtanked, and main or feeder

ditches nm on the embankment above the level

of the fields, the flooding system may bo used.

^kA-S not less than three inches of water should

^■be mn at once, the field should be divided into

^R)lots having four times the area of the reser-

^B^oir for each available foot of its depth.

Furrow irrigation on am all plantations seems to be tbe
favourite system. Furrows are run between rows five to fii-
bieil. feet apart. If the field is not level, run the furrows in
such direction as to keep each farrow nearly on a level through-
out its lengtb. When the main ditch la flooded, the bank
opposite each furrow is broken down, allowing the furrows to
fill successively. In orchards, the furrows are made in cir-
cles six or eight feet in diameter, around each tree. This
brings tbe water well over the roots, but not against tbe trunk
of the tree, which is harmful. The small circular ditches may
be fed by main ditches between every alternate row. Where
great economy of water is needed, large tiles are sunk into the
ground near each tree, or twelve or sixteen feet apart in a
v^eiable garden, tbe water being led into these tiles by means
of a ditch or hose. This system conducts the water well below
tbe surface, preventing much of the loss by evaporation.

The source of water supply may be either
mrface water from the streams, or may be

■ound water, secured by sinking wells.
^ Motor-Driven Pumps. — Irrigation by gravity
Systems can, of course, be accomplished only in

250 ELECTKICITY

those favoured localities wMcli have a natural
source of water-supply at a level higher than
the tract under cultivation. Such locations
have long ago been appropriated, so that ex-
tensions are dependent upon some source of
power for pumping. Long-distance transmis-
sion-lines, carrying power from the mountain
streams and waterfalls over the intervening dry
plains to the growing cities and towns of Col-
orado, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington
and Idaho, have made possible the use of elec-
tric motors for the operation of pumps for irri-
gation purposes in those States. In fact, the
ease and economy with which electricity can be
transmitted over wide areas and used to drive
motors, make electric pumping in many eases
preferable to the gravity system. The pumps
can be in comparatively small units, each sup-
plying a local area. The distributing ditches
may be small, thus leaving a maximum area for
crops, and the water-supply to each area is al-
ways under perfect control. There is thus a
minimum danger of broken ditches and flooded
crops, such as sometimes occurs with large
ditches.

EIEEIGATION 251

rush-covered plains of tlieae Btates, when prop-
d and flooded with water, produce the wonderful
grapes, melona, puachea, cherriea, apples, strawberries, et«.,
which are now a ci>iumon sight in the markets of this coun-
try. T'Bnii which leas than a decade ago could be purchased
for from flfty cents to two dollars an acre in the valley of the
Columbia, la now held at $150 an acre for alfalfa hay land,
producing three crops a year and averaging four to nine tons
an acre at $10 per ton. Irrigation has bronght these lands
before investors, large and small, from all parts of the coun-
try, and where ten years ago individuals held vast areas of
this cheap land, the rising values have now reversed such con-
ditions, and division and sub-division is constantly going on.
Intensive cultivation is the secret of successful irrigation tfl
the man of moderate desires, and with the same amount of
attention and care bestowed upon the land, ten to twenty
acres or even less of good_ irrigated land will produce mora
than larger areaa in the East, particularly when devoted to
the raising of fruits.

The results obtained by this intensive method of the culti-
vation of small unit areas of land, have been tlie greatest fac-
tor in opening up the various tracts of irrigable lands in the
Pacific Coast States. Organised companies have taken up
tracts of land in units from 180 to 6000 acres and have di-
vided them into aniall tracts of S. 10, 20 and 40 acres each
and sold them to homeseekers, with water rights at prices
ranging from SlOO to SOOO per acre, the land being in its
original prairie form but with the water delivered thereto.

Irrigation by Electric Power. — A concrete ex-
ample of an operating company in the upper
Columbia River Valley, as described in The
Electric Journal, February, 1911, may be of
interest. This company has taken a 160-acre
unit of sage-brush land, platted it into five- and

252 ELECTRICITY

ten-acre tracts and supplied it with water under
a pressure system.

