The representative., 1899-11-09
THE FARM OF TOMORROW
ELECTRICITY WILL TILL THE SOIL
AND GATHER THE HARVEST.
Look Into q Future Where Natures
Simplest Energy Shall Snppl4nt
Rain and SUN, az Well ~
Horse and Plow.

The model farm of today and of the fu-
ture must avail itself of the most eco
nomical systems of plant propagation. and
the geomagnetifere must play an import
ant part in its workings. Beneath the
rich soil in the gardens where the delicate
vegetables are growing, networks of in
visible wires are laid.- collecting and dis
tributing the atmospheric electricity to all
the plants, says the New England Magazine.
In the forcing hQAses,i similar. arrange
ments are made for stimulating the winter
vegetables and flowers for the market;
whlie overhead powerful ,arc lights make
the night as BRILLIANT as day and help to
mature the plant growths in half the
regular time required By nature. In the
nelds OF wheat and earn the more powerful
currents from storage house work out SIM
liar results, lessening' the season Of growth
and doubling the yield per acre. Excessive
droughts and the danger from late and
early frOsts are thus partly avoided on the
electric farm, while If necessary two crops
can be raised in one season where formerly
only one could be grown. The electric
power that the farmer has at his command
enables him to regulate the growth of his
plants to suit the seasons or the markets.
One portion of the garden can be forced
while the other half Is kept back several
weeks. There is no limit to the use of the
new invisible power which he gathers from
the atmosphere around him or generates
from the wasted forces of the neighboring
stream of water. This leads to the exam
ination of the source of the new power that
propels the machinery on the farm. A small
stream OF water that fOrmely flowed across
the farms in an irregular course fertilinzing
the lower meadows and irrigating the up
land districts, has been widened and deep
ened near it's source, forming a large stor-
age reservoir. This artificial pond has
been damned at it's lower end, and as the
water tumbles over the open water gates
it turns several large turbine wheels. - E
A WIRE STRUNG FARM. ,
These wheels do not move the machin-
cry of flour mill, but constantly manu-
facture electricity for use on the farm.
BY means of the huge storage reservoir
the work of making electricity can go ON
through the driest season, for the water
power is always ready to do it's work. From
this storage house the motive power is con-
Quoted to all parts of the farm. The fore
ing houses for winter plants are connected
with the power house by overhead wires,
similar to those which disfiugre the city
streets for trolley lines. The great barn
and living houses are lighted by electric
lights that get their source of energy in
the same place. Movable cables radiate from
the storage house to every part of the
fields and to those electric motors are at
tached for performing the various labors
assigned to them by the inventive genius
of man.
The electric machinery worked by the
motors is full of interest. Here are huge
ploWs that turn over six burrows of fresh
soil at once, hayrakes and reapers which
perform their duties automatically, electric
weed killers and fertilizers corn huskers
and shelters, hay choppers and gigantic
threshing and tanning mills. Electric We
hicles rush across extensive fields with
loads OF grain, hay or vegetables, moving
with their broad tires without difficulty
over the rough, uneven surface, and be-
hind the plows and harrows the automatic
seeders follow in close succession dropping
the corn, wheat or other seeds at regular
intervals in the freshly turned furroWs.
Everything is performed by machinery
guided by disciplined hands and propelled
by the new motive power that has caused
all the revolution.
AN AUTOMOBILE PLow.
Their are two general types of these elec-
trio plows which will serve to illustrate
the general principle of operation in ea1,l
class. The first type is propelled by
fixed motor. The field selected for plowing
is divided into sections Of exactly the width
Of the cable used for pulling the plows A
heavy powerful electric motor on wheels is
stationed at either side of the field, and
strong cable connects them. This cable
winds and unwinds upon a spool as the ma
chinery is set in motionr To this cable the
plow, which is capable of turning from
three to six burrows Of soil at once, is firmly
attached. When thao electric motor on one
side of the field is set in motion, it winds
up the cable and drags the plow toward
it, and when it reaches that side of the
field it turns around, and the reverse action
of the other motor repeats the operation.
The second type of electric plow is run by
a movable motor attached to the plow it
self. The cable is fixed to an anchor on the
opposite side of the field, and the electric
motor follows this cable, dragging the heavy
plow with it. Even, the wedding is accom-
plished by electricity The force that stim-
ulates plant growth and gives motive pow
er to all the machinery can also kill and
destroy. Electrocution is applied to the
weeds Just as successfully as to prisoners
in our jails. The delicate current of cleo
tricity may give life and vigor to plant life,
but powerful current destroys every germ
of life, animal or vegetable. In the spring
of the year the new weed destroyer goes
over the field and annihilates the weeds, in
sets and larvae. AS the vehicle moves
along series of many wire brushes drags
on the earth and kills everything that comes
in contact with it. A field overgrown with
rank weeds can thus be cleared in a COM
paratively short time of every noxious
growth.
TREES ARE FELLED BY WIRE.
Death is just sure and sudden as II
each plant received lightning stroke from
the summer clouds. The weeder goes over
the field after storm, so that the wet
stalks will act as more perfect conductors.
There comes from Buda PeSth the first cleo
trio tree destroyer; the farmer who has
extensive woodlands to clear finds science
ready to help him in this respect. The
tree-destroying machines were invented to
fell the giant trees in the forests of Ga
Iicia. They are comparatively simple in
their operations A small motor carried up
on a movable truck is drawn up to the no
BILE product of the forest and secured to 1t
by chains and steel clamps. The auto
matte saw chisel is next put in position
and when the electric current is turned on
it eats it's way rapidly into the huge trunk
and nearly sewers it in two. While the
machine is being adjusted to another tree,
the first one is easily pulled over by ropes
and sawed up by huge saw operated by
another motor
To complete the picture of the model farm
the owner should travel from one part Of
The extensive estate to another in his auto
mobile victoria, or upon motor bicycle. |;
Where electricity can be obtained so cheap |
be introduced without difficulty. In his |
spacious living quarters his wife no longer |
stews over obstinate wood or coal fires; |
she simply turns on the electric current |
when needed and cooks the dinner without |
fuss or worry. Electric fans turned by |
he power that cooks her dinner and lights |
Ter house make the atmosphere of the mid I
summer day delightful and refreshing There |
8 no longer any tri-weekly churning to i
try ones temper for the nearby creamery
the cream INTO butter by the lat
,st and most approved methods. Even the
Thinking water is pumped up from artes
an wells by electricity and supplied in a
,ool and refreshing stream to all who ask |