U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS— BULLETIN NO. 146. A. C. TRUE, Director. CURRENT WHEELS THEIR USE IN LIFTING WATER FOR IRRIGATION. JEPT. DRY PREPARED IN THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS, IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1904. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS ON IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE. Note. — For those publications to which a price is affixed application should be made to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C, the officer designated by law to sell Government publications. Publications marked with an asterisk (*) are not available for distribution. *Bul. 36. Notes on Irrigation in Connecticut and New Jersey. By C. S. Phelps and E. B. Voorhees. Pp. 64. Price, 10 cents. Bui. 58. Water Rights on the Missouri River and its Tributaries. By ElwoodMead. Pp. 80. Price, 10 cents. Bui. 60. Abstract of Laws for Acquiring Titles to Water from the Missouri River and its Tributaries, with the Legal Forms in Use. Compiled by El wood Mead. Pp. 77. Price, 10 cents. Bui. 70. Water-Right Problems of Bear River. By Clarence T. Johnston and Joseph A. Breckons. Pp. 40. Price, 15 cents. Bui. 73. Irrigation in the Rocky Mountain States. By J. C. Ulrich. Pp.64. Price, 10 cents. Bui. 81. The Use of Water in Irrigation in Wyoming. By B. C. Buff urn. Pp. 56. Price, 10 cents. *Bul. 86. The Use of Water in Irrigation. Report of investigations made in 1899, under the supervision of Elwood Mead, expert in charge, and C. T. Johnston, assistant. Pp.253. Price, 30 cents. Bui. 87. Irrigation in New Jersey. By Edward B. Voorhees. Pp.40. Price, 5 cents. *Bul. 90. Irrigation in Hawaii. By Walter Maxwell. Pp. 48. Price, 10 cents. Bui. 92. The Reservoir System of the Cache la Poudre Valley. By E. S. Nettleton. Pp. 48. Price, 15 cents. Bui. 96. Irrigation Laws of the Northwest Territories of Canada and of Wyoming, with Discussions by J. S. Dennis, Fred Bond, and J. M. Wilson. Pp. 90. Price, 10 cents. Bui. 100. Report of Irrigation Investigations in California, under the direction of Elwood Mead, assisted by William E. Smythe, Marsden Manson, J. M. Wilson, Charles D. Marx, Frank Soule, C. E. Grunsky, Edward M. Boggs, and James D. Schuyler. Pp. 411. Price, cloth, $1.25; paper, 90 cents. *Bul. 104. The Use of Water in Irrigation. Report of investigations made in 1900, under the supervision of Elwood Mead, expert in charge, and C. T. Johnston, assistant. Pp. 334. Price, 50 cents. Bui. 105. Irrigation in the United States. Testimony of Elwood Mead, irrigation expert in charge, before the United States Industrial Commission June 11 and 12, 1901. Pp. 47. Price, 15 cents. Bui. 108. Irrigation Practice among Fruit Growers on the Pacific Coast. By E. J. Wickson. Pp. 54. Price, 15 cents. Bui. 113. Irrigation of Rice in the United States. By Frank Bond and George II. Keeney. Pp. 77. Price, 30 cents. Bui. 118. Irrigation from Big Thompson River. By John E. Field. Pp.75. Price, 10 cents. *Bul. 119. Report of Irrigation Investigations for 1901, under the direction of Elwood Mead, chief. Pp.401. Price, 50 cents. [Continued on third page of cover.] i 1 706 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS— BULLETIN NO. 146. A. C. TRUE, Director. CURRENT AVHEELS: THEIR USE IN LIFTING WATER FOR IRRIGATION. PREPARED IN THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1904. OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. A. C. True, Ph. D., Director. E. W. Allen, Ph. D., Assistant Director. IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. Elwood Mead, Chief. R. P. Teele, Editorial Assistant. C. E. Tait, Assistant, in Charge of Central District. Sam tel Fortier, Irrigation Engineer, in Charge of Pacific District. C. G. Elliott, Engineer, in Charge of Drainage Investigations. 2 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations. Washington, I). 0., May 10, 190 % Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a report on the use of current wheels for raising water for irrigation, and to recommend its publication as a bulletin of this Office. Very respectfully, A. C. True, Director. Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of AgricuLtun . 3 LETTER OF SUBMITTAL U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, Washington, I). e found at the end of the bulletin. velocity, the water discharged has one-half of the energy of the water striking the paddles. Hence one-half of the energy is lost, and the efficiency of the wheel is 50 per cent. Similar reasoning will show that in the wheel marked (A). tin 1 paddles of which slant upstream 30 degrees from vertical, the water is discharged with an absolute velocity one-half as great as the enter- ing velocity, giving an efficiency of 7~> per cent. At [c) the blades slant 4.'» degrees from vertical, giving an efficiency of 85 percent. At ('Z)the paddle- are set 60 degrees from vertical, giving an efficiency of 93 per cent. At (< > the paddles are supposed to discharge the water in a direction directly opposite to the wheel's motion, so that it leaves the wheel with no absolute velocity whatever. In that case the efficiency would he loo per