han
the needs of the moment seem to require. An electrical horsepower or
two one way or another will not greatly change the first cost, and you
will always find use for any excess.

Once for all, to settle the question of water-power, the water wheel
should be twice the normal capacity of the dynamo it drives, in terms
of power. This allows for overload, which is bound to occur
occasionally; and it also insures smooth running, easy governing, and
the highest efficiency. Since the electric current, once the plant is
installed, will cost practically nothing, the farmer can afford to
ignore the power going to waste, and consider only how to get the best
service.

_The Two Extremes_

The amount of water to be had to be turned into electricity, will vary
with location, and with the season. It may be only enough, the
greater part of the year, for a "toy" plant--a very practical toy, by
the way--one that will keep half a dozen lights burning in the house
and barn at one time; under some conditions water may be so scarce
that it must be stored for three or four days to get enough power to
charge a storage battery for these six or eight lights. A one-quarter,
or a one-half kilowatt electrical generator, with a one horsepower (or
smaller) wheel, will light a farmstead very satisfactorily--much
better than kerosene lamps.

On the other hand, the driving power of your wheel may be sufficient
to furnish 50 or 100 lights for the house, barn, and out-buildings,
and barn-yard and drives; to provide ample current for irons,
toasters, vacuum cleaners, electric fans, etc.; to do all the cooking
and baking and keep the kitchen boiler hot; and to heat the house in
the coldest weather with a dry clean heat that does not vitiate the
air, with no ashes, smoke or dust or woodchopping--nothing but an
electric switch to turn on and off; and to provide power for motors
ranging from tiny ones to run the sewing machine, to one of 15
horsepower to do the threshing. A plant capable of developing from 30
to 50 kilowatts of electricity, and requiring from 50 to 100
horsepower at the water wheel, would do all this, depending on the
size of the farmstead. One hundred horsepower is a very small water
project, in a commercial way; and there are thousands of farms
possessing streams of this capacity.

_Fluctuations in Water Supply_

It would be only during the winter months that such a plant would be
driven to its full capacity; and since water