The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1912-01-20

SSMYAI ~ laid out what IS Delepeu ~
SyE9 ha The first electric farm IN
the United States. 1t ism
l. very big farm, to be sure,
having, to begin with, eotal
AZ II area Of only an acre ana
@zoAsJ half All the same, the prog
r.ss ~ vegetation on this little plot VIII pe
watched with keen interest, for 1t may polns
tho way to helping the farmers OIL TIC ~ -
N lmnortant respects and even may oe ~
roaana os making some Of them noepehuens
OF climate. +r,a i'm
OF course 1t is not sought TO convey .ne ~ ~
nression that the present undertaAlns ~ ~
United States department OF agr1cuieu!1 est
most important experiment farm 10 .ne -
oesor+ tn make electricity useful on the lar
prhlic as we'll as private enterprise invaded
4hot field long ago and thus we ma souay
MANY farmers in various parts OF Tue coun.1'
developing electricity for home consumpeloh
nv means of power plants rlght on the pi.ni
fses. the energy for generating oelhg suppi.eu
nv the gasoline engines when are peconiins
40 common In the rural districts, or through
81 harnaeeinp M water power which has been
done successfully on SO many farms. more
nvar the electricity thus generated Is not usea
merely for illumination, etc., INSIDE the iat
buildings Progressive farmers ana da1rymen
have adapted the twentieth century power TO
many tasks that had formerly TO pc zone ~
human hands-as, for example, mnhins anu
cI,urning and feed cutting
u R,1t Uncle Sans new venture IN electric
farming pursues quite different path This
/ lata d function Of the magic current is not to
i sI1rns n,a1i,Iaf labor. to assist nature.
80 particularize, IN popular form, It may pc
exnIained that the idea is to have electricity
supplement sunlight in Its influence upon
| growing crops. The artificial warmth and
glow will be called into play as proxy for the
%1rt dhn dQU VIC
| when there is no sunlight and In the morn
| snes and evenings of the short winter days
! when old Sol is working shorter hours than
1 in midsummer Perhaps electricity cannot
/ ever be expected to prove so great stimulus
i tn growing plants as is powerful sunlight, but
preliminary experiments have proven that 1t
i Will help some and the object of Uncle Sam
! present undertaking is to determine JUST now
i mich assistance electricity will render under
4 the conditions Of soil and climate, ETC., which
i confront the average American farmer.
Il The reader might naturally suppose, II ne
hasn't been informed otherwise, that If Uncle
4 Sam was going to employ electricity TO coun-
. ferfeit sunbeams he would do it by calling
into use powerful electric lights, which seem
10 be about the next best thing to sunl1ghs
IN brillfancy. Well, that was the way 1t was
done by several of the leading scientists OF
Europe who have rather gotten ahead OF us
IN such tests They hung big arc lamps II
: greenhouses and they heightened the growing
day for plants and vegetables by flooding the
hot houses with light for several hours afte1
shutdown each day. The result was that on'
prominent foreigner has produced spiendl'
, Strawberries in a much shorter time thal
would have been possible had nature oeen al
lowed to take her own course and our owl
rorneI, university in New York state wa
equally successful in hurrying the growth Q
lettuce. radishes and other vegetables by TIL
. same method But Uncle Sam is not going {
;, follow bindly in this beaten path He is tai
ing a new tack
THE nrinciple of Uncle Sans new "electr1
farm"-if we may call one miniature "hes
- field farm-is to employ the electric curreI
itself and not the electric lamps to spur natuf
> In her work. This Is interesting in itself an
the proiect will be Of added value In its r
| suits from the fact that the growing unde
electricity is to go on out of doors instead
In the artificial atmosphere OF not nous
Moreover, in order to approximate averas
: conditions the experts OF Uncle sam 8 Dures
= Of plant industry have chosen as the seer
- of their experiment, not prize farm put
- tract on the largest experiment farm OF q
&c United States department OF agriculture ioes
- ed near Arlington, Virginia. This land WI
- formerly a part Of the historic estate OF He
= orb n 7 ZEE. the Confederate general, but IT W
- neglected for many years after the war al
- n cannot be said to offer more than avera
opportunities for tilling. if they be that GOO
The appearance of Uncle Sans "electi
g farm" is well calculated to rouse the scur1os'
s., of any chance farmer riding along the roc
even If he did not see the warning signs &c
tioning him that he must not get within ~
:. feet If the wires carrying current OF 1901
O. Enthusiastically powerful enough to DO
r sorts of damage if given the opportun1
What the farmer beholds is a plowed al
dotted at intervals Of a couple OF rods W
slender wooden poles about seven teet
u height. At one corner of the field is the
called power house" Of this farm, SID
~ frame building from which leads a wire
- Meeting with the wires OF nearby 1htefufl
ne trolley system. II the farmer looks close
af sooies -