ON SOMK APPLICATIONS OF ELECTRIC ENERaY. 479 



power were required during, say, twelve hours jjer diem, but inasmucli as 

 +he light is not required during the day-time, and the firing of the boiler 

 nas nevertheless to be kept up in order to supply heat to the greenhouses, 

 it appears that during the day-time an amount of motive power is lost 

 equal to that employed during the night. 



In order to utilise this power I have devised means of working the 

 dynamo-machine also during the daytime, and of transmitting the electric 

 energy thus produced by means of wires to different points of the farm, 

 where such operations as chaff-cutting, swede- slicing, timber-sawing, and 

 water-pumping have to be performed. 



These objects are accomplished by means of small dynamo-machines, 

 placed at the points where power is required for these various purposes, 

 and which are in metallic connection with the current-generating dynamo- 

 machine near the engine. The connecting wires employed consist each 

 of a naked strand of copper wire, supported on wooden poles or on trees 

 without the use of insulators, whilst the return circuit is effected through 

 the park-railing or wire fencing of the place, which is connected with 

 both transmitting and working machines by means of short pieces of con- 

 necting wire. In order to insure the metallic continuity of the Avire 

 fencing, care has to taken, wherever there are gates, to solder a piece of 

 wire, buried below the gates, to the wire fencing on either side. 



As regards pumping the water, a 3 horse-power steam-engine was origi- 

 nally used, working two force pumps of 3^ inches diameter, making thirty- 

 six double strokes per minute. The same pumps are still employed, being 

 now worked by a dynamo-machine weighing 4 cwt. When the cisterns 

 at the house, the gardens, and the farm require filling, the pumps are 

 started by simply turning the communicator at the engine station, and 

 in like manner the mechanical operations of the farm already referred to 

 are accomplished by one and the same prime mover. 



There would be difficulty in this instance in stating accurately the 

 percentage of power actually received at the distant station, but in trying 

 the same machines under similar circumstances of resistance, with the aid 

 of dynamometers, as much as sixty per cent, has been realised. 



In conclusion, I have pleasure in stating that the working of the elec- 

 tric light, and the transmission of power for the various operations just 

 named, are entirely tinder the charge of my head gardener, Mr. Buchanan, 

 assisted by the ordinary staff of under-gardeners and field-labourers, who 

 probably never before heard of the power of electricity. 



Electric transmission of power may eventually be applied also to 

 thrashing, reaping, and ploughing. These objects are at the present 

 time accomplished to a large extent by means of portable steam-engines, 

 a class of engine which has attained a high degree of perfection ; but the 

 electric motor presents the great advantage of lightness, its weight per 

 horse-power being only 2 cwt., whilst the weight of a portable engine 

 with its boiler filled with water may be taken at 16 cwt. per horse-power. 

 Moreover the portable steam-engine requires a continuous supply of 

 water and fuel, and involves skilled labour in the field, whilst the elec- 

 trical engine receives its food through the wire (or a light rail upon 

 which it may be made to move about) , from the central station, where 

 power can be produced at a cheaper rate of expenditure, for fuel and 

 labour, than in the field. The use of secondary batteries may also be re- 

 sorted to with advantage to store electrical energy when it cannot be 

 utilised. 



