78 RURAL CONVENIENCES 



A motor is a machine that transforms energy from a 

 form that is useless into a form that is useful. Windmills, 

 a kind of motor, have been used for centuries for pumping 

 water, especially in Holland. For the same purpose hy- 

 draulic rams are widely used. The rams are cheap and 

 easily installed ; and a slight flow of water, if it be steady, 

 is enough to keep them in constant operation. 



Perhaps the most useful motor for farm work is the 

 gasolene engine. Gasolene engines operate wringers, 

 separators, saws, vacuum cleaners, churns, dynamos, 

 threshers, feed grinders, pumps, silo fillers, milking ma- 

 chines, sewing machines, and many other useful contriv- 

 ances. The engines are easy to operate ; they are safe ; 

 and they are made in different units of power, so as to 

 meet the most diverse needs. They have probabry done 

 more to banish drudgery from farm life than any other 

 machine. 



Several manufacturing firms are beginning to sell electric 

 equipment for farm work. This form of power has been 

 used in rural Germany for several years. In many places 

 electric power is transmitted over great distances into the 

 country for the farm and household. It is beginning to 

 replace the gasolene engine for many kinds of work. 

 Electricity is clean and safe, and if it can be secured at all, 

 it can be used in any place and at any moment. 



47. The telephone lias become a very important aid to the 

 farmer. From 1902 to 1907 the number of rural telephones 

 increased threefold. In 1910, in Iowa and Illinois, there 

 were 190,000 farms, and 174,000 rural telephones, or one 

 for almost every farm. The lot of the farmer's wife is 

 lonely enough at best, and the telephone helps to satisfy 

 her longing for association with her neighbors. 



Matters of business, social welfare work, and conferences 

 on all affairs of local interest find the telephone a helpful 