The pumping station consists of a 40-lip.
three-phase, 60-eycle, 2300-volt, shunt-wound,
secondary induction motor, directly connected
to two 31/3-uich and one 5-inch centrifugal
piunpa. These pumps are so arranged that they
may be run in single, multiple or series stages
to supply water for the different heads to be
pumped against. They perform the following
duty:

250 gallona per minutt to a, head of 100 feet, all tliree pumps

5U0 gallons per minute to el head of ISO feet, two smalt
piunpg in parallel piunpiDg into the large unit;

750 gallons per minute to a head of 110 feet, the arrftnge-
ment being the aama aa with 100 feet head but the pumps op-
erating on reduced head and picking up more wnter.

500 gallons per minute to a head of 55 feet, tlie five-inch
pump working alone as a single atcp pump.

The main discharge from the pumping is a
12-incb double-riveted flanged steel pipe 1700
feet long. The late^-al system is made up of
galvanised sheet steel pipe of various diameters,
branching from the main discharge line and
having at intervals one-inch stand-pipes about
two feet long, with valves which feed the water

IRRIGATION

253

into the small ditches. The loss of water by
evaporation is thus minimised, and by means
of the stand-pipes the irrigator is enabled to

control the flow as he works on the distributing
ditches.

This system proves more economical to the
bolder of the small five- or ten-acre tract than
would obtain if he had to purchase an indi-
vidual pumping-eqnipment for this land, for the
Power and Land Company carries the neces-
sary investment for the electric-substation,

254 ELECTRICITY

pumping stations and water-distributing sys-
tem, and altiiougb the farmer pays more for an
acre of his land under these conditions, the
terms of sale are such as to make it less of a
financial burden than would be the individual
unit pumping plant.

In this particular case, assuming a load-factor of 80 per
cent, on tlw pumping plant on 24-hour service, the average
station-load would be about 32 horsepower. It would thus
be easj to keep the mechanical equipment in good running
condition, even though the full load of 40 horsepower might
be carried at times for ahort intervals. Baaing the power-bill
at ?7 per month per horsepower on the maximum demand, the
charge would be $280 per month as a, possible maximum, or
$1.75 per acre per month for each 160 acres affected. The
water could thus he delivered at a maximum cost of $17.50
per month for a ten-aere tract fmm a central pumping plants
where an individual plant of, say, a 3 horsepower unit, would
require a monthly charge at a Jiigher rate, besides the main-
tenance, attention and cash investment.

These figures, of course, are rough, as the
cost of power differs materially in different lo-
calities, but they indicate in a general way tha
advantage secured by the small owner in get^
ting his water from a central station as coit>
trasted with putting in the small individual
unit. The tendency is increasing, therefore, U
wards the installation of larger pumping-nnii
to supply sub-divided tracts of land, both o

lEHIGATION 255

aeeoiuat of the economy in stepdown-transform-
ing stations in larger units, and for the reason
that where power is purchased the large sizes
of pumping-equipment offer more opportunities
to make the installation along good engineering
lines, and to build the station and equip it with
machinery of high class manufacture, reliability
and efficiency.

The hydroelectric transmiaBion eorapaniea are naturally as-
BiBting in this movement, as the irrigation projects through
the country traversed by these trunk-lines form a natural and
Tery deairahle market for power. Many of the larger projects
bave auliatantial impounding reservoirs which catch the tail-
water from their stations at a higher elevation than the irri-
gated valley, and from which the water is distributed under
pressure to the towns, orchards and fields below. Such a reser-
voir IB a, part of the system of the Improvement Company at
Clarkston, Washington, which distributes water for irrigat-
ing purposes under gravity pressure to a considerable area
■urrounding these cities. At the same time, by carrying the
Srat part of their 4S-inch wood-stave pipe-line around the hills
at a conaiderable altitude, a head of 4TS feet is made avail-
able for their 3000 horsepower hydroelectric generating sta-
tion, located on Asotin Creek, six miles above the town.
Power is thus made available for lights and industrial uses
and also for pumping water for irrigation purposes where
it is diflteult to supply gravity pressure. The water in the
Inaiii flume is at a snfBcient pressure when it reaches the
town of Clarkston to furnish a head of 250 feet to a 400-kw.
generating-etation located just above the town. The tail-
water from this station is impounded in a reservoir for grav-
ity irrigation on the lower levels, water being taken from
the main flume at the higher levels. This company has in all

