100,000 electric power plants will be sold to farmers 

 in 1918. They are used not only for lighting farm 

 homes and barns but also for supplying the mechan- 

 ical power for a great variety of minor operations. 

 Further, it is estimated that 60,000 water systems 

 will be sold on farms in 1918. The number of milking 

 machines sold annually is steadily increasing. Nat- 

 urally this means that more dairy cows can be kept on 

 farms, for one man can milk more cows, and at less cost. 



The motor truck seems destined to have a wide 

 sale on farms. In many sections, rural motor ex- 

 press routes are being established, operating out of 

 large cities as centers. In many instances farmers 

 ship produce into town on these trucks in the morn- 

 ing and have their purchases delivered in the after- 

 noon. The Post Office Department is steadily 

 increasing the number of trucks on the parcel post 

 delivery routes. The farm family now orders goods 

 by telephone and has goods delivered either by parcel 

 post or rural truck express routes. Obviously, less 

 time is then consumed by the farmer than in driving 

 to town and more time is available for farm work on 

 the mechanized farm. 



The possession of these motor vehicles will neces- 

 sitate a service station on many farms, for timeliness 

 of operation is a large factor in the value of any of 

 these motor vehicles. The man who must depend 

 upon a garage man coming out for service work "day 

 after tomorrow" is likely to lose a large part of the 

 margin of profit on his investment. In a word, farm- 

 ing is increasingly a great power-using industry. 



Usually we do not think of the farm as a power- 

 using industry. But at a conservative estimate the 

 horses on farms represent about fifteen million horse 

 power. To this we must add six million for gasoline 

 engines, three million for gasoline tractors and three 



[371 



