This film is part of Free
Power on the Farm
‘Electricity can do almost anything’ – farmers are encouraged to power up their farm
Overview
This film shows the use of electric power in improving farming efficiency. Activities on a ‘primitive’ farm are shown, but derided as the ‘old way of doing things’, before the opportunities provided by the introduction of hydroelectric power. The use of mechanised labour across the farm underlines the claim that ‘electricity can do almost anything’, including power cinemas and the making of the film itself.
Created on behalf of the Department of Agriculture for Scotland this film shows the work of various farm machines. The chaff cutter, the food mixer, the corn bruiser, the root pulper, and the large hammer mill would all save on labour costs and electricity would transform the poultry farm, leading to the claim that ‘the only thing that hasn’t been electrified is the rooster’. Depictions of the farmer’s wife using electric household items – and the demonstration of how electricity lights and heats places where people enjoy themselves – indicate an attempt at a general acceptance of hydroelectric power in Scotland.
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