256 ELECTEICITY

seven miles of 48-inch, four miles of 40-inch, two miles of
3a-inel>, and ooe mile of 30-incli pipe line. The two hydro-
elt-ctric power atationB, operating in conjunction with a 500-
kw. ateam-turbina ausiliary station, furnish power to the
towns of Lewiaton, Clarkaton, Aaotiu, Genessoe and Moscow,
through El total of over 60 miles of transmission line at 45,000

The alfalfa range of about thirty miles in the Eden Orchard

Tracts was sage-bnish land four years ago at $20 per acre.
When the water was put on the land two years later, it im-
mediately liecome worth $100 per acre.

Irrigation has produced these changes, and
electricity has become the principal factor in
developing and making accessible these vast
arid tracts, which are becoming rapidly trans-
foimed into gardens, orchards, towns and cities,
with inter-connecting interurban systems, elec-
tric lights and telephones and all modern con-
veniences.

California in very recent years has made
enormous strides agriculturally, due largely to
electric irrigation systems. The largest com-
pany in this field and one of the largest of its
kind in the world is the Pacific Gras and Klectrio
Company, operating in central California. It
has developed this branch of engineering to a
high degree, and has installed great numbers
of electric irrigation plants which are supplied

IREIGATION

257

by its service lines. This company's reports
contain interesting drawings and views of some
of its installations and indicate the character of

the service it performs.

Pumping Plants.- — Tlie type of pumping plant

most generally installed is a centrifugal pump
directly connected to an electric motor and set
in a pit near the water-level. Centrifugal
pumps are built in two styles, vertical and hori-

258 ELECTEICITY

zontal, eaeli to meet certain conditions. A.
good centrifugal pump will draw water as far
as a pinuger pump, or about twenty-eight feet,
but will operate with much less power when
set near the water-level. For this reason pits
are usually dug with the floor at or near the
level of the water in the well when the pump
is not running. These pits may be lined with
concrete or boarded with redwood. The pit is
covered by a house, frequently built with a wood
frame and with sides and roof of corrugated
iron.

An important feature in drilling a well is developing the
. water aupply. When the perforated I'sstng ia landed in the
water-bearing strata, or the casing punctured, whichever
method ia used, it is important that the largest reservoir poB-
aible he formed in the water zones. Tliis is done by pumping
out the sand and gravel around the pipe. If done carefully,
& large saucer-shaped cavity, with the casing passing through
its centre, is formed. If not carefully done, the upper strata
may cave and greatly reduce, or entirely prevent, the water
flow. Where a well has been properly developed it will make
but little sand afterward, thus reducing wear on the pump
and making sand pumping unnecessary. The pit for a hori-
zontal pump should be large enough when finished to allow
at least two feet between any of the machinery and the walL
At one side of the pump enough space should be allowed to
remove either pump or motor from the base.

Centrifugal Pumps. — As a centrifugal pump
will not throw water until the casing ia full of

IRKIGATION 259

"water, or, in other words, will not prime itself,
some means must be provided for doing this.
A small hand-pump is usually installed for this
"work. If a foot-valve is used, priniing may be
done by pouring water down the discharge-pipe.
If a check-valve is installed, a priming-pnmp
must be used. The proper place to connect a
priming-pump is at the highest part of the
pump-casing. One of the most common faults
in starting a pump is its becoming "air bound."
Be sure every bit of air can be pumped out
of the casing and suction-pipe by the priming-
pump.

Vertical pumps are usually installed where
the ground water is so far below the surface
that the expense of sinking a pit for a hori-
zontal pump would be prohibitive. Instead
of a pit, a shaft large enough to pass the
pump is sunk, and the pump is installed
at the bottom with the motor at the sur-
face. A timber frame-work is built in the
bottom of the pit and a vertical frame extends
from top to bottom, carrying pump and shaft-
^ ing. At the top a frame is built to carry a
pnlley or a vertical motor. Spreader-bars

260 ELECTEICITY

should be spaced every ten feet on the vertical!
frame, and vertical bearings attached to these
for keeping the shaft in hne. Great care must
be taken that this shaft is kept in perfect align-
ment.

