The Electric Farmer.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 5 February 1913, Page 4

The Electric Farmer.

Probably lew of our industries have occupicd so much attention or. , the part of scientists during the past | low years as agriculture. This is not surprising, inasmuch as the development of the land constitutes 1 sheet-anchor of prosperity of any section, while, moreover, the farmev up till a few years ago was the most conservative workman on earth, content to follow the lead established centuries ago. The soil has been vastly improved both by treatment and feeding, crops have been multiplied and developed through the of- ■ forts of the scientists and wasteful methods ol' working have been superseded by mechanical means of high perfection. The latest development is an effort to bring home to the farmer the useful maid-of-all-wark which ho is neglecting—electricity. In America there are travelling commercial demonstration shows which tour the country in the same way : an itinerant circus. A spacious canvas tent and a multitude of mechanical devices, one and all dependent upon electricity, are hauled by poworful electric trucks from place to • place. When the show reached a J promising centre tho tent is pitched upon a suitable piece of ground, and the numerous took are set up under working conditions. Tn one corier : machines may be seen coupled to tiny I motors to porlonn such operations as j pumping, driving threshing machines , and wood splitting, bone crushing and unloading hay, being set in motion iand stopped by the movement ol ii handle. In another section tho advantages of electric lighting are driven home: and another is divided by partitions to represent stalls in a cattle shed where cows are being milked by electrical devices, with churns, etc.. whizzing morrily near by in the preparation of-the milk for different purposes. Not a single duty on the farm is overlooked ; electricity is applicable to all. Outside, electrically driven trucks of all descriptions, from a small light van to a heavy waggon, are shown doing haulage work of various kinds. Tn another place there is a small workshop fully equipped with bench anvil, lathe, and so on. such ias may be found upon any up-to-date isolated farm, where repairs of all descriptions may be effected with electricity as tho sole source of energy. Nor is tho domestic side forgotten. The farmer's wife is shown the way to lessen the ardnousness of her labours in cooking, washing, ironing, sewing, cleaning, and so forth. The point that strikes the spectator is the small amount of attention the various machines require, and the and simplicity of their control The campaign on the country side is heing carried <>n with commendable energy. One American company is expending over £20,000 upon this campaign of education and <11lightenment; and. judging from the results so far achieved, it will recoup itself several times over, as the trav- | oiling electric farm is proving a far more valuable advertisement, and effecting more practical results in regard to sales, than pages of newspaper advertisements and academic discussion. Tt is "showing the goods.' lo quote an American colloquialism. "on the spot."— Chamber's Journal.