248 AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



In a circular issued by the Postmaster-General it is stated 

 that 



In the United States there are to-day more telephones in use by 

 farmers than the whole number in use by the commercial and all 

 other classes in the United Kingdom, and these telephones are 

 found to add to the profits and comforts of the farmers to an 

 extent which makes the cost of telephones seem negligible. 



So great in fact is the appreciation of the telephone by 

 American farmers that, as already mentioned on page 31, 

 societies of agriculturists are formed in the United States for 

 the express purpose of providing telephonic systems of their 

 own on co-operative lines. 



Here, of course, such independent action would be 

 impracticable ; but the scheme which has now been put 

 forward by the Post Office should be of very great service 

 indeed to British agriculturists, provided only that the rural 

 districts are willing to extend to it a sufficient measure of 

 support. 



The scheme is one for the experimental establishment of 

 a system of " rural party-lines," to be used in common by a 

 number of subscribers, with a minimum total of three 

 subscribers per line, and an average of two or three sub- 

 scribers per mile in proportion to the length of the lines from 

 exchange. " Such lines," the Postmaster-General explains, 

 " cannot be used for communication with very distant places, 

 but they are sufficient for communication with places within 

 a radius of 100 or 150 miles, and this is all that is usually 

 required for the purposes of rural and agricultural business. 

 As they are used in common by the subscribers, complete 

 secrecy cannot be guaranteed. The conversation of one 

 subscriber is liable to be overheard by the others, and this 

 is to some extent a disadvantage. Experience both in this 

 country and in the United States has, however, shown that 

 this disadvantage is slight in comparison with the great 

 advantages which otherwise arise from the possibility of 

 telephonic communication with all the other telephone 

 users in adjacent towns and villages." Although, too, the 

 rural party-line subscribers would not have so good a service 



