The St. Johns herald., 1901-03-23
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TELEPHONES ON FARMS.
They Are Not Merely a Csnvenisnse, But Good Business Invest
 ment as We'll.

! are several lines of telephones which run through the farming districts to the several villages. Many of the farmers along these lines have placed phones in their houses, which puts them in direct communication with the villages. l recently visited a farmer who lives three or four miles from one of our large villages. In. this village he markets the produce of his farm and of large truck gar den. It has been his custom to drive to the village three times a week with a 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 a marketable condition, and in this way considerable was wasted during the year. This farmer has put telephone i'll his house which places him in communica ton with his GUS toners in the village. He now receives their orders by telephone, and know ing what they want, he delivers it to them on his regular days of market ing. This makes marketing much easier and pleasanter, and he thinks the telephone 8 profitable investment for him. Sometimes he wholesales produce to dealers when he can get satisfactory prices. When a dealer in his village wishes anything in his : line, he can easily order it, if 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 neighboring vil- lagess and, by telegraph or the long distance telephone, with the city mar grows several acres of strawberries. By the aid of the telephone he is able to learn without delay, which is i'm portant to marketing berries, where there is a demand for them and at what price.
 There are many other uses of the telephone for the farmer in his iso- lated circumstances, so that very often he can make it convenient and profit able. l have been in the railway sta tion when some farmer called up" the agent and asked him if the goods he was expecting had arrived, and the information would sometimes save a trip to the station before the goods were there; or he was asked to send a message by telephone to some place, with an immediate reply.
 The telephone, besides placing the farmer in immediate communication with his merchant, physician, veteri- marian and others whose services he may need, affords communication be- tween farmers and their families. It not only facilitates intercourse in business matters, but adds very much to the social life of the farmer. He converses easily at any time with his neighbor on any subject of interest to them.
 Many farmers think that the cost of the telephone is so 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 the lead, the farmers are visited in the community where the wires are to be put up, and asked to subscribe to- wards building the line. Some who do not wish to pay money are allowed to furnish work, posts, etc. The wire is put up at small cost to each farmer, but in addition to it, he must buy his telephone to put in his house. This costs him from $15 to $20. Then he must pay his share of the tax which is charged for connecting the farm CTS 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 1 do not think the cost of putting up the wires and buying the telephones was more than $50 for each farmer. Perhaps this was only the cash outlay, and the work contributed by the farmers was not taken into account; l 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 we'll invest ed.-W. H. Jenkins, in Country Gentleman.