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ELECTRICITY FOR THE FARM


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK. BOSTON. CHICAGO. DALLAS
ATLANTA. SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
LONDON. BOMBAY. CALCUTTA. MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO




[Illustration: Even the tiny trout brook becomes a thing of utility
as well as of joy

(_Courtesy of the Fitz Water Wheel Company, Hanover, Pa._)]




ELECTRICITY FOR
THE FARM


LIGHT, HEAT AND POWER BY INEXPENSIVE
METHODS FROM THE WATER
WHEEL OR FARM ENGINE


BY
FREDERICK IRVING ANDERSON

AUTHOR OF "THE FARMER OF TO-MORROW," ETC., ETC.


  New York
  THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
  1915

_All rights reserved_




  Copyright, 1915
  By THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
  The Country Gentleman


  Copyright, 1915
  By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
  Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1915.




PREFACE


This book is designed primarily to give the farmer a practical working
knowledge of electricity for use as light, heat, and power on the
farm. The electric generator, the dynamo, is explained in detail; and
there are chapters on electric transmission and house-wiring, by which
the farm mechanic is enabled to install his own plant without the aid
and expense of an expert.

With modern appliances, within the means of the average farmer, the
generation of electricity, with its unique conveniences, becomes
automatic, provided some dependable source of power is to be had--such
as a water wheel, gasoline (or other form of internal combustion)
engine, or the ordinary windmill. The water wheel is the ideal prime
mover for the dynamo in isolated plants. Since water-power is running
to waste on tens of thousands of our farms throughout the country,
several chapters are devoted to this phase of the subject: these
include descriptions and working diagrams of weirs and other simple
devices for measuring the flow of streams; there are tables and
formulas by which any one, with a knowledge of simple arithmetic, may
determine the power to be had from falling water under given
conditions; and in addition, there are diagrams showing in general the
method of construction of dams, bulkheads, races, flumes, etc., from
materials usually to be found on a farm. The tiny unconsidered brook
that waters the farm pasture frequently possesses power enough to
supply the farmstead with clean, cool, safe light in place of the
dangerous, inconvenient oil lamp; a small stream capable of developing
from twenty-five to fifty horsepower will supply a farmer (at
practically no expense beyond the original cost of installation) not
only with light, but with power for even the heavier farm operations,
as threshing; and in addition will do the washing, ironing, and
cooking, and at the same time keep the house warm in the coldest
weather. Less than one horsepower of energy will light the farmstead;
less than five horsepower of energy will provide light and small
power, and take the drudgery out of the kitchen.

For those not fortunate enough to possess water-power which can be
developed, there are chapters on the use of the farm gasoline engine
and windmill, in connection with the modern storage battery, as
sources of electric current.

It is desired to make acknowledgment for illustrations and assistance
in gathering material for the book, to the editors of _The Country
Gentleman_, Philadelphia, Pa.; The Crocker-Wheeler Company, Ampere, N.
J.; The General Electric Company, Schenectady, N. Y.; the Weston
Electrical Instrument Company, of Newark, N. J.; The Chase Turbine
Manufacturing Company, Orange, Mass.; the C. P. Bradway Machine Works,
West Stafford, Conn.; The Pelton Water Wheel Company, San Francisco
and New York; the Ward Leonard Manufacturing Company, Bronxville, N.
Y.; The Fairbanks, Morse Company, Chicago; and the Fitz Water Wheel
Company, Hanover, Pa.




TABLE OF CONTENTS


                                                             PAGE

  INTRODUCTION                                               xvii


  PART I

  WATER-POWER


  CHAPTER I

  A WORKING PLANT

  The "agriculturist"--An old chair factory--A