高效的灌溉机械对保障农业生产和粮食安全具有重要意义。灌溉机械化是近现代中国农业发展的重要目标。近代，新式灌溉机械率先在江南被引进并使用，我国灌溉农机具迎来了发展新局面。灌溉机械便捷、高效，代表着新生产力的发展方向；同时，近代江南地区拥有良好的自然、经济和社会环境，促进灌溉机械在地区内快速发展。经过半个多世纪的推广应用，到新中国建立前，灌溉机械成为江南地区应用最为普遍、发展最为成功的新式农业生产机械。当今，加强对近代江南地区灌溉机械推广应用研究无疑具有较强的启迪意义。 灌溉机械是以人造机械动力驱动的新式农业机械，其主要部件为机械动力和水泵。灌溉机械的动力分蒸汽机、内燃机（煤气、汽油和柴油引擎）和电动机，其水泵有盛水式、运转式、压力式三种。在农业生产中，内燃机或电动机动力与离心式水泵（属压力式中的动压式）进行配套的灌溉机械，结构简单、效率极高，曾在近代江南的稻作生产中广泛使用。动力是灌溉机械核心。按照动力发展状况，可将灌溉机械的发展分为引进期（1897-1908）、研制期（1909-1919）、快速发展期（1920-1931）和衰退期（1932-1949）四个阶段。在近代灌溉机械发展的50多年里，战乱频仍，即便如此，灌溉机械在江南仍取得令人瞩目的成就，这是地区农业生产力发展要求的具体体现。 灌溉机械的制造和销售是发展灌溉机械的基础性环节。早在“洋务运动”时期，部分洋务工厂也曾模仿生产过动力引擎和水泵，但由于各种条件限制，相关产品并没有在农业生产中推广应用。19、20世纪之交，灌溉机械引进和制造开始兴起。1909-1910年，上海求新机器厂先后在仿制内燃机方面取得突破，可生产火油引擎激水机，并实现人造机械动力与水泵的配套；1919年，我国又成功仿造出柴油引擎。与汽油、煤气引擎相比，柴油引擎动力更为强劲、燃料费用低，性能稳定，更易被农民接受。柴油引擎仿制成功，标志着灌溉机械国产化又向前迈进一步。我国电力马达制造时间较晚，约为20世纪20年代初。早期国产的电力马达不符合国情和农村实际需要，质量上又无力与外国电力马达竞争，因而发展缓慢。直到1932年，上海华成马达厂才生产出质量优良的电力马达，并与新中工程公司生产的水泵实现配套供应和销售，国产电力马达销售逐渐占据上风。至此，我国灌溉机械已能完全国产化。 江南地区灌溉机械生产数量大、质量高，同时也是灌溉机械使用最多的地区。20世纪30年代初，仅上海、武进、江宁等苏南几个城市的机械厂，每年生产灌溉机械的规模可观。实现国产化后，灌溉机械价格降为进口机械价格的约1/2-1/3，更便于江南农户的购置和使用。另外，由于气候因素的促进，即1925年的前后几年时期内，江、浙两省连年苦旱，农村中原有的脚踏、牛拖的龙骨车，已无法应付较大的旱灾，农业生产抗旱的需要大大刺激了灌溉机械在江南的发展，水车等传统的灌溉机具正逐渐被取代。到1933-1937年，无锡全县年机械灌田面积可达78-96万亩，占该县耕地总面积的63％-77％。机械灌溉已经发展成为江南稻作地区的重要灌溉方式。 近代，承担灌溉机械推广任务的主体有政府、公司和农户。政府承担更多的是公共责任，如制定政策、培植企业、组织试验和全局监管等；江南的部分先富裕起来的农户为进一步扩大生产，并谋求机械灌溉的丰厚利润，纷纷购买灌溉机械，推动了灌溉机械的发展；灌溉公司则是江南灌溉机械发展的主要推动力量。1924年是江南电力灌溉发展的起步之年，此后电力灌溉农田面积迅速扩大，电力灌溉逐步取代引擎动力的机灌而成为最受农户欢迎的灌溉方式。灌溉机械推广应用过程中存在着种种困难，江南人从实际出发，创造性地采用“包打水”这种机灌经营形式，灌溉机械应用在逆境中仍然取得显著的发展成绩。灌溉机械被引进之初，就是按照“包打水”经营思路去设计的，这种经营形式此后被广泛采用。“包打水”具有多种经营操作形式，有承包制、按月制和钟点制、包田制和包度制等。正规公司经营的“包打水”管理更为规范，有一套较为严格的程序，对员工的各操作环节都有明确规定，制度也较为完备。“包打水”迅速发展的最重要原因是此种经营方式可赚取丰厚的利润。以30年代初的一台24马力（1马力=0.735千瓦）电马达从事“包打水”为例，平均每年电力、人工、设备损耗等的费用支出约为2 262.5元；而每年包田灌溉的田亩费、碾米等加工收入总计约可达4 080元。近代，江南灌溉机械主要掌握在富裕农民等有经济实力人员手中，为规避风险，“包打水”经营户先期收取的“溉田定洋”或“定钱”（一般为总价的二到三成），基本满足了公司购买灌溉机械设备之用；在某些特殊时期（如灌溉经营伊始、战乱期等），“包打水”经营户还实行“实物制”收费，这些经营策略都可将经营风险转嫁到广大农户（多为购买不起机械设备的贫苦农户等）身上。灌溉机械“包打水”经营明显受盈利目的驱使。 近代灌溉机械在江南得以推广应用，这与江南的自然地理条件以及经济社会状况有着密切关系。江南制造业已经达到一定的规模和水平，能生产更多质优价廉的国产灌溉机械；江南农业商品化不断发展，农业生产者为追求更高的农业生产利润，必然会选择高效便捷的灌溉机械；“包打水”经营方式的灌溉成本较为低廉而利润更加丰厚，必然推动农业资本投入机灌经营；近代江南电力发展，电灌便捷、高效、节俭，深受农民喜爱；江南产业和经济结构调整，贫苦并破了产的农民纷纷向城镇转移，农村人口结构性失调，使用灌溉机械的意愿增强，等等。正是诸多因素的推动，江南灌溉机械的推广应用才能取得令人瞩目的成就。 近代，灌溉机械在江南推广应用具有重要的作用和意义。在江南稻作地区，应用灌溉机械不仅具有增加农田灌溉面积、提高作物产量，减轻农户的经济和体力负担，促进农田建设，增强农作物抵御自然灾害能力的作用，还具有改善农业生产结构，促进劳力转移、推动工业化发展等意义。

Efficient irrigation machinery played a key role in agricultural production and food safety in modern times. Mechanization of irrigation machinery was an important target on developing the modern agriculture in China. The new-type irrigation machinery was firstly imported and used in Jiangnan region, and the irrigation implements entered in a new developing situation. The irrigation machinery was convenient and higher effective，and it stood for the new productivity. Moreover, the natural，economic and social environments in Jiangnan region were suit for the development of irrigation machinery in modern times. More than 50 years later, the irrigation machinery in Jiangnan region became the most common and the most successful agricultural machinery before P.R.C founded. Nowadays, it was enlightening that we studied on irrigation machinery in Jiangnan region during modern times. Irrigation machinery was one of the novel farm tools driven by man-made power, and its main components were the mechanic power and the pump. The power fell into three categories: holding-water style, revolving style and compressing style. The pump with internal combustion engine or electric motor was characteristic of simple structure and high efficiency, and it widely spread at rice