Field Study of an Enhancement Effect on Lettuce Seeds: A Replication Study

A classic healing experiment with a very simple design was made famous by Grad (1963, 1964). In these experiments, two trays of seeds, which have been stressed in some way, are prepared. One of the trays is watered with water that has been held by the healer, and the other with ordinary water. Several of these studies have found that there is greater germination rate and growth in the healed group (Barrington, 1982; Grad, 1963; 1964; Hickman, 1979; Saklani, 1990; Scofield & Hodges, 1991). Over the past few years, there have been several large scale trials of "distant healing" or "prayer" on medical outcomes of patients (e.g., Byrd, 1988; Harris et al., 1999; Sicher, Targ, Moore, & Smith, 1998). Significant health benefits have been shown for the treatment groups. This demonstrates the feasibility and practical value of researching parapsychological phenomena in real life settings. Earlier, Roney-Dougal & Solfvin (2002) reported the first controlled investigation of a healers intention on the healthy growth of plants on a commercial organic farm. The healthy organic seeds were not stressed beforehand, as we were looking for greater health in the enhanced plants, and the healer worked directly with the seeds rather than with water. Lettuce seeds were chosen because they germinate rapidly and come to harvest in about 10 weeks with approximately 10 sowings in the year, allowing for sufficient trials in any one season. There were three hypotheses: that the enhanced seeds would show greater germination, greater growth, and better health. Of these only the third hypothesis showed significant results, with the plants grown from the enhanced seeds showing significantly less fungal disease, F(3,24) = 3.13, p = . 044). There was a strange anomaly in the growth rate in that one row (row D) consistently yielded larger plants. This was suspected to be due to an expectancy effect as the farm had been given feedback after the first pilot trial, in which the plants from the enhanced-seeds had been significantly larger than the test, and had been in row D. This year's study is a close replication to see if these findings are robust. It has two primary hypotheses: 1) The enhanced seeds will have greater growth than the control. 2) The enhanced seeds will have better health than the control. The following two outcome variables were pre-planned: 1) Growth variables: gross and net weight of the plants were measured when harvested; 2) Health variables: the plants were checked for slug and fungal damage, and rated on a five-point scale. It was decided not to assess germination rate as there had been virtually 100% germination with this healthy organic seed in the preliminary study. Also, this had been a heavy burden for the grower and had not given any significant result. The primary reason for running these trials is a very practical one: looking to see if a farm can have a better harvest with healthier crops as a result of enhancement by a healer. So, in this case, germination rate becomes secondary to harvest results. METHOD Radford Mill farm, an organic farm growing vegetables for the local community, as well as free-range organic eggs, yoghurt and meat, once again kindly agreed to be the farm for this study. As before, the crop was lettuce. The seeds were all sown by one person to ensure uniformity of sowing procedure. The seeds were germinated in a dark shed. The initial growing conditions were in trays in a polytunnel. The approximately three-week-old plants were transplanted into a south-facing field, where, to ensure equivalent growing conditions, they were bordered on all sides by non-experimental plants so that they were in the centre of the rows. The experimental seeds and plants were treated in an identical manner to all the test of the crop. Temperature, humidity, soil conditions, and wind factors were kept as equivalent, within each trial, as possible. …