cent. PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. Certain practical considerations, however, of which no account is taken in the above theoretical discussion, prevent the adoption of several of the forms of wheel shown in figure 1. First, the loss by ••impact." or the churning and eddying of water, is very great when the water strikes flat on a paddle, as at (a). At (//) the eddy formed in the sharp angle between the paddle and the rim is equally wasteful. It is impossible to avoid impact altogether in any water wheel, but it is least detrimental in a wheel like the one shown at (f) in which the paddles are curved. The intention is that the water shall strike the blades nearly at a tangent, and slide smoothly up them, coming to rest near the top. In sliding out. the reaction is in line with the motion of the wheel, and the absolute velocity of the tail-water is very low. A wheel of this design has reached a working efficiency of 68 to 75 per rent which i<- about twice the efficiency usually obtainable in a wheel with straight paddles. Impact is seen to be a leading factor in reducing the efficiency of wheels. In all carefully built wheels where the water is run under the wheel through a Hume, it is necessary to provide ample waste way for the tail-water. The fall in the tailrace below the wheel i» ^i course light. so as to get the greatest possible fall above; but it must be great enough to make the tail-water Mow away without checking the wheel. In order to avoid unnecessary churning of the water, it is advisable to have not less than 1:2 paddles, in order that at least two may at all times be in the water. In the case of a large wheel set in a flume, more paddles should be provided to avoid the necessary loss between the flume and the paddles. They should dip into the water not more than one-tenth of the diameter of the wheel, for if they dip too deep, the pre— ure of the water i- not applied tangent to the wheel, but at a "Frizell — Water Power. .">. 10 less advantageous angle, and there is also a tendency to throw water on the lower side. When a wheel is placed in a flume, it is always well where possible to run the water under a gate, making the paddles somewhat wider than the depth of the water. As a matter of practice, the form of paddles shown in figure 1 (e) is entirely impracticable. The water discharged with no velocity would be in the way of the next paddle and the loss by impact and backwater would be so large as to make the wheel worthless. For wheels with straight paddles, the form shown in figure 1 (b) is found to be most satisfactory. In this case the paddles leave the water vertically with no tendency to splash water. Perhaps the most effective easy con- struction out of flat boards is the one shown in figure 11, page 30, where the paddle bends at an angle. In this case the usual stiff rim may be omitted. EXAMPLES OF WHEELS IN ACTUAL USE. The foregoing considerations apply in general to all current wheels. in the descriptions of wheels in actual use, attention will be given to many points in their design and to constructive details, in the esti- mates of the cost of materials, lumber is put in at $25 per thousand and hardware at about 100 per cent above wholesale prices. The weight of wheels is computed on the basis of 1 pounds per board foot for lumber and 150 pounds per cubic foot for ironwork. WHEELS ON THE SOUTH PLATTE AT DENVER. In the Farmers and Gardeners' Ditch from the South Platte River at Denver, Colo., are four wheels of the design shown in fig. 1, and in Plate I, fig. 1. Each is 1 feet in diameter and raises water 3 feet for tbe irrigation of 5 acres in vegetables. The shaft is of li-inch iron pipe and works in wooden bearings. Two rows of 1 by 2 inch wooden spokes are placed 3 feet apart on the shaft. Stiff circular rims of i by 6* inch material connect the ends of the spokes, forming a ri ^id wheel for the support of the paddles. There are 18 paddles of J-inch boards 6 inches wide and 1 feet in length. The paddles extend 1 foot beyond the row of spokes at one end, where the buckets are swung between them. These projecting ends are braced by a third stiff rim which furnishes a bearing for the buckets. These are half-cylindrical in shape, being made of tin tacked onto round pieces of wood which form the ends. They are swung on pins of heavy wire run through the centers of the end pieces. Being free to turn on the pins, the buckets will always hang right side up unless forcibly turned over. In this case the} T are turned over when the}^ reach the top of the wheel by a slender stick placed so as to strike each bucket in turn. A piece of rubber hose covers the end of the stick, which springs down enough 11 to let the bucket roll over it without checking the motion of the wheel. Each of the 18 buckets holds 0.01 cubic foot, so that at each revolution the wheel raises 0.72 cubic foot. Turning" once in 3^ seconds, the wheel raises about 0.2 cubic foot per second. No attempt is made to confine the water of the ditch to a flume so as to bring- it all into action on the wheel. These wheels are well constructed and are said to have cost * % 27 each. Most of the expense appears to have been