If the total head exceeds forty feet a cheek-
valve must be used. For lower beads a foot-
valve is suitable. It is a good plan to use suc-
tion and discharge pipes one size larger than
the pump openings. A flared reducing fittii^
should be used to keep friction losses low.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the advantageB of electric power in irrigatio.

2. What is a gravity-sjatem in irrigation t

3. How is the water diatributed?

4. Degcribe the application of motor-driven pumpa.

5. How much water approximately is required for proper i

ligation under different conditions!

6. What type of pumps are beat adapted for irrigation!
T. How should the pumps be initalledt

CHAPTER XV

ELECTRIC STIMULATION OF
VEGETATION

The possibility of increasing crops by elec-
trical stimulation is a fascinating subject and
one which has occupied the attention of scien-
tists since it was discovered that seeds sub-
jected to electrical stimulation germinated, ear-
lier than untreated seeds. Tests have been
made at various experimental studios here and
abroad, showing that both electric illumination,
and currents passed through the soil, increase
the rapidity of growth and also improve crops.
The action of the electrical current in either
case seems to be somewhat analogous to that
of a tonic in the human Ixidy. The extent to
which the electric currents may be so utilised
will depend in each case upon the character of
the farm, the surrounding conditions and the
weather. The principal process by which elec-
trical energy forces the growth of vegetation

262 ELECTRICITY

consists in producing- ozone and nitrate com-
pounds and forcing tbem into the capillary tubes
of the plants, when the electrical energy passes
from a conductor to the ground.

Applying Electric Current, — The method of
applying electrical energy to force vegetation ia
in general accordance with the following sys-
tem. A netting or a system of copper wire is
supported over the area under cultivation, from
poles about 10 feet high driven into the ground
at regular intervals. To insure good results,
small barbs are woven into the net or copper
wire with points projecting downwards. One
of the feed-wires from the machine furnishing
the electrical energy is connected to the net or
overhead wires ; the other is connected to a con-
ductor imbedded in the earth below the overhead
net.

When the machine is put in action, an electri-
cal current goes over the not and then passes
out of the barbed points through the air into
the ground. In passing through the air, the
current causes ozone and nitrous compounds in
gaseous state to be formed which are carried
into the ground. The current passes through.

r STIMULATION OF VEGETATION 263
the soil and back to the earth conductor. Being
an alternating current, the reverse action then
takes place, the current flowing from the earth
conductor to the net overhead. In doing so, the

Itdiemical compounds formed on the previous
passage, are now forced up into the capillary-
system of the plants and into the sap of the
plant. This action corresponds to a tonic and
iinereases the growth of the stems, leaves, buds,
letc. The quality of the plant itself is improved.
This action of passing into and out of the
system completes or makes what is known as a
cycle. The frequency or rapidity with which
these changes take place must be very high, 500
to 600 per second ; and the pressure of the cur-
rent must be from 200,000 to 250,000 volts. A
r large machine does not necessarily mean a large
I amount of energy, for it is possible to combine
L a number of small parts to form a compact yet
Lpowerful machine, suitable for the purpose.

Another system is that of putting up arc-

I lamps Iq the region cultivated, thus furnishing

I artificial sunlight, and bringing plants to ma-

Iturity in less time than without the lamps.

What has been done in this branch of the en-

ELECTRICITY

gineering art, has principally been in European
countries. The results show that electric en-
ergy does have an advantageous influence oa
vegetation, but as yet it has not reached th^
stage of commercial availability. To cite
prominent experiment of what has been don
with electrical air-current, that conducted b;
Dr. Pringsheim in the fields near Breslau, GeB
many, in the summer of 1902, is of note.

The experimental field covered about 1200 sq. ft. The n
chine used was driven by a motor fed from a Btcraga batter
and the reBUltH in per cent, of the effect of the influence up^
the increased growth of the plana under experiment wei*
Strawberries 50; carrots 13; potatoes averaging 21; barl<
averaging 10; oats averaging 22.

Experiments conducted in Burham, England, proved tlii
the conditions of the air and soil affect the action of eleoti;
influence in vegetation very greatly. The presence of moiBtnj
plays an important part; a we 11- watered field geemin)
have, in the majority of caaea, an advantage over one
little or no water. For a number of difi'erent plamta,
watered ground, the percentage of crop increase was for auga
potatoes 31; rye grass 12D; while for unwaterad

ground the increase was 40, 49, 65 and S7 respectively. TlM
t«sts were conducted at the same time so that weather condE
tions were alike for each test.

