New York State History

 When Guy Beardslee, a farmer near St. Johnsville, bought one of the newfangled electric generators in 1896, dammed up a creek on his farm for power and used the electricity thus generated for threshing grain, he became New York State's pioneer in farm electrification. Three years later, he built 4 and a half miles of rural lines to neighboring farms. And here began the pioneering policy of bringing elec­tricity to the farmers. In fact, in few parts of the country is rural electrification further advanced than in Niagara Mohawk territory.

Up to 1930, more than 23,000 farm customers were on rural lines of all the component companies. Since then, the num­ber of customers and miles of rural lines have more than trebled and the use of electricity by farmers has increased more than 15 times. Practically all
the farms in the Niagara Mohawk area now have electricity available.

Farming in New York State is not only a major industry, it is a group of specialized industries. An abundance of good grazing land and the proximity of metropolitan markets combine to make dairying the largest single farm industry. Among the counties served by Niagara Mohawk are a score ranking among the top 100 in the country for their dairy products and crops. The slopes along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and the valley of the Hudson, are noted for their orchards and their vineyards. Vege­tables in wide variety are produced on a scale be­yond the ordinary level of truck farming, and are either shipped fresh or prepared for the nation's mar­kets by dehydrating, canning, or freezing.