The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1900-06-21
TELEPHONES ON FARMS.
They are Not merely n CesvsnieRee.
nat a Good BasiRess Invest
usnt az We'll.

In the locality where live there
are several lines Of telephones which
run through the farming districts 10
the several villages. Many Of the
farmers along these lines have placed
phones Ia their houses, which puts
them in direct communication with
the villages. recently Waited
farmer who lives three or fouS miles
from one Of our large villages, In
this village he markets. the produce
of his farm and Of large truck gar
den. II has been his custom TO drive
10 the village three times a week with
q load OF produce. Not knowing how
much he would be able to sell. he
would often take more than he could
dispose Of. and this surplus, kept over
until the next trip, did not always
keep In q marketable condition, and
In this way considerable was wasted
during the year This farmer has put
a telephone In his house which places
ham in communication with his Gus
toners In the village. lie now receives
their orders by telephone, and know
Ing what they want, he delivers 1t 10
them on his regular DAYS OF market
ing. This makes marketing much
easier and plcasanter, and be thinks
the telephone a profitable Investment
for him. Sometimes he WHOLESALERS
produce 20 dealers when he can get
satisfactory prices. When II dealer
In his village wishes anything In his
line, he can easily order 1t, II prices
can be arranged. or when the farmer
has anything ready for market, he
can "call up" the dealer and ask for
prices.
The telephone not only places him
in immediate communication with His
own village, but with nrighboring viii
lagos, and, by telegraph or the long
distance telephone, with the city mar
kets. The farmer have mentioned
grows several acres Of straw berries.
by the aid Of the telephone hc is able
10 learn without delay, which Is Inn
portant 10 marketing berries, where
there Is a demand for them aud at
what price,
There are many other uses OF the
telephone for the farmer In his iso.
lated circumstances, 40 that very often
he can make IL convenient and profit.
able. have been In the railway sta.
ton when some farmer called up"
the agent aud asked him n the goods
he was expecting had arrived and the
information would sometimes save
trip 10 the station before the goods
were there; or he was asked 10 send
n message by telephone 20 some place,
with an immediate reply
The telephone, besides placing the
farmer In immediate communication
with his merchant, physician, ,cteri-
marian and others whose services he
may need, affords communication tie
tween farmers snd their families Il
not only facilitates intercourse In
business matters but adds very much
TO the social life 81 the farmer he
conycrreE easily at any time with his
neighbor on any subject Of interest
TO them
Many farmers think that the cost
of the telephone Is No great that they
cannot afford IT,. In my locality the
farmers own private lines on the CO
operative plan. There are main lines
operated by individuals, or corpora.
tions The farmers have built private
lines which connect them with these.
Generally, a few individuals taking he
lead. the farmers are visited in the
community where the wires are 20 I've
put up. and asked 10 subscribe to-
wards building the line Some who
do not wish 10 pay money are allowed
TO furnish work, posts, etc. The wire
Is put up az q small cost to each
farmer, hut in addition 10 It. he must
buy his telephone TO put In his house.
This costs HIM from SIS 10 $50. Then
he must pay his share Of the tax which
Is charged for connecting the farm.
er's private line with the main lines,
which in most OF the communities in
this section Is two or three dollars
annually for each farmer, In one
neighborhood near me do not think
the cost OF putting up the wires and
buying the telephones was more thhn
$50 for each farmer. perhaps this
wRs only the cash outlay, aud the
work contributed by the farmers was
not taken into account; was not
definitely informed on this point.
Where there are such opportunities
for building farmers lines that can
be connected with main lines, surely
money or work expended In this way
will be well iuyested.--W II. Jenkins,
in Country Gentleman.