Recent Progress. — In recent times the aub^
ject of conservation of natural resources hai
been sharply forced upon the attention of thi
nablic, and of scientists, and investigators a

(STIMULATION OF VEGETATION 265
^he Department of Agriculture have been carry-
ing on experiments to determine how best to in-
«rease the output of the farm. Engineers and

K^ndents have carefully analysed the practieabil-
BSty of electric forcing with the result that its
S^great advantages have been generally recog-
Lsed.

In The Electrical Revietv and Western Elec-
kicitm, of November 11, 1911, F. L. Cook in an

266 ELECTEICITY

article on "The Growth of Plants by Means of
Electricity," reported:

"A KTiea of invefltigations ha.3 just been completed in oM
of the krge greenbouses of a suburb of the city of Chica^
which should prove of great import to those lotereHted ia
the development of the soil and its producte. This work i«
being carried on hy Richard Gloede, a prominent landscape
gardener of Evanaton. His building is fitted with every faoit
it; for malcing accurate end reliable teats aa to the actiml
of growing plants under the stimulua of electricity." . . .

"The distritmtion of the electricity on this experimental acre'
is by means of a network of wires 2 ft. to 3 ft. apart mounted
at a height of about S ft. above the ground. On this plot wen
planted a great variety of vegetables, including Indian corn,
popcorn, feimatoea, cantaloupes, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuo^
radishes, onions, peppers, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, etck
Although planted late, these vegetables came through a Hev«TS
drought much better than similar unelect rifled plant*
and reached maturity in a period much less than the
usual time. The current was turned on the plot only
from two to sit hours daily, morning and evening, durii^
hot, dry weather, although for longer periods when the ait-
was moist. The energy consumption was almost negligible,
it appears, for, although no indicating instruments were useda,
the electricity bills averaged only $2 to $3 per month during
the treatment of the acre.

"As an example of the superior growing power of planta'
when subject to electrification, even newly laid sod aloDf
pathways through the acre plot was found to thrive and grov
green, while the old rooted grass at other parts of the grounda!
was burned badly by drought."

Sir Oliver Lodge has recently contributed,
important advances to the science of electrie.
stimulation of vegetation, and it is now recog^

[STIMULATION OF VEGETATION 267
ed commercially. The cost of an installa-
"non sufficient to cover 300 acres is about $7,500.
The action has the same effect as sunshine.

k Plants are always taking electricity from the
ssir and the apparatus only supplies them with
Snore. It is worked from spring until the end
of summer.

The use of electric current for stimulation of
r plant growth promises to be highly profitable
f l)oth for the farmer and for the central station,
las surplus electricity can be sold for the pur-
lose at a very low rate, as such usage enables
[the establishment of a uniform load factor
ihronghout the day.

Air Nitrate. — Of the great triumphs of mod-
'fim electric-cliemistry, the reduction of the ni-
1 trogen of the air to a commercial product, the
^ creation of a fertiliser for the field out of the
air that blows across it, is one of the most no-
table that has ever been achieved. It is far
r reaching in effect and appeals to the imagina-
p-iioii as few discoveries have ever done.

The great value of the discovery is realised

flmt little by the general public; but it may be

mderstood when the fact is known that the

268 ELECTEICITY

natural supply of nitrate, or saltpetre, is near
the point of exhaustion. Nitric acid is one of
the fundamentals in the arts, and nitrate la the
principal fertiliser of the world, while salt-
petre is an indispensable element of explosivea.
Besides these, there are a great number of im-
portant uses of nitrate, such as in the form of
ammonia, etc., and a synthetic source of supply
is therefore of enormous importance.

