The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-29
ELECTRICITY ON FARMS
In Days to Come 1t Will Till the
Soil and Gather Harvest.
WHEAT AND CORN FIELDS
May Be Stimulated to Double Yield.
How Small Stream May Be
Put to Running Tur-
bine Wheels.

| economical system of plant propaga ton,
| and the geomagnetifere must play an
| important part in it's workings. Be
| meath the rich soil in the gardens where
the delicate vegetables are growing net
! works of invisible wires are laid, col
| Letting and distributing the atmos-
| pheric electricity to all the plants.
In the forcing houses similar ar
| engagements are made for stimulating
| the winter vegetables and flowers Tor
! the markets, while overhead powerful
| arc lights make the night as brilliant
| as day and help Ito mature the plant
| growth in half the regular time re-
| quired by nature. In the fields of wheat
| and corn the more powerful currents
| from a storage house work out similar
results, lessening the season of growth
and doubling the yieid per acre. Elk
| cessve drouths 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 season 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 examination of the source
| of the new power that propels the ma
| chinery on the farm. A small stream of
water that formerly flowed across the
| farm in an irregular course, fertilizing
| the lower meadows and irrigating the
| upland districts, has been widened and
| deepened near its source, forming
large storage reservoir This artificial
pond has been damned at its lower
end, and as the water tumbles over the
open water gates 1T turns several large
turbine wheels.
These wheels do not move the ma
chinery of a flour mill. but constantly
manufacture electricity for use on the
| farm. BY means of the huge storage
| reservoir the work of making electric
ity can go on through the driest sea-
son, for the water power never gives
out and the electric power Is always
| ready to do it's work. The forcing
house for winter plants are connected
with the power houses by overhead
wires similar to those which d1snsure
the city streets for trolley lines. the
great barn and living house are lighted
by electric lights that get their source
of energy in the same place. Movable
cables radiate from the storage houses
to every part of the fields, and to those
electric motors by attached for per-
forming 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, hayracks and reap
ers which perform their duties auto
matically, electric weed Killers ana
fertilizers, corn huskers and shelters.
hay choppers and gigantic thrashing
and tanning mills. Electric vehicles
rush across the extensive fields with
loads of grain. hay or vegetables, NOV
ing their broad tires without difficulty
over the rough. uneven surface, and be-
hind the plows and harrows the auto
matte seeders follow in close succession,
dropping the corn, wheat or other seed
at regular intervals in the freshly
turned burrows. Everything is per-
formed by machinery, guided by disci-
plined hands and propelled by the new
motive power that has caused all the
revolution
There are two general types of these
electric plows which win serve to illus
trate the general principle of operation
in each class. The first type is pro-
PEELED by a fixed motor. The field Sc
lected for blowing is divided into sec
tions of exactly the width of the cable
used for pulling the plows. A heavy
powerful electric motor on wheels is
stationed at each side of the field and
a strong cable winds upon a spool as
the machinery is set in motion. To this
cable the plow, which is capable of
turning from three to six burrows of
soil at once, is firmly attached. When
the electric motor on the side of the
field is set in motion 1t winds up the
cable and drags the pillow 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.
fs,
run by a movable motor attached to the
pillow itself The cable is fixed to an
anchor on the opposite side of the field
and the electric motor follows this
cable, dragging the heavy pillow with 1t.
| Even the wedding is accomplished by
electricity. The force that stimulates
plant growth and gives motive power
to all the machinery can also kill and
destroy. Electrocution is applied to the
weeds Just as successfully as to pris-
oners in our jails. The delicate current
of electricity may give life and vigor to
plan life, but powerful current de-
stroys every germ of life, animal or
vegetable. In the spring of the year
the new weed destroyer goes over the
field and annihilates weeds, insects and
larvae As the vehicle moves along a
series Of many wire brushes drags on
the earth and kills everything that
comes in contact with it. A field over
comparatively cleared in a remarkably
short time of every noXious growth.
Death is just as sure and sudden as
if each plant received a lightning stroke
from the summer clouds. The weeder
goes over the field after a storm, SO
that the wet stalks will act as more
perfect conductors. There comes from
Buda-Pesth the first electric tree de-
stroyer: the farmer who has extensive
woodlands to clear finds science ready
to help him in this respect.
To complete the picture of the model
farm the owner should travel from one
part of the extensive estate to another
in his automobile victoria, or upon a
motor bicycle Where electricity can be
obtained so cheaply thousands of the
newest inventions can be introduced
without difficulty. In his spacious liv-
ing 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 with
out fuss or worry. Electric fans turned