The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-12-09
FARMING BY ELECTRICITY.
The Principal Obstacle Now is Pr9eur-
Ing the Necessary Power.
BOStOn Globe.


by the patent office officers in Wash
ington that much of the attention OF
inventors of late has been turned to
the adaptation Of electricity to farm
ing. ,
The procuring of power is, after all, =,
the princi pal obstacle in the way OF
electric farming. Remove it, and all
the minor applications are easy enough.
There are several methods Of obtain:
ing this power within easy reach of
every hus bandman. The physical as
pect of the country will, generally
speaking, decide the method to be used
in each locality.
AS currents have already been sent
100 miles we can anticipate the spec
tacle of the future by supposing an
immense power plant to exist in the
centre of farming community sup
plying current for every possible farm
use and transmitting it to every plan
tation within radius of this length.
Under such system whole State
could be supplied with current from a
half dozen plants.
In fact, it has been stated that the
time is not far distant.when farmers
of neighborhood will club together
and harness the nearest available
waterfall and use it at minimum cost
to supply them with electric light for
their houses and power for their farms.
The beauty Of the system consists in
that the first cost is almost the whole
cost, for with the modern dune sys-
tenn of installation the plant can be
operated as easily in winter as in sum-
mer.
An Artesian we'll may be made to
produce enough electric power to
operate every piece of machinery on
farm.
There are 100000 windmills in
operation in this country at the pres
ent time. Every one Of these mills
can be adapted to the generation of
electric power for farm purpose.
The practice is to operatea dynamo,
the armature of which is turned by
the mill. Storage batteries collect the
current and hold it in reserve during
the days when there is little or no
wind. It takes but little wind to
generate practicable electric current.
A six-mile- -an-hour wind will easily
drive mill, and when velocity Of
sixteen miles an hour is projected
against 16-foot mill it will produce
is horsepower constantly exerted.
1t has often been suggested that the
currents Of rivers might be utilized
for power purposes. This is already
being done near Chicago. This is
another case wherein the farmer may
be benefited by the adaptable quality
of the modern system.
But having secured his electric cur
rent by one method or another, the
farmer will want to know what to do
with it. In the West electricity is
operating fifteen-blade gang plough,
which will cut furrow six feet wide.
The blades revolve and the plough is
pulled across the field by means OF a
cable which passes around the drum
of an electric motor on the plough.
In New York State there isa trolley
plough in operation. Wires are
stretched along the edge of the field
and carry current to cross wire,
which, as in the case Of the plough
mentioned above, passes overthe drum
of a motor. But in this case the mo-
tor is attached to the axle of the
plough wheels, and turns the latter
with it's own power. Current in this
case is transmitted overland for some
distance from the power house.
An electric plough has recently
bsen tested near Chicago which will
run in any direction and at any speed,
irrespective of it's surroundings. 1t
consists of a two-wheel platform,
motor and a plough. The wheels are
iron frames, having sharp ridges at
intervals so as to obtain a good pur-
chase on the ground. There is re-
sistance box to regulate the amount Of
current and a reel carrying coil OF
flexible wire much the same as is used
for incandescent lighting, only larger.
The current was obtained from a
nearby trolley line at the pressure of
500 volts. AS the plough travels in
any direction the reel unwinds the
flexible cord, which is long enough to
reach to any part of the field, or re-
winds automatically when the machine
approaches the point of current dis
tribution. 1t ploughs more evenly
than hand worked machine and costs
less to operate.
It can also be used in place of trac
tion engine for hauling machinery
around the farm, and with a driving
pulley attached to the axle it will
drive a threshing machine.
The same principle has also been
applied to harrows, to seeders and to
harvesting machines. There is an
electric reaper in operation on our
Western wheat fields. Corn shelters
also have been operated and propelled
by the electric current.
So we may run down the list.
There are electric hay lifts, electric
tree fellers, electric fence makers,
electric churns, electric spadipg ma
chimes, electric sheep shearers, etc.
There is plan under way in one large
abattoir to electrocute steers instead
of killing them in the old-fashioned
way.
There is process for treating ma
nure by electricity so as to increase
its fertilizing properties. Special
trollery manure cars are in use. Troll
ley cars are now being built for the
spe,ial purpose of transporting New
Jersey truck to New York city. Cat
tie are kept from breaking out of a
field on Western ranch by an cleo
trio current which traverses the barb
wire fence and shocks the animals
every time they come against it.
There is an electric device intended
to prevent horses from running away.
There is an electric horseshoer. There
are thousand and one electric devi-
ces for farm use, and they may all be
operated if sufficient current can be
obtained.
The remaining phase of electric
farming is that which covers the theory
of the stimulation of plant growth by
the use of electric light or<oy the
&c j n Tba