for labor, since the amount of material required is so small. The plan calls for 12 board feet of Lumber, 5 feet of pipe for the shaft, Si pounds of tin (D C), and 5 pounds of No. 1 wire. At fair retail prices the cost for material is $3.15. This estimate is exclusive of the supporting posts and the flume for carrying away the water. These wheels successfully water the gardens for which they were built and so entirely fultil the purpose of the gardeners who put them in. With a little change in design, however, a wheel of this pattern could be made to raise twice as much water as these raise at present. In the first place, the wheel revolves almost as fast as the water that turns it, so that the water which strikes the paddles exerts about one- third of its power. The remedy is to increase the size of the buckets until the rim of the wheel moves about half as fast as the water. Another improvement which would increase the capacity of the wheel would be to slant the paddles about 30 degrees upstream, or. better still, a slanting board could be added to each paddle, so as to form an angle opening upstream. Of the total available power in the stream, the wheel observed used 20 per cent in "useful work/* By running all the water through a flume 4-i feet wide and changing the design as suggested the amount of water raised would be largely increased. For $10 a permanent flume of 2-inch material with a substantial apron and wings could be built. Another wheel in the same ditch is built on the same general plan, except the buckets are fixed rigidly in the rim. It is of less expensive construction, however, being framed from two buggy wheels with their rims removed placed 3 feet apart on a shaft. The paddles, of J-inch boards 6 inches wide, are nailed to the spokes. As before, rows of braces between the paddles form three stitf rims. The buckets are formed by nailing sheets of tin to the inside and outside edges of the paddles so that the two rims form the ends and the paddles form the bottoms. The sheet of tin on the inside is cut narrower than the one on the outside. But for the fact that when the wheel is in motion the water tends to fly away from the center, nearly all the water would spill from these buckets before reaching the flume. For this reason a rather high velocity is necessary to make this wheel work well. 12 The cost of the wheel was given as $1.85, which is probably the cost of the shaft, tin, and nails. It was built by the gardener who uses it. It contains almost exactly the same amount of material as the wheel first described and, granted an indefinite supply of old buggy wheels, could be built for about half as much. But it can not be made to raise the water quite so high, and, on account of spilling the water, is much less efficient than the first type. Its efficiency could be increased by slanting the blades, but not by increasing the load; because a high veloeitjr is essential. Each of these five wheels irrigates 5 acres in market gardens, an annual tax of $5 being paid to the ditch company by each gardener. The ditch has a very constant flow, so that there is always water enough to run the wheels. Since the water level changes so little, no device for raising and lowering these wheels is used. A BIG WHEEL IN GRAND RIVER VALLEY, COLORADO. A wheel in operation on the Grand Valley Canal, in Colorado, raises water 30 feet for the irrigation of 40 acres of orchard. The wheel is 31 feet in diameter, the paddles being 8 feet long and 2 feet 8 inches wide. The spokes are secured at the center by means of castings and are set at such an angle to the shaft that they come to a point on the rim of the wheel (fig. 2). To provide sufficient rigidity, a sys- tem of braces is adopted, making a very substantial construction. Braces are also run from paddle to paddle and between the arms of the wheel, so as to form a system of six or eight circular rims. The buckets consist of long boxes made of 1-inch stuff, set at such an angle on the rim of the wheel that they will fill nearly full and raise the water within 2 feet of the top of the wheel. One interesting feature of this wheel is the method tried for adjust- ing it to the stage of water. The plan was to counterpoise the weight of the wheel, balancing it on two heavy supporting timbers. The adjustment was to be accomplished by means of a windlass, but, owing to the unexpected increase of weight which occurred when the wheel became water-soaked, the scheme was abandoned and the support was made rigid by additional braces. The training flume for directing the flow of the canal against the paddles of the wheel is of somewhat unusual construction (tig. 3). A flume with three channels was built in the canal, the wheel being set in the center; flashboards are inserted in the two side channels to con- trol the flow. The effort to prevent the interference of floating mat- ter with the action of the wheel, by means of a brush guard, as shown, is not altogether successful, owing to the fact that it checks the current to a considerable extent. The quantity of water raised by the wheel was measured when all 13 of the water was running through the center flume, and was found to be 