VOL. LXII
INDIANAPOLIS, FEBRUARY 16, 1907.
NO. 7
ELECTRICITY    ON   THE   FARM.
In the Scarcity of Farm Labor We
Shall Have  to Install   More
Machinery.
Perhaps electricity and engines driven
by cheap denatured alcohol are coming into  practical  farm  use  iu  time to supply
Tin' engine fa.r tarnishing power is run
l.v kerosene, steam or gasoline and soon
will be run by cheaper alcofuel. If the
termer has a  water-power he can drive
the dynamo by means of a water-wheel
for liis waark (the farmer buying current
fnain the trolley line does 11..1 11 1 Number 1).
Number 2 shows  the    house    supplied
with     electrical   lights       an.l   the   ni.atair
standard machine easily cared fair anal
.■asily started ami stopped, even by a
small child.
The Wild   Pigeon  Once  More.
Kalit-jrs Indiana Farmer:
The niata's iii iiiis week's Farmer (raked
up saanii* recollection. Tlic suggestion
oi (Jncle Henry thai the pigeons Arose tn
ala'atli in  1856 is so ridiculous that  1 am
tiling necessary now is to give a few of
their lialaits ami means aaf capturing them
i.a help tin' yonng to some appreciation of
their vast numbers, Tliey were migratory birds, gaaing north (a little east of
north (a'li masse iu spring, anal gradually
drifting back in tlio fall. Their coming
seemed to depend npon tlic season—some-
tiina's they came iu February; in which
case  they  lingered  till ilia* last of March
"5
Use of Electricity OS the Fann.
the scarcity of niauual labor on the farm.
Certain it is that American fanners have
before them the problem of supplying millions more of people every year. Naat
only rapidly increasing population in- this
country, but more anal more abroad each
yenr are to be fed on American products,
such as beef, and pork, and mutton as
well as breadstuffs. Under such c.mili
tia ins, with the growing scarcity of labor,
wc can only look to American ingenuity
and manufacturers to supply the machinery to till tliis want. Slowly that
problem is Iieing solved. % Cheap industrial alcofuel used to generate power that
.•an set the dynamo to humming with its
electrical current, is to be attended to
the farm.
The termer is profiling every day ly
progress made in various lines of applied
science. Some of the more fortunate
ones have installeal electrical machinery
for operating their farm machines. The
use of electrii'iil current makes great savings of power,    time and labor.
The matter of making power varies.
Farmers situated along trolley lines are
fra'apiiently able to purchase electrical current from the electrical railway company.
Ir. this way they are ssabred of constant
supply   of   electrical   current. If   thoy
are too far from the electrical railway
to buy current, they can install an electrical generating unit as illustrated in
Nnmber 1 of the illustration on this page. ]
driven laundry mangle. These household
machines can be driven electrically and
effect great savings in the domestic work.
Number 3 shows a motor-driven pump.
It aan be arranged if desired for automatic operation'. so that the tank is
kept full at all times.
Nnmber 4 shows the creamery with
the separator, i-lium, 1 utter worker, eta*..
driven by electrical motors. This is far
more cleanly than ordinary means of
driving such machines.
Numlier ', sliaaws a motordriven ensil-
Sga 1 utter. The motor is mounted on a
truck anal can lie carried to any place on
the farm or to the neighbor's farm. It
supplies p'aa\va*r fair threshers. shra'aldi'rs.
grinders, etc.
Number   7   illustrates   the   motor-alriven
fe«*ai grinder.
Number S shows the hay loader, which
is easily arranged for electrical operation.
Nnmber !» shows the wires leading from
tin' farmer's electrical station to his
neighbors. This makes it possible for
ihe farmer to sell his electricity to his
neighbor and thus make a neat profit on
his investment, aside from his saving of
I a.wit ami labor in his own work.
The electrical operation of fnrm mn-
iliiii.s provides power which does not
Bceese, balk or cause trouble or annoyance. The electrical motor as built by
manufacturers who understand the retirements  of  farm  servia-e  is  a   reliable.
inclined to think that his memory is bail.
Tha' piga'aur is a migratory bird and you
couhl freeze a tame one just as easy as
jou conld a wild one. About the year
isr.ia. in February, they were in my feed
lots by the thousanal anal that ta.aa
when the thermometer was below zero. I
enlisted in IJst'al, ami when I came back
in 1865 pigeons were still numerous.
Hava' recently been writing up "Kecojlec-
tiaans of Animal anal Bird Life anal Industrial ami Social Conilitions Co years ago,"
ami in looking over them today I Bnd
among the slips tliis on "The Pigeon:"
No bird that was ever indigenous to this
country has a'ver so alunib-foun.lcal anal
mystified the ornithologist as the wild pigeon and the orniscopist hns apparently
faarever lost his trade so far as the wild
pigeon is concerned, because it seems to
have taken its last flight. No recorded
history tells of nny part of the earth's
surface where there were such uncounted
millions of birds as once used to fly over
this country, ta such masses as t.a cast a
shaihaw on the ground faar hoars at a time.
The most vivid imaginatiaan I have ever
come in contact with has utterly failed in
its conception of such numbers. Nothing but the stars of Heaven, aar the sands
aaf the beach seem an adequate comparison.
Of the bird itself no description is
necessary—as any tame pigeon is an a*\aa*t
counterpart of the wild one, and  the only
At other times thev alial not come till last
of March; in whiah case they were high in
air and in smh numbers as to olscure the
sun on a  bright  day. I  have stood in
my pasture anal watched them in amaze-
1111*111 for an hour at a time and still they
I gpl OOmlng ami the next day it would be
the same. But in a few alays they would
be all gone. But when tliey came in
February ami g.at into the habit of dropping ilown into aaur feed lots by the tens
of thousands and found plenty taa eat some
would linger till last of May and a very
tew stay all summer.
At times I have seen them drop iu my
feed lots in such numbers as to solidly
eover the whole hat with shimmering blue
of flapping wings. Their lighting was
peeuliar and I have s.vir them drop from
a gri'at hight, till within a few feet of the
earth, with the seeming velocity a.f a bullet, anal then a few Haps of. their wings
would let hem down as light ns a feather.
Hunters nnd trappers took aalvantage of
this peculiar flapping of their wings to
aatch them in nets by the thousand, or
by  the wagon   load.
Thoy would take a paddle four feet
hang and balance it on a pivot in the middle, a foot and a half high, anal then fasten a live pigeon on one end and tie a
string to the other, ami pass the string
under a pulley near the ground ansl by
gently pulling the string it would raise
the   pigeon   three   feet     high;     slack   the