16 DECEMBER 1932, Page 13

We shall soon have more knowledge of the purely agricul-

tural uses of electricity. An electric farm is in being at Bothamsted and many crucial experiments are being made. Incidentally it is worth mention that even these invaluable trials could not have been made if the charges at first demanded had not been greatly reduced as they would not have been reduced for an individual farmer. Good results also are expected from the provision of electricity to the small farms in the.Aylesbury district ; and the Bedford scheme for supplying all and sundry with really cheap light and power is of the best omen. But when all is said the rural population is in danger of missing a great boon freely promised, because in the distri- bution of light and power the welfare of the rural dweller is regarded as a secondary and unessential object.