This week seventy years ago saw the farmers of the Dundas area meeting for the annual general meeting of the Dundas Farmers Institute. William MacLeod was in the chair and after the usual business and election of new officers an animated discussion on the benefits of the farmers speaking with a united voice took place. George E. Saville, who sat in the legislature for many years, finally rose and pointed out that farmers interests were best served by existing political parties. In one statement the future of the farmers movement on P.E.l was " ground to a halt and partisan fighting took its place.

The farmers of P.E.l had much to gain from utilizing the institute movement, especially in 1905 when a disasterous crop year had made hay so expensive and scarce that the government was buying it on the mainland and was shipping 5,000 tons to the Island.

As usual the transportation problem was having an effect on all plans and the unreliable steamer service was faced with a large backlog. Captain Joseph Read of Summerside stated that on his return from Ottawa he was amazed to find that all the, railway sidings within a seven mile radius of Pictou, the winter steamer port, were filled with boxcars of hay waiting to be transported to the Island.

Because the Minto could carry only about three car loads of hay each trip a problem was developing in the distribution of the hay landed.

A spokesman for the Peters government who had arranged for the emergency animal food to be purchased said the problem would be a simple one if all 5,000 tons were on the Island. Then the Farmers Institutes could be contacted to indicate the regions needs and that amount could be alloted. Under the existing system there were charges that some farmers were getting more than their share while the animals of other farmers went without food.

The problem was serious enough but the minor irritation of the lack of a telephone in the Georgetown station made it impossible to obtain information. At the time telephone and telegraph systems were in direct competition and the officials of the P.E.l railroad refused to allow telephone communication equipment on the station property for fear that it would be viewed as a legal prescedent. The cost of the phone at the tlme was $15 per year.

Elsewhere on the Island the telephone was gaining acceptance. The cable being laid across the Hillsboro River had been delayed because of the poor weather but completion was expected within the month. The new line would secure direct connection between Charlottetown and all points from there to Lower Montague. An additional line was being strung to link the city with Cape Bear where the government Marconi station was located. This station was able to communicate with the winter ships crossing between Pictou and Georgetown.