0.30 cubic foot per second, which is the maximum capacity of the wheel. Under ordinary conditions, with the side channels open, it raised about 0.25 cubic foot per second. The wheel moved very unsteadily, being so heavily loaded that its motion was entirely checked each time a paddle entered the water, several seconds being required to back the water up to a sufficient extent to start the wheel. It turned over once in two minutes, having a rim velocity of about 25 per cent of the velocity of the water. The cost of the wheel, which was built in 181)5, was given as $400. It contains 1,750 feet of lumber and about 450 pounds of hardware, which together should cost not more than $90. The operating expenses are very low. The owner of the wheel is assessed by the ditch com- pany at twice the usual rate charged the other users, with the stipula- tion that the water in the canal must not be appreciably checked. The assessment is usually about $2 per inch (38.4 Colorado inches equal 1 cubic foot per second). CHEAP STRUCTURES IN WASHINGTON, UTAH, AND COLORADO. NEED OE ADJUSTMENT TO STAGE OE WATER. A 0-foot wheel located at North Yakima, Wash., is shown in tig. 5. It is heavily framed of eight 2 by 4 inch anus radiating from a 0-foot shaft of 5 by 5 inch stuff. The paddles are 1 foot w r ide and feet long, each carrying a 1-gallon tin can on either end. These cans are nailed to a beveled seat, which tips them enough so that they are full or nearly so when they leave the stream. But even allowing that the twelve cans discharge their full capacity, the efficiency of the wheel when observed was only 9 per cent. This low efficiency is due mainly to the faulty design of the paddles. They are so wide in proportion to the size of the wheel, and they dip so deep in the water that the wheel wastes its energy in churning the water, both as the paddles enter and as they leave the water. The advantage of balancing a wdieel of this size by placing buckets at both ends is probably too small to pay for the extra 11 inning required. This wheel is nearly twice as heavy as the one first described (page 10) and it requires three times as much water to run it, yet it raises less water. It is very substantial and requires little attention. It cost 818. As it contains only 80 feet of lumber, it could easily be repro- duced for less money, as its simple construction would require no special skill. Not being adjustable for high and low water, it runs to great advantage just when there is the best supply of water to operate it. 14 CHEAP AND EFFICIENT. Another wheel of the same design is small and well built, and, con- sidering that it runs in a current moving only 1 foot per second, is remarkably efficient. It has a simple and effective device for raising and lowering the bearings, which is shown in fig. 6. The buckets are all on one side and raise the water much higher than necessary to reach the flume. The wheel cost $13 and contains about 75 feet of lumber, ncluding the supports but not the flume. AN OLD WAGON HUB AS A BASIS. An ingenious wheel installed in a ditch near Morgan City, Utah, is shown in Plate I, fig. 2, and in fig. 7. It is built by inserting spokes of 1-inch material 3 feet long in an old wagon hub. The spokes are made rigid by two sets of braces. The paddles are 18 inches long and 8 inches wide, and the twelve buckets hold nearly 1 gallon each, being tilted slightly by wedge-shaped blocks placed beneath them. The shaft is supported on one side of the wheel only, being made fast to a tree at one end and resting on a post near the wheel. The wheel is but half the width of the ditch, a small gate closing the other half when the wheel is in use. This arrangement doubles the veloc- ity of the water when the gate is closed and affords a means of regu- lating the amount of water raised. The wheel irrigates one-fourth acre of garden, and could be made to serve a much larger tract. IRRIGATION FOR TWELVE ACRES OF ORCHARD. A very simple wheel is shown in fig. 20. It is 14 feet in diameter with paddles 9 feet long and 2 feet 8 inches wide. It raises water 10 feet. The shaft consists of a 11-foot length of If -inch gas pipe with four 2 by 8-inch pieces bolted around it for stiffness and to give a bearing for the arms. This gives the shaft alone a weight of over 300 pounds, or more than twice the weight of a 2-inch solid steel shaft the same length. The construction calls for 328 feet of lumber, but it could be built very much lighter without reducing its capacity. Its cost is given as $35. The lumber could be purchased for $8.50 and the galvanized iron for $3.50, making the cost of materials about $15, allowing for the gas pipe and bolts. The wheel raises 0.11 cubic foot of water per second, irrigating 12 acres of orchard and garden. BUCKETS MADE OF OIL CANS. A somewhat larger wheel in a ditch in the Lower Natchez Valley, Washington, is shown in fig. 8. It is 11 feet in diameter, having paddles 9 feet long and 14 inches wide. It raises water 7 feet. Part of the buckets are made of galvanized iron and part are made by cut- U. S. Dept. of Age, Bui. 146, Office of Expt. Stations Irrigation Investigations. Plate Fig. 1.