Electrifying Illinois Farms 



I HAVE just returned from a trip 

 tlirousih central, western, and 

 northern Illinois gathering infor- 

 mation about rural elccirificalion. I 

 wen; to those counties where there 

 apparently is sreatesl activity in elec- 

 r.rifyins farms. 



I tallced with public utility officia's, 

 (engineers, linemen and other utility 

 •employees, with farmers who have 

 been u.sins; electricity for a number 

 of years, with others who would like 

 to have it. and with st:ll others who 

 were recently connected or have 

 signed contracts for service. 



I secured a fund of laci.s and new.s 

 that should be of interest to Illinois 

 Farm Bureau members, for every- 

 where I found farmers enthusias ic 

 or at least inquisitive about this sub- 

 ject. 



I also came to certain conclusion.s 

 based on a necessarily limited ex- 

 cursion into this broad field which I 

 shall attempt to set clown as clearly 

 and accurately as I can. 



First, your chances of getting elec- 

 tricity from a public utility company 

 at reasonable cost depends someuhat 

 on where your farm is located. Some 

 fompanies are more able and perhaps 

 :n' crested in serving you than others 



Secondly, it's going to cost you 

 something to get electricity, a mini- 

 mum of S-l to S8 a munth or more 

 depending on how much you use, plu.s 

 the cost of wiring your house and 

 buildings, and plus the cost of motors, 

 appliances, bathroom and water 

 pumping and piping erjuipmint if you 

 want them. You can't get away from 

 these costs even if you and your 

 neighbors oi^ganize a co-operative, 

 borrow money at three per cent from 

 the REA, bui!d your own lines, and 

 buy electricity wholesale through a 

 master meter from the nearest com- 

 pany. Don't overlook the fact that it 

 costs something to operate your pres- 

 ent lamps, gas engines etc. 



Third, farmers have far more uses 

 for electricity than city p?ople. Pump- 

 ing water, washing clothes, refriger- 

 ation, grinding feed, cooking with an 

 electric range, heating water, brood- 

 ing baby chicks, and elevating grain 

 are among the more important uses 

 in addition to lighting. 



Fourth, it isn't economically prac- 

 ticable to extend electricity to farms 

 for lighting alone. 



Fifth, most, if not all. public utility 

 companies, in my judgment, are 

 genuinely interested in extending and 

 promntina rural electrification because 



By the Editor 



Modern ■ns+aiiafion with ♦^a^s*-"^''" ^nd "leTn' 

 on ♦tie same pole. 



With .-lUstJiincd lanii buying power 

 rural cu.vloiiuT.--, iii limi'. pioiiiKc M 

 hi' a source of prolil lo them. 



Sixth, public uiilii.\ companies oper- 

 ated ecorioiuically at!'! .--oundly. as 

 m;iiiy are. can (jroxide rural custoimr- 

 with electric service at reasonalile 



ratCN. IF the\ wiji. Throuuh riti;„ni/.a- 

 iioii farniors can insist and are jiMilied 

 m insisting that this be don<". 



Tills last conclusion is ba.sed on the 

 tact that present compani<>s have all 

 <h( richer tirritory. the ciUes ^md 

 inwiis and industries, sewed up. They 

 have this lucrative back log of income 

 and tiiey have the necessary engineers, 

 linemen, and f)ther skilled labor avail- 

 .il)le to ser\iee rural lines al \er\ httle 

 exUa expense. 



.Se\enlh, to extend eleeii ,i i!\ to 

 iainis with f-n-atest economy \i>ii need 

 elose to 100 per cent co-opeiatini of 

 i II the residents on the ro;id. Tliere 

 ou-h' ii. 1„ al least three to the mile, 

 ..liii four IS better. 



Kiuhth. where private companies 

 ■ loii't want to, are not llnancially able 

 le extend .service to farms, or demand 

 lo.i )iit;}i ;i rate, there is n i g<Mjd 

 re,-,>,in wliy faritu-rs should mil or- 

 L;ai;i.'.e co-operativis and bniJd their 

 i\\ n lines. Fanners ean Micceed 

 11 tills venture ;i.s they have jn oihers. 

 \: won't ]i. easy and there v.iil be 



But it 



can l(i> (! 



• Elec- 

 •la the 



jiooleH, 



ineily can he purchased fr 

 at.e public utilux i-uni[),inie>. from 

 iMir.icipal plants, or genera'ed Jn 



'.I ■ijer-owned pianis. 



XiAv. what are some oi the piol)li'm» 

 ill. utility couipaiiii's and T:iiiiiicipal 

 pi.iiii.s are uj) a,gainst in serving f;irins? 



I wetn lo Dunlap m Peoria eounty 

 ,.rni spent nearly half a day with Wm. 

 ('. Tegtniei<i. president and principal 

 owner of the Suhurhan Ehclric Util- 

 :lie» Company. Tegtmiii-r has been in 

 the atility hiisiiress in Iowa and Illi- 

 nois al)oiil '.W \<ars. Hi- knows all the 



. . ■" ^ ■ %. ■iJlit «Ci,. <• «.jiiJI 



This electrically charged fence has proved e**ecti*-e in turning hogi i'^ Boone County. 

 Requires aoout 4 KW oer month. 



DF.CKMUKR, IH.'JS 



