The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-07-23
HOW SIMMONS MADE FARM PAY
Electrical Devices Redeem Lands and .r Save Labor.
(By Gilbert K. Harrison. )

Farms of fifty acres and over are being abandoned at the rate of 103 each month, according to a govern u1ent statictan. The reason given in nearly every instance is that the farm youth of today finds it irksome and a drudgery to do the chores and farm work as his father and grandfather did, although more and more farms are installing electric current to do. their work.
 'The young farmer" says this re- port in part, finds everything ad- vanced about him except the farm. His town has new and brighter stores; the town boys have cars; the town houses have electric lights, and when he sees the city and it's strides he Is overwhelmed by the contrast. He sees no future nor fortune on the farm. He finds no answer to his problem, and invariably you find him trekking to the city. Whether or not the old folks have a competency, there Is no one left to work the farnn.''
 Just such perplexity confronted George Simmons, one of Nebraska,s prosperous farmers. George had faced the farm problem, but with a cold and discerning eye. If towns can be taken out of decay, why not the farm thought George. Why not ap- ply to the farm the same electrical Improvements that stimulate towns? Little Electric Helps Put Simmons on
 Feet.
 George found quarter section near Wingate which transient half share workers had occupied with in different success for years. ith limited capital he took it over. re- ;taining a right to purchase 1t within five years. He used his immediate funds to install small motors for his feed grinders. water pumps, log saws and other simple operations which re- quired long hours and hard work. From the farm and electrical papers Simmons learned new swaysNof apply ing electrical devices. These he hitch ed up to farm work as fast as his funds allowed. Here's the Simmons success in a recent state farm sur vey:
 s.4e 6sinlnnons) has an electrically driven elevator, which stores his corn and grain in the bins by the simple turning of a, switch. When he needs water he stops at the punphouse only long enough to turn oyer switch and then goes. on to other duties. The electric motor attends faithfully to the pumping and requires no watch ing.
 ssHe does not have to haul his feed to a faraway mill for grinding. He presses button and series of cleo. trio grinders and carriers bring vari- 
 fowl pens For creamery operations he has harnessed up his current power so that twenty cows are rnilked by electricity. the cream separated and the butter churncd while he gives attention elsewhere.
 Saves Money and Time Using Electric
 Power.
 Monday is no longer drudge day for the women folks. Electric motors operate washing machines. The maid maid, mind you-passes the clothes to the machine, starts the motors and then goes about other housework or recreation. Simmons uses no kerosene His father and grandfather used petroleum but he uses electricity. His residence and his yard wired and nearly half a mile from his home, and wired it too. He has no fears of fires and carries no insurance. He works as late as he pleases, always with ample lights.
 Results speak volumes for Sim mons Last season he planted fifty acres of corn. Electrically applied methods yielded a crop of sixty-five bushels per acre. The yield before Simmons took hold of the farm was less than twenty-two bushels. Twenty acres of oats produced sixteen and three-quarter loads of fifty-five bushels each, and forty-three loads of hay were obtained from twenty-five acres of clover, and at the second cutting twenty acres produced twelve bushels of seed, the balance being. pastured.
 ''He obtained a yield of 100 bushels per acre from one and one-half acres of potatoes. He has forty-two heal