— Current Wheel, Farmers and Gardeners' Ditch, Colorado. Fig. 2.— Wheel near Morgan City, Utah, 15 tinu- 6 inches from the bottom of 5-gallon oil cans. The wheel alone contains 328 feet of lumber. The method of bracing- the arm is very effective. There are no data at hand for determining the efficiency. EFFECTIVE USE OF WAGON WHEEL AND AXLE. An example of extreme lightness of construction in a 15-foot wheel is shown in rig. 9, illustrating a wheel on the South Platte River near the mouth of Be^ar Creek, Colo. It is built entirely of 1-inch lumber and an old wagon wheel. The arms are of 1 by 8 inch boards, and are braced by boards of the same dimension about 2 feet from the outer ends. Baling wire connecting the outer ends of the arms helps to stiffen the wheel. The paddles are I feet long and 18 inches wide; the arms are not nailed in the centers of the paddles but a little toward one end, the longer parts of the boards serving to balance the buckets. The entire wheel contains about So feet of lumber and weighs scarcely 350 pounds. Its most interesting feature is the method of hanging it and adjust- ing it to different heights of water. The wagon hub fits on its origi- nal bearing, half of the old axle being bolted to a 10-inch beam about 20 feet long. This beam is suspended between two posts set near the wheel, by a chain wound on a drum. The other end is free to move vertically between two smaller posts set as guides. The weight of the 10-inch log balances the wheel, and it can be raised or lowered easily by one man. The velocity of the water was not measured, so it is not possible to get at the efficiency of this wheel. It raises 0.25 cubic foot per second 10 feet, which is live or six times the amount of work done by the small wheels of about the same weight. A CONTRAST IN COST OF TWO WASHINGTON WHEELS. A much larger wheel than any of the foregoing is shown in PL II, tig. 1, and in rig. 10. It is in operation on the Yakima River in Wash- ington. It is 26 feet in diameter, and the 16 paddles are 11 feet long and 21 inches wide. It raises water 22 feet. In a wheel of this size and weight great strain comes on the center fastenings of the spokes. The heavy shaft and large cast-iron " rosettes" used in this wheel, with the wedges driven in between the arms, make it a model for rigidity and strength. The buckets of galvanized iron are placed on the out- side of the rims and parallel to them, being beveled in such a way that they till about two-thirds full and begin to spill when about -1 feet from the top of the wheel. Wooden buckets are also used, made as shown in Fl. II, tig. 1. The device for raising the wheel is shown in rig. 10. Since the wheel weighs about 6,000 pounds it is evident that the lever will have to be rather long to make it possible for one man to adjust the wheel. 3168a— No. 14(3— 04 "J 16 The materials used in the wheel are about 1,250 feet of lumber. 120 pounds of flat iron for the ties, a shaft weighing 260 pounds, -1 iron rosettes weighing together 200 pounds, 20 pounds of 3-inch bolts, and say 100 pounds of galvanized iron. Allowing 10 cents a pound for the iron and 50 cents each (13 cents per pound) for the cans, the cost for materials is £106 for the wheel alone. The cost was given by the owner as $600, this amount including the pier, platform, and fluming. In putting in large wheels it will usually be found that the cost of the wheel itself is a smaller item than the cost of a single crib pier for mounting it. The two cribs for this wheel were placed on a sandy bottom and rest on piles. This large and expensive wheel irrigates but 15 acres of fruit and alfalfa, making a total cost of SlU an acre for water. This heavy cost shows first that the advantage of a swift current may be largely offset by great expense for piers, and it shows also the rapid increase in the cost of irrigation, as the elevation of a piece of land above the source of water increases. The cost of materials for this wheel, disregard- ing the mounting of it, was about 87 for each acre irrigated, while the materials for the wheels described in pages 9 and 10, which irrigated 5 acres each, cost a little more than $3, or say 70 cents per acre. In general, twice the height of lift means half as much water and usually four times as great cost for materials. Again, the annual repairs and cost of maintenance in the case of the small wheel were too small to reckon, while this large wheel requires 825 a year for maintenance and repairs, or nearly §1.70 per acre, So great is the disadvantage of a high lift that, unless the value of water for irrigation is very high, the building of large direct-lift wheels is not to be recommended. There are two large wheels in the Columbia River at Ellensburg, AVash., which discharge into one flume, both being the property of one man. Though of the crudest construction, they irrigate 1<» acres of land. Their chief claim to interest is their great size, one 111 and the other 30 feet in diameter, and extremely low cost, one having cost the builder in cash S10 and the other S7.5<». There is almost no iron- work about them, the only money paid out being for nails and the lighter lumber. The heavy parts are built of drift logs and odd tim- bers. This low cost, as estimated by the builder, shows the difficulty in estimating the probable cost of reproducing any certain style of wheel. The necessary expenditure depends very largely on the inge- nuity of the builder. The water is carried in two siphons under pres- sure to avoid a high flume. The upper flume was built on account of the great difficulty encountered in keeping the lower flume tight under a pressure of 30 feet. The pressure on the upper flume is about 12 feet. U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bui. 146, Offic e of Expt. Stations. Irrigation Investigations. PL ATE II. ■^fe " i i j ^ " w-Mmm i *am r22 ■— -=•&————— ri" : .. > ggj "-- •-': .. - MB Fig. 1.