cultivation places in Jiangnan region during modern times. Power was the core of the irrigation machinery. According to development of the power, the modern times could be divided into four periods: importing period (1897-1908), researching and developing period (1909-1919), fast-developing period (1920-1931), and declining period (1932-1949). Although there were continual campaigns in China, the irrigation machinery achieved considerable progress in more than 50 years, which embodied the request of agricultural productivity in Jiangnan region. Producing and selling the irrigation machinery was a basic link in course of its growth. A part of Westernized enterprises had ever imitated to produce new-style engines and pumps in Westernization Movement period, the relevant products couldn’t be popularized because of lots of limited factors. The irrigation machinery started to be made and to spring up at the turn of the 19th and the 20th centuries. Qiuxin Works in Shanghai had attained great triumph in imitating to produce internal combustion engines one after another from 1909 to 1910, Qiuxin also could produce machinery driven by gasoline engines, and man-made powers could be coordinated by pumps. Diesel engines were successively imitated to produce in 1919. Compare to the gasoline engine, the power of the diesel engine was more forceful, lower fuel fee, better stability, and was apt to be accepted by farmers. Successfully imitating the diesel engine was a token of a great triumph in localizing irrigation machinery. Electric motors were made in the early 1920s in our country. The motor developed slowly in early time, because its products were poor quality, and they didn’t accord with the condition of our countryside. Huacheng factory in Shanghai couldn’t produce good quality motor products until 1932, and Huacheng’s motors coordinated by Xinzhong’s pumps were sold together, so local motors hold superiority in motor sale market. Then our country’s irrigation machinery could realize localization. The irrigation machinery made in Jiangnan region was good in quality, large in quantity, which was most widely used in the region. Only the factories in Shanghai City, Wujin City and Jiangning City could produce a considerable amount of irrigation machinery at the beginning of 1930s. The price of the irrigation machinery made in China was half to one third that of imported, which was convenient for farmers’ purchase and use. Traditional waterwheels were replaced by the irrigation machinery since the natural factors, that was continual droughty in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the several years around 1925, and the dragon-bone water lifts driven by man or ox couldn’t deal with the droughty, which stimulated the irrigation machinery fast developed. The area of irrigated farmland by modern machinery was about 780-960 thousand mu in Wuxi County from 1933 to 1937, and about 63-77 percent of the whole farmland in Wuxi County was irrigated by machinery. The irrigation machinery had become an important irrigation style at rice cultivation places in Jiangnan region. The main body who shouldered the task of popularizing the irrigation machinery was the government, the cooperation and the farmer. The government took on more public responsibility, such as drawing up policy, fostering cooperation, organizing experiment, management and so on. Part of farmers who were already rich bought the irrigation machinery for enlarging production, for making huge profits of irrigation market. The irrigation cooperation was the main body in stimulating development of the irrigation machinery. Electric irrigation started in Jiangnan region in 