The Problem of Fertilising. — One of thtt
greatest problems of the present time is to in-
crease the fertility of the soU. The growing-
crops are constantly extracting from the soil
three chemical substances, nitrogen, potassiuMj.
and phosphoric acid, and it is necessary that'
they should be replaced in a form available for"
plant life. The nitrate thus far fed to the aoU
has come entirely from manures or of late years
from deposits of nitrate of soda taken from
South America, and from sulphate of ammonia
recovered as a by-product when coal-g
made. The output of Chili saltpetre, or nitrate
of soda, is at the rate of 1,500,000 tons per ail*
num, and it has doubled in the last fifteen yeara,l
while 500,000 tons of sulphate of ammonia ar^

STIMULATION OF VEGETATION 269

3)roduced annually. Owing to its iiigh cost and
. scarcity, the demand is very miicli less than
' would be the case for a cheaper fertiliser.

What the proper urn of a fertiliser meana may be seen by
w, comparison of American yielde on recently virgin soil with
German yields on a soil under cultivation for centuries before
America was discovered. Germany averages 31J bnshels of
wheat per acre to 13 in America, rye 20 to 10, oata 51 to 25,
and potatoes 15S to 83, I£ American farmers should increase
their yields to tlie German averages, it would mean a doubling
of the gross output of our products. Yet Germany waa for-
merly bat little if any in advance of America. The intelli-
gent selection of seed and free use of fertilisers has made the
, change. As much as 2650 pounds of potaab salts and manure
are used per acre in Germany on cultivated lands, while but
311 pounds are used in the United States. The German
fanner practically uses his land as a, mechanism for trans-
forming fertiliser into products.

Importance of Air Nitrate. — The production
of nitrates from the air assures inexhaustible
supplies of a highly necessary substance, since
the air contains about 80 per cent, of nitrogen ;
and in addition it affords a means of more com-
pletely utilising our waterpowers by transform-
ing their surplus energy into soil fertility.

The original inventor of the electro-chemical

irocess for manufacturing nitrate fertilisers

mnd other chemical jjroductions from the air

j^aa Professor Birkeland, a Norwegian. After

270 ELECTEICITY

Professor Birkeland had made his discovery,
some nine or ten years ago, he associated him-
self with Mr. S. Eyde, an experienced engineer.
They organised a stock-company, with a capi-
tal of $134,000 and huilt their first plant at
Notodden, in Telemarken, some 70 miles from
Christiania,

The process, briefly stated, is to pass air
through an enormous electrical flame, of about
75 inches width, which heats the air to 3000 de-
grees Celsius, and the gases are then cooled and
passed over lime in water, resulting in calcium
nitrate, which is sold in granular form like salt

The company later consolidated with a Ger-
man concern, which bad added improvements,
and there are now several branch companies,
with a capital of over $16,000,000 whose annual
production will soon reach 80,000 tons.

Two German chemists, Adolph Frank and
Nikodemus Caro, of the technical staff of the
Siemens- Halske Co., a great electrical firm, have
discovered an entirely different process of ex-
tracting nitrate from the air. They eomhine.
coke and lime at 3000 degrees Centigrade, re-
sulting in a substance that has a great affinity

STIMULATION OF VEGETATION 271

for nitrogen, and draws it directly from the air.
This is known as the cyanamid process and is a
strong competitor of the Birkeland-Eyde proc-
ess. Cyanamid sells at $55 to $60 a ton at
present. Tests by 37 governmental stations in
Europe show its superior value to Chili salt-
petre as a fertiliser. It is also easier to handle
in its commercial form, being less liable to
liquify or to cake. Six companies are aJready
manufacturing it in Europe, turning out 167,-
000 tons annually, and other companies are be-
ginning. A plant has been erected on the Cana-
dian side of Niagara Falls, and others are pro-
jected in Japan, Mexico and elsewhere.

An American Waste of Opportunity. — The
United States has $70,000,000 invested in fertil-
iser factories of various kinds. Chilian salt-
petre to the value of $75,000,000 annually, at
2Y2 times its former price, is exported by Chili,
$15,000,000 worth of which comes to the United
States. While, with almost criminal careless-
ness, we disregard our own resources, and allow
phosphate rock to be exported in large quanti-
ties, our imports of fertiliser of various kinds
are $17,000,000 in excess of our exports annu-

272

ELECTRICITY

ally. The whole of this amount could be savei
by the erection of hydroelectric plants to utilise^
our vast wasted waterijower and to manufac-|
ture air nitrates.