— Wheel on Yakima River, Washington. Fig. 2.— Wheel in Fancher Creek Nursery, Fresno, Cal. 17 DESIGN BY A MINING ENGINEER. The wheel shown in PI. II, fig. 2, and in fig. 11 is in use in Fresno, Oil., for the irrigation of about 12 acres of shade trees and oranges. It is patterned after a design by a mining engineer, and is in some respects an admirable and efficient type of current wheel. It is 16 I'cct in diameter, raising water 12 feet. The stiff heavy rims found in niosi wheels are entirely absent, and instead a series of braces is used which cross the arms and support the paddles. Each paddle is made of two 24-inch boards set at a wide angle with each other. As is shown in the drawing, the angle is such that the paddle leaves the water in a vertical position, with no tendency to throw water. The form of the buckets is also commendable. They are carefully designed to clear the bottom of the flume and the edge of the discharge trough, and to take in no more water than can be carried to the top without spilling. The entire construction requires 500 feet of lumber. The shaft is very heavy, 215 pounds, but not nearly so heavy as the two castings which, according to the drawing, must weigh 800 pounds each, making the entire wheel with the buckets weigh about 4,000 pounds. The wheel is substantial, but is unnecessarily heavy and expensive. Admitting the necessity of a rigid center fastening, a disk of J-inch boiler iron would serve nearly every purpose of the heavy casting. This wheel could be reproduced the same size but made with 1-inch and i-inch material, with an iron pipe for a shaft for less than half the cost. Under favorable conditions the Fresno wheel raises 0.5 cubic foot per second to a height of 12 feet. A lighter wheel would do more work. CONSTRUCTION FOR A SWIFT CURRENT IN IDAHO. The wheel shown in tig. 12 has been in use on Lost River, Idaho. It was built to raise water about 10 feet for the irrigation of 2.25 acres in garden and grain. It is II feet in diameter, with paddles (3 feet in length mounted on a shaft 18 feet long, spanning the stream. The shaft is an 8 by 8 inch square timber. For 6 inches near each end, it is turned round to form a bearing. The spokes are very substantial, being made of 2 by 6 inch material. Each paddle carries a 3-gallon pickle keg on one end. The kegs are set on a bevel, as shown in the figure. The device for raising and lowering the wheel is very simple, consisting of two uprights which support a pulle} 7 , beneath which a wooden bearing is hung by a f -inch rope. A piece of gas pipe is used as a windlass (tig. 13). When the wheel was built, it was set between two supports at a point where the river is about 10 feet w r ide, the supporting posts being driven into the bed of the stream at either side of the deeper current. 18 The swift current in the center of the stream turned the wheel very satisfactorily for a time, but owing to the soft nature of the bed, which at this point is composed of coarse gravel, during high water the current washed out a deep channel directly under the wheel and left it high and dry Avhen the flood subsided. To obviate this difficulty, the wheel is to be remounted between two crib piers at a point where the river channel at high water is only about 15 feet wide. In low water the channel is only about 10 feet wide, the current being about 5 feet per second. This narrow channel of the river is only a few years old, and although it appears to consist of a hard cemented gravel, still it is by no means certain that in the course of time the wheel may not again be left stranded above the current. Four hundred feet of lumber were used in building the wheel and 25 pounds of bolts, making the cost of materials about $12, not includ- ing the buckets. The heavy construction of the wheel would be unwise under most conditions; but in a current as swift as 5 feet per second in low water and much swifter when the water is high, any but the most substantial construction would prove unsatisfactory. The notching of the main arms where the} r cross at the center of the wheel weakens them seriously. Were this avoided by placing one set nearer the middle of the shaft, leaving space enough so that the rim of 1-inch boards could be nailed on the inside of one set and on the outside of the other, 2 b} r 1 inch material would be strong enough. While the 8 by 8 inch shaft would sustain a weight at the center of over 10,000 pounds, still it is none too heavy for the