272 THE BUSINESS OF FAEMING 



one-half of the year they were almost impassable, 

 and as farm homes were generally far apart, the 

 isolation of country life was keenly felt. 



But we are now living in an age of changed con- 

 ditions. Our farm lands generally are so settled 

 up that farm homes dot the landscapes, and most 

 every farmer can stand in his doorway and see 

 many homes. Our had roads have become im- 

 proved highways. The automobile has eliminated 

 distance. The telephone and rural mail brings the 

 best of civilization at every farm fireside. Dis- 

 tance, isolation, lonesomeness, are eliminated from 

 the farm. 



We have already shown that there is not a single 

 city convenience but what is available for the farm. 



Electric light, practicable, cheap and substan- 

 tial, lights the farmer's home, eliminating the 

 drudgery of taking care of dirty, ill smelling, and 

 unsatisfactory coal oil lamps. Devices for lifting 

 and distributing water about the farm can be ob- 

 tained which do the work as cheaply and satisfac- 

 torily as any city water system. And if the 

 farmer but possesses a spring or flowing well, as 

 many do, the hydraulic ram will distribute water 

 about his premises practically free of cost. The 

 gasoline engine, now so cheap that any farmer 

 can afford one, will relieve the labor of pumping 

 water and grinding feed for stock, and do a large 

 amount of other farm labor that once required 

 brawn and long hours of labor to perform. 



An outfit consisting of a vacuum cleaner, dust- 

 less mop, fireless cooker, washing machine and 

 wringer, a gasoline engine and gasoline iron, all 

 costing less than one hundred dollars, can be in- 