:b of a DDrurj', ah(

The opportunity of the United States in t
respect is unusual, since we have 30,000,000 hp;
in waterpower running to waste. If properljj
utilised by means of storage, economically eoi^
structed and properly designed plants, foUoftl

STIMULATION OF VEGETATION 273

ing the latest European practice, this would
amount to from 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 horse-
power. A steam horsepower per year costs
$20, so that a waste of power of $4,000,000,000
_ is occurring annually.

Promotion of the Air Nitrate Industry. —

C?he manufacture of air nitrate is of course an

[exacting engineering and manufacturing prop-

jdeition. It has been neglected in the United

ptates through the demands of other manufac-

ires for capital. Large land owners and

\ in agricultural regions should co-oper-

ft&te and advance the capital necessary for such

udertakings. They would not only profit di-

I'rectly in the manufacture of air nitrate, but

fwould have the further benefit of greatly in-

sreased yields and profits from the land of their

Efegions. The farmer should help himself in

1 respect and not wait on the slow progress

I the distant city banker.

QUESTIONS

1. What are tlie principles of electrical!; stimulating vege-

tation T

2. How is the electric current applied?

S. How can the growth of vegetation be stimulated by means
of eloctric lighta!

274 ELECTEICITY

4. Describe the experiments of Dr. Pringsheim.

5. Describe the experiment conducted at Burham, Eng.

6. What is the yield per acre on German farms as compared

with American farms?

7. How much potash-salts is used on German farms as com-

pared with American farms?

8. What is air nitrate?

9. Describe the Birkeland-Eyde process.

10. Describe the Frank-Garo process.

11. How would the manufacture of air-nitrates affect farm

products?

INDEX

Horsepower required for vo- Potatoee, utilisation of, 122-

riouB industries, 103 129

Hydroelectric generation, 42- Pulleys, rules for estimating.

Ironing clotbea with, electric

flatirons, 19fl
Irrigation by electric flat-

Lamps, arc, 214 ; incandes-
cent, 212-214: 2ie-2Zl
Lighting, electric, 210-224

Mazda (tungsten) lamp, 21G-

221
Meals, electric devices for

preparing, 104, 1!)Q
Meat, griodiDg and stuffing

machines for, 114
Milking maohines, electric,

108-173
Milling by electric power, 116
Motors, electric, convenience

of, 14, 88; economy of, 89-

05; operation of, 96; port-
able, 102

Oxygen, qualities of, 180-184
Ozone, qualities of, 179, 183
Ozonisers, electric, 1TB-I34

Petroleum engines, G9
Plant growth, electric stimu-
lation of, 261-268
Ploughing, electric, 18, 150-

Railroada, electric, on farms,

147
Refrigerating plants on

farms, 135-140, 182
Hoot-cutter, electric, 115

Starch as a by-product, 121
Steam-power generation of

electricity, 68-64
Storage batteries, function

and service of, 75-80
Sugar, as a by-product, 121

Technical knowledge, im-
portance of, 7

Telephones, rural, advantages
of, 225-244; construction
of, 231-244

Threshing by electric power,
107

Transportation of farm-prod-
ucts, 141-149

Tree-felling by the friction-
wire, 186-189; by electric
sawing, 184

Trucks, electric, utilities of,
144

Tungsten lamp, the, 210-221

Vacuum-cleaning by electric
power, 110, 173

Washing machines, electric,

113
Water, heating of by eleotrio-

itj, 202

INDEX

279

Waterpower, availability of,
42, 46

Water supply, domestic, un-
der electric control, 165-168

Water-wheels, proper form of,
43

Windmills as a source of elec-
tric energy, 11, 71; con-
struction and management
of, 71-76

FRANK KOESTER

Consulting Engineer

Eleetrieal'Civil-Mechanical

Investigation, Inspection, Re-
ports, Specifications, Plans,
Construction, Supervision, Eval-
uation and Operation.

HUDSON TERMINAL BLDG..
New York, N. Y.

For Books by the same Author
see following pages.

aVTHg SAME AUTHOR

xTydroelectric Developments
ana Engineering

FRANK KOESTER

Forty Per Cent, of this Information
Pertama to European Practice

Adoptea a« Text by LeaJin^ XJmyernbta

SOME OPINIONS.