wheel weighing 1,600 pounds; since it is evident that the friction in the bearings is greatly increased by a comparatively slight bending of the shaft. The wheel raised sufficient water to irrigate the 2.25 acres in fort} 7 - eight hours, the water being applied four or five times in the season. It should then raise sufficient water for the successful irrigation of 40 acres using the water for one hundred and sixt\ T days. DIRECT-LIFT WHEELS IN IDAHO. In the Payette Valley, Idaho, are a dozen direct-lift wheels of the same general type shown in tig. 11. This large wheel is very carefully made, fitting into a flume with only 2 inches clearance. The construc- tion is shown in figs. 11, 15, 16, and 17. The crude method of raising and lowering the wheel contrasts with its excellent workmanship. At the end of the season it is laboriously raised out of the water by jacks and is blocked up till the opening of another season. While in use it remains at one height regardless of the stage of the water. In several ways the efficiency of this wheel could be raised. When the water is too high to run the wheel to advantage, part of it could be carried awa} T in a second flume, leaving just enough running under the wheel to give the greatest speed. Or, better still, a "stop" could U. S. Dept. of Agi., Bui. 146, Office of Expt Stations. Irrigation Investigations. Plate III. 19 bo placed in the ditch and the water run into the flume under a gate, giving- it great velocity. In a great many cases a "stop" or "drop" already existing in a ditch could be utilized to good advantage in this way. The cost of the wheel, flume, and supports was $150. For six years there were no repairs and no running expenses except for grease and for raising and lowering the wheel twice in a season. In the seventh year, 1903, repairs cost $ 50, mainly for a new shaft, and in subsequent years repairs will doubtless be required to the extent of $10 or $15 a year. Twenty-five acres in alfalfa and fruit are irrigated by this wheel, the value of the crops raised being estimated at $2,337 annually. WHEELS FOR RUNNING PUMPS. A wheel operating a rotaiy pump is shown in Plate III. It is in use in the Yakima River, near Prosser, Wash. It is homemade, but a fine example of a cheap, serviceable wheel. Being suspended between two heav} r timbers anchored in the banks, no expensive pier is required. The wheel is 11 feet in diameter and 17.5 feet long. The paddles are 2 feet wide of 1-inch stuff. The whole wheel is easily raised and low- ered by one man by means of double pulleys and a windlass with long spokes, seen to the left of the center of the picture. The main driving pulle} T is nailed to the spokes of the wheel, and is 7 feet in diameter. A H-inch rope runs over this pulley, carrying the power to a 28-inch pulley on a countershaft. The driver on the countershaft is 10 feet in diameter and is connected by a 1-inch rope to a pulley at the pump, which can be adjusted from 11 inches to a larger size, as speed requires. The pump shaft revolves 32 times to each revolution of the water wheel. The pump raises water 48 feet, and at full speed discharges one-third of a cubic foot per second. When the river is low, much less is pumped. The cost of the wheel was $10 to $50 for materials, or, counting the owner's time in construction, say $70 to $75. Of this cost $20 was for a steel shaft. The cost of the pump was not given, but was probably $75 to $85. The entire plant may have cost $200. It successfully irrigates 18 acres in fruit and alfalfa, the land being valued at $20 per acre. The annual expense for rope, oil, and repairs is nearly $20. h\ the lower Payette Ditch, in Idaho, are eight wheels, used to run pumps. One of these plants is here described as an example of a well- built and expensive outfit, which is, however, eminently successful. The plan and construction of the wheel are shown in figures 18 and 19. The wheel is connected by chain and sprocket to a 3-piston, 5-inch pump, which forces the water through 1,800 feet of If -inch pipe to the upper side of the owner's ranch, 30 feet above the canal. The pump has three parallel pistons connected to eccentrics on the same 20 shaft, so arranged that each piston in turn conies into action. The cost of the plant was as follows: 5-inch triple action pump (165 3-inch steel shaft, 18 feet long 85 3 cast-in >n flanges, 3 feet diameter 30 2 boxings for main shaft 8 ( last-iron spr* icket, gear wheels, and chains 115 Lumber GO 1,800 feet of 4f-inch galvanized-iron pipe 274 Labor 50 Total 737 Of this Cost only about $120 is for the wheel. No attention other than daily oiling is required. As the plant was put in in 1903, no repairs have as yet been necessary. The annual cost for maintenance should fall below $10. The amount of water raised is about 0.3 cubic foot per second, which is used to irrigate 27 acres in fruit. Water is applied 115 days, making the total depth of irrigation in the season almost exactly 8 feet. The orchard of 2,500 young trees — prunes, apples, and pears — should, when older, yield an annual crop worth $5,000. CHAIN-AND-BUCKET GEARS. A water elevator of the chain-and-bucket type is shown in Plate IV. It is run by a 5-foot overshot wheel of ordinary construction, but since it is equally adaptable to current wheels, it is of interest in their discussion. The elevator consists of two endless chains running over sprocket wheels, each chain eariying 12 galvanized-iron bucket.