1924, and then the area of farmland irrigated by electric machinery enlarged quickly. The electric irrigation replaced the mechanic irrigation gradually and became the most popular irrigation method in the region. There were lots of various difficulties in course of popularizing and applying the irrigation machinery in modern times. The people in Jiangnan region creatively adopted the method of renting the irrigation machinery. Although it was in adversity, the popularization of the irrigation machinery had made remarkable achievements. Baodashui (an operating style of which the irrigation machinery was rented especially for profits) was already designed during the early time of importing modern machinery, and then the Baodashui was widely used. The Baodashui had several operative forms in management, such as contracting mechanism, monthly mechanism, hourly mechanism, chartering-by- farmland-area mechanism, chartering-by-electricity-quantity mechanism. The standard Baodashui operated by cooperation had a set of strict regulations on its staff’s work, and the regulations were complete. The most important reason why the Baodashui fast extended was in that it could attain huge profits. For example, a pump driven by 24 horsepower electric motor was run by Baodashui, whose fee of electricity, manpower, facilities and so on was about 2 262.5 yuan per year, whose income of irrigating farmland, husking rice and so on was altogether about 4 080 yuan per year. The irrigation machinery was mainly occupied by rich man. For sake of avoiding management risk, the lords of the Baodashui charged the “deposit for irrigation” or “earnest money” (commonly 20 to 30 percent of the whole price), which could meet the demand of funds for buying irrigation machinery. The lords of the Baodashui practiced in collecting fees by goods instead of by money during special times, for example, at the beginning of the operation of the Baodashui, at wartime etc, which could shift the economic burden onto the vast numbers of poor farmers. The Baodashui was obviously driven by profits. It was closely related to natural, economic and social environments that the irrigation machinery was popularized in Jiangnan region in modern times. The manufacturing industry in Jiangnan had attained to considerably high level in scale and in quality, which could produce more high-quality and cheap irrigation machinery. The agricultural commercialization continually developed, and the farmers should choose to use convenient and efficient irrigation machinery for sake of more profits. With development of the electricity, the electric irrigation was convenient, frugal and efficient, and the farmers were keen on it. The industrial and economic structure in Jiangnan region was adjusted, which led to a large quantity of bankrupted peasants transmitting to town and city, then to the structure of peasants’ population changing. So the farmers’ intent to using irrigation machinery obviously strengthened with the dislocation of agricultural population. It was the above factors that stimulated irrigation machinery popularizing and achieved outstanding success. It was of important significance that the irrigation machinery should be widely used in Jiangnan in modern times. At rice cultivation places in Jiangnan region, applying irrigation machinery not only enhanced the irrigated field area, increased rice production, reduced the economic and bodily burden on the farmers, exploited and leveled the farmland, enhanced ability of the crop in resisting natural disaster, but also improved the agricultural structure, stimulated labor transporting, carried the industrialization forward and so on.