"This nork dealin; niih a aubiect ot grest iniereBt to engl-

is evidently wall scquninted with both the principles and prac-
tice ot Ibis important brancli o( eogineeilng. Tba plan of lbs

grouped aa lo affnrd a clear, logical eipoaition of tbe whole." —
The School of Ifine* Guorterlv, Columbia VnivertUy, Sew Yori.

"Mr. Eoester baa made an eibai
of the past 15 to SO feara la the g

volume. What

1. ■welMi

The

laity of a

■ical ITorW, New Tork.

m ia Btrouely being drawn toward
mr in the conaorvation of nalional
haa not only givea

uctire types in modern practice.

I lacid and entertaining manner

a bdiA Is timely. The aithor

but be has written (be book ii

Jileratare." — Indicator. Stevint Inetitule o/ Technolon, Bo-
boken. S. J,

BV TKB 9AMB AUTHOS

Steam-Electric Po^a^er Plants

FRANK KOESTER

Caiuultlntf Euginetr

S I II INCHES 473 PAGES

$5.00 NET 50O ILLUS,

RccommeitJcd by TecUfcal JoumiU
to Experts mud Advanced Engineers

AJopteJ as Text by Leacling Univeraitiea

SOME OPIHIONS.

H H BupplleH Ibe coDBulting engineer, bb heU as conlTBCtorB
nnd msnufaclurers. with complete nn'd CDrnprBhenBiTe infonnD-
tiou OB lo the desiED, cunBtraction and operation of Blesni-
elBctric power plants. Ur. Koester hai an Internitional repa-
IitioD in the eneineering profeaiian. and ihe manner in whicb
the whole subject hal been treated by bim, embracing the entire
field, from the eoai pile to the bas-barB, ia folly up to his high
Btandard." — Elcetrieal Btviete. Htw lork.

"Tbe antbor resUj' does more tbsn carry his immediate ob-

uaetnl. Tbe treaUneat al the subject is BjBtemstic." — Bnaiaetr-

"It would be 'difflcnlt to mention any detail that It not
touched upon and ita r ' '" ' " "

ehoBen with mature jud
Jorft,

"This hook will nndoabtfldly take a high place amoDg the

exceptienai experience, such as falls to the lot of a eery hw
engineers, Bud the biOftd-minde'd aod liberal manuBr In which

ing. It ia set out from the beginning that oD herd and fast
rules can be prescribed for power plant designs, Bs hardly any

It ia to be highly cDnimended. not only W Chose engaee'd >b tha
design of powfer planls, but to tboae engaged in Ihelr operation."
— Tht Eleetrinian, Lmdm.

The Price of Inefficiency

FRANK KOESTER

OCTAVO

S2.00 NET

rodDcKoa; The

CLOTH
BOUND

3 OP OONTENTa.

Itian: Our Foliticsl SfBtem; Adminu-

i CouEffi

oE I

Lita; Br-Producla at loefficieacy; Priyate Moaopolj-; Qorern-
meuUI Soeialiem; GoveitneDtsI Socialism tu Germanr; Municipal
SDcialism; Conuniegioa GoTernment: IndDBtrisi Handicap!, I;
Industrial Handicap!, II; How to Supplant Iha Trost!; Buat-
neaa is Busines!; Stimulating Progre!!; Undeveloped Resonnw*;
Tfae Problem of ImmiEration; Tbe Bigbt to Woik; Social Insui-
Bace; Tom, Dick and Harry; Cnttine Out Ihe MiddleQSii ; Pub-
lic Weliare; Domestic RelaliDnii Educational Syetema: Tbe

Thi! book lays bar
arnmenlal or non-Qov

analj!ii

and !

.rtling

nental, and largely responsible tor UlB
high cost of living and olber barsb condilioas. It stands sJio
for specific temedies for the Btaggaring cost, admitledly amount-
ing to millions annually, of avoidable waste. Tbe author, an
engineer of inlemational reputation, and now an American
citiiea, writes, not as aa outsider, but as one who has cait in

Gcienlist and Ihe philosophical breadth of the thinker. Compari-
sons with the methods and reBuIt! of other coaDtrios give tores
and painl to both hi! con!trae(iTe and deitiuetive critip'im.

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Electricity for the Farm and Home"

See other formats