-, a- shown in the illustration. The lower >procket wheels are 32 inches in diameter, set on a 3 -inch shaft. The upper sprockets are 21 inches in diameter on a 14-inch shaft. The sprockets are set 18 inches apart and the distance between shafts is 20 feet. The cost of the outfit was given as about S250. Of this amount the chain cost $75 and the bucket- $20. Estimating the four sprocket wheels at $10 each, the two shafts at $12.50. and the four boxings at $1.5o each, the cost of the lifting apparatus without the wheel was about $115. The owner found No. 77 chain too light and recommended heavy gear throughout for the constant service required. A simple application of chain-and-bucket gear to current wheels is suggested in figure 21. The power is transmitted by a rope to one of the shafts — in thi> ease the lower one. This arrangement makes it easy to place the whole apparatus near the bank of a stream, or. if desired, the elevator could be placed at an}* convenient distance. L b Debt, of Agr., Bui. 146, Office of Expt. Stations. Irrigation Investigations. Plate IV. Chain and Bucket Operated by Overshot Wheel, Selah, Wash. 21 ITALIAN CURRENT WHEELS. Two wheels on opposite sides of the swift Adige River in Italy, just above the city of Yemna. are 'i" feet in height, raising water 40 feet. The construction is the lightest possible owing to scarcity of wood in that region, the spokes being light single poles braced by two sets of still tighter strips. The rim is a continuous wooden box divided into compartments, each with a sort of trap door which opens when enter- ing the water and closes of itself as it begins to rise. To this box or rim the paddles are fastened on either side, being nailed to cleats. They arc braced at the ends by slender sticks run through holes bored in the paddles and keyed or wedged in place. It is usual to arrange two wheels with a flume between them, though the advantage of this arrangement is not evident. A wing dam turns the current into a flume running under the wheel. A floating current wheel also in the Adige River, is used for oper- ating a ffrist mill. A typical modern current wheel in Milan. Italy, is used for power. The curved blades are made of sheet iron, the entire framework being of steel. The ^ater runs swiftly down a sluice striking only the tips of the blades. Owing to their curvature, it slides smoothly up the blades, comes to rest, and is discharged with very little veloc- ity. An offset in the tailrace just below the wheel provides ample waste way. 22 Fig. 1.— Diagrams of Current Wheels with Paddles Set at Various A ious Angles. 23 24 FLASH 80AR0S^ FLASH BOARDS 3_ Fig. 3.— Flume and Brush Guards for Wheel on Grand Valley Canal, Colorado. Fig. 4.— Wheel on Farmers and Gardeners' Ditch, Colorado. 25 Fig. 5.— Wheel at North Yakima, Wash. Fig. 6.— Lifting Device for Small Wheel. 26 — C-4 - PLA N ELEVATION Fig. 7.— Wheel near Morgan City, Utah. 27 28 29 30 31 Fig. 12.— Wheel on Lost River. Idaho. Fig. 13.— Lifting Device for Current Wheel on Lost River, Idaho. 31683— No. 146—04 3 - ■ff tt ^7 ^ * ft i i * * - a < 7 H .7 n I. -" ■:--.■' -' * "< 34 10 Cl 5 * k 8 fc tt , i.e — • i n I f .5 > v . / ' • t) 37 38 Fig. 20.— Wheel in Yakima Valley, Washington. Fig. 21.— Chain and Bucket Operated by Current Wheel. o LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS ON IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE-Continued. Bui. 124. Report of Irrigation Investigations in Utah, under the direction of Elwood Mead, chic 1 !', assisted by R. P. Teele, A. P. Stover, A. F. Doremus, J. D. Stannard, Frank Adams, and G. L. Swendsen. Pp. 336. Price, $1.10. Bui. 130. Egyptian Irrigation. By Clarence T. Johnston. Pp.100. Price, 30 cents. Bui. 131. Plans of Structures in use on Irrigation Canals in the United States, from drawings exhibited by the Office of Experiment Stations at Paris, in 1900, and at Buffalo, in 1901, prepared under the direction of Elwood Mead, chief. Pp. 51. Price, 60 cents. *Bul. 133. Report of Irrigation Investigations for 1902, under the direction of Elwood Mead, chief. Pp. 266. Price, 25 cents. Bui. 134. Storage of Water on Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers. By C. E. Tait. Pp. 100. Price, 10 cents. Bui. 140. Acquirement of Rights to Water in the Arkansas Valley, Colorado. By J. S. Greene. Pp. 83. Price, 5 cents. Bui. 144. Irrigation in Northern Italy. By Elwood Mead, chief. In press. Bui. 145. Preparing Land for Irrigation and Methods of Applying Water. Pre- pared under the direction of Elwood Mead, chief. In press. farmers' bulletins. Bui. 46. Irrigation in Humid Climates. By F. H. King. Pp. 27. Bui. 116. Irrigation in Fruit Growing. By E. J. Wickson. Pp. 48. Bui. 138. Irrigation in Field and Garden. By E. J. Wickson. Pp. 40. Bui. 158. How to Build Small Irrigation Ditches. By C. T. Johnston and J. D. Stannard. Pp. 28. UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA