The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1904-11-19
ELECTRIC AID FOR FARMERS
CAY or HEAVY LABOR FOR
HORSES WILL PASS AWAY. :,
Farm Machinery Will More and More
be Operated by Steam. GasoIene
and EIectricity-Greatest Epoch in
Agricultural History Unfolding.

Agricultural History Unfolding.
e day of the horse as a heavy la
.. ! on American farms is ended and
iarnl machinery will more and more
.lo operated by steam, gasolene ana
electricity. In Germany and France
many creameri5S and small dairieS
Lave been long in operation by this
method. american farmers have been
the lcaGiGg users of lab0r-saving ma
chinery. but mostly on the large
farms, VI are the weight of the ma
chinery VAS a constant drawback TO
the adoption Of electric motor power.
The machines are now being made
lighter without destroying their eff
cicncv. and electricity is rapidly play
jag an important part in their devel-
opmcnt.
The trackless trolley farms have
to-day doomed up as experimental in
yestn ats which thoroughly work out
ell tina, vas claimed for them. With
cheaper power derived from the rivers
and waterfalls electricity will extend
10 all parts OF the country. and small
and lazge farming implements will be
operated thereby. Electric power IS
cheaper than horsepower, even when
ordinary fuel is used to operate the
engines. and when the power can be
supplied from some river 1t will be
far cheaper than steam in any form.
Conditions at present promise the
unfolding of one of the greatest
epochs in American agricultural his
tory The las: half century has been
remarkable fer its agricultural ma
chnery, but in the next fifty years
the use CT electric power fer cultivat-
ing farms, stimulating and planting
and harvesting crops will far eclipse
in i'm por;ance anything yet achieved.
IN the new ora of electric farming the
Industry will attract men who now
look upon farm work as drudgery, and
the appearance of this new type Of
men in fields and orchards will tend
even more to create revolutionary
changes.
The application o; the electric CIR
rent to T. growing pants ty means
cf wire nortirg in t. Q sol! or by the
arc rays has received peculiar atten-
ton fro.1 those inter s.ed il truck
gardening and greenhouse work. In
the iatt,r the arc and incandescent
lamp have been employed more than
sxperimentally. The color of the
globes of the electric lamps has been
found to change the effect On the
plants.
BY repeated experiments different
colored globes are in use for different
purposes. The red rays are too high
ly stimulating for many plants and the
violet rays yield with the soft yellow
ones the best results. 1t is possible
in this way to stimulate the growth
Of certain plants without materially
exhausting their vitality or weaken
ing the reproductive power OF the
seeds.
Many planthouses and hothouses
now employ the electric arc lamp with
great success in forcing plant growths
during the cold winter days and
nights. BY keeping the plants flooded
with electric rays day and night the
plants are forced to quick growth.
and they prove tender and crisp IN
the case of lettuce and radishes.
The use OF electricity for the pro-
lection Of crops from insects, worms
and fungi is one of the latest develop
ments in this method Of agriculture.
Considering that millions of dollars
W 7~th Of crops are annually ruined by
j., cts. the employment of any agen-
must be a matter Of widespread
interest.
Electricity as an insect destroyer is
rapid and effective. 1t kills the eggs
and larvae Of the bugs and worms
that live in the ground almost as
surely as the insects that crawl above.
In fact, it is to reach the eggs and
larvae j., the soil that the agent Is
employea most generally, for heavier
shocks OF electricity can be admins
tered in the spring or fall, when no
plants are growing. than in the sum-
mer season.
A garden or field covered with a
network CT wires can be given series
OF electric shocks between crops or
seasons which no life can Withstand.
In the early spring. when the soil Is
plous' cd up for the first sowing, the
electro power is turned on and the
soil is so heavily charged with the
fluid that all insects and eggs that
have been wintering in the ground
will be instantly killed.
1t has been repeatedly demonstrat'
ed that by destroying the eggs and
larvae ia the soil the attacks OF in
sect pests are practically reduced TO
nothing, and little actual injury need
be feared. When the warm weather
returns the multitudes OF insects
which appear in the gardens and
fields have been hatched out IN their
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