t-compounded dynamo,
turned out by manufacturers, provides for constant voltage at the
switchboard. Such a dynamo is eminently fitted for the farm electric
plant. Any other type of machine is bound to cause constant trouble
and annoyance.

[Illustration: Connections of a compound dynamo]

CHAPTER VI

WHAT SIZE PLANT TO INSTALL

The farmer's wife his partner--Little and big plants--Limiting
factors--Fluctuations in water supply--The average plant--The
actual plant--Amount of current required for various
operations--Standard voltage--A specimen allowance for electric
light--Heating and cooking by electricity--Electric power: the
electric motor.

The farmer's wife becomes his partner when he has concluded the
preliminary measurements and surveys for building his water-power
electric plant. Now the question is, how big a plant is necessary, or
how small a plant can he get along with. Electricity may be used for a
multitude of purposes on the farm, in its sphere of furnishing
portable light, heat and power; but when this multitude of uses has
been enumerated, it will be found that the wife shares in the benefits
no less than the farmer himself. The greatest dividend of all,
whether dividends are counted in dollars or happiness, is that
electricity takes the drudgery out of housework. Here, the work of the
farmer himself ends when he has brought electricity to the house, just
as his share in housework ends when he has brought in the kerosene,
and filled the woodbox. Of the light and heat, she will use the lion's
share; and for the power, she will discover heretofore undreamed-of
uses. So she must be a full partner when it comes to deciding how much
electricity they need.

How much electricity, in terms of light, heat, and power, will the
farmer and his wife have use for? How big a plant should be installed
to meet the needs of keeping house and running the farm?

The answer hangs mainly on how much water-power there is available,
through all the seasons of the year, with which to generate
electricity. Beyond that, it is merely a question of the farmer's
pocketbook. How much money does he care to spend? Electricity is a
cumulative "poison." The more one uses it, the more he wants to use
it. After a plant has been in operation a year, the family have
discovered uses for electricity which they did not think of in the
beginning. For this reason, it is well to put in a plant larger t