The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-09-10 00:00:00

The EARL of JERSEY on PROTECTION.

Speaking at the annual dinner of the Bicester Agri-
cultural Association on Tuesday, the Earl of Jersey
said he wished he could honestly congratulate his
brother farmers on the result of the present harvest.
They once more found themselves in that same long lane
of evil years which had not yet reached a turning, and
this depression had wide effects. When agriculture
was unfruitful the home trade was starved. Many
suggestions had been offered, and he should like to say
a few words on one of the proposals which he knew
had many supporters. It seemed very enticing, but he
must frankly say that he was not a believer in the
policy known as Protection. Protection as regards
agriculture meant the imposition of such a duty on
imported food as would tend to raise the price of
food produced in England to what was called a re-
munerative point for the producers. In the case of
wheat no amount of protection would be of real value
to them. In a great industrial country like England,
where wealth was most unevenly distributed, they
would by Protection be increasing that inequality, by
making it dearer for the labouring man to live. A.
fixed price on wheat would result in rents being ad-
justed accordingly. Who, then, would be the real
gainer? Why, if any one, the landlords. He had every
reason as a landlord to get as much rent as was fair;
but when a questiOn of this importance came to the
front he must look at it as an Englishman, and ask
himself, could it be for the prosperity of England that
the State should help him in that way at what must
be the expense of the great body of his fellow-
countrymen ? (Cheers.) Let them ask themselves
how could they have got through these sad times if
the price of food had depended upon their own pro-
ductions, or if it had been artificially raised? He
shuddered to think what might have happened, and
he thought that some would agree with him when he
said that even now prices were not so bad if they had
the stuff to sell. Their produce in too many cases
lacked both quantity and quality. What they had to
lament was climate rather than competition, and what
they had to desire was fair play, fair rents, and fair
weather. In his opinion they should turn their atten-
tion to some of those home charges which pressed
heavily on the capital of the farmer. The
highways were paid for chiefly by the occupiers of
land, but were used gratuitously by all her Majesty's
subjects. Then, twain, the cost of education might be
borne by the State to a far greater extent by increasing
the payments for results, and in that direction the
farmer might look for relief. Some people seemed to
have an idea that the rent-roll of a landlord stood for
his available wealth. A year's experience as to the very
unpleasant abstraction which the repairs and„necessary
costs of keeping an estate in orde: made from that rent-
roll would dissipate any such idea. To meet future
wants, he believed, it was right to give facilities for
freer cultivation' so that the tenant might use his own
experience. The landlord could provide that the tenant
should feel secure in the investment of his money
on the soil, so that he need not fear to lose it all in
case he wished to leave. In his opinion these
matters required very careful adjustment, and it was
better that they should be arrived at by mutual agree-
ment. Even these times would not have been so evil
if they taught landlords to become more acquainted
with the necessities of their estates. The very com-
plexity of these matters showed how necessary it was
that they should approach the discussion dispas-
sionately. There were those who would seek to divide
the classes connected with agriculture into hostile
camps, but he believed that their truest and best
course was to discuss these matters in a calm spirit.
They must remember that landlords, farmers, and
labourers must sink together if agriculture sank in
England; but if it rose again they would rise together.
(Applause.)

AN EXPLANATION.—An electrician thus explains
the friendly relations that often exist between cats
and dogs. Generally, the dog who makes friends with
a cat is an old dog, who has lived a good deal and who
suffers mere or less from rheumatism. Well, every
time he licks the cat or passes his paw affectionately
along her back, he is simply doctoring his rheumatism
by the aid of the electricity in the cat's skin and hair.
Me dog does not regard the cat so much as a friend
aa a magneto electrical machine.

DR. SIEMENS ON ELECTRO
HORTICULTURE.

The following is an extract from the address of Dr. Siemens
on Electric Energy, given at the meeting of the British
Association at York:—

On the Ist of March, 1880, I communicated to the
Royal Society a paper, "On the Influence of Electric
Light upon Vegetation, &c.," in which I arrived at the •
conclusion that electric light was capable of producing
upon plants effects comparable to those of solar radia-
tion; that chlorophyl was produced by it, and that
bloom and fruit rich in aroma and colour could be
developed by its aid. My experiments also went to
prove that plants do not as a rule require a period of
rest during the 24 hours of the day, but make increased
and vigorous progress if subjected in winter time to
solar light during the day and to electric light during
the night. During the whole of last winter I continued my
experiments on an enlarged scale, and it is my present
purpose to give a short account of these experiments and
of some further applications of electric energy to farm-
ing operations (including the pumping of water, the
sawing of timber, and chaff and root cutting) at various
distances not exceeding half a mile from the source of
power, giving useful employment during the daytime
to the power-producing machinery, and thus reducing
indirectly the cost of the light during the night-time.
The arrangement consists of a high pressure steam
engine of 6-horse power nominal, supplied by Messrs.
Tangye, Brothers, which gives motion to two dynamo
machines (Siemens D) connected separately to two
electric lamps, each capable of emitting a light of
about 4,000 candle power. One of these lamps was
placed inside a glasshouse of 2,318 cubic feet capacity,
and the other was suspended at a height of 12 or 14
feet over some sunk greenhouses. The waste steam
of the engine was condensed in a heater, whence the
greenhouses take their circulating supply of hot water,
thus saving the fuel that would otherwise be required
to heat the stoves. The experiments were eommeneed
on the 23rd of October, 1880, and were continued
till the 7th of May, 1881. The general plan of opera-
tion consisted in lighting the electric lights at first at
six o'clock and during the short days at five o'clock,
every evening except Sunday, continuing their action
until dawn. The outside light was protected by a clear
glass lantern, while the light inside the house was left
naked in the earlier experiments, one of my objects
being to ascertain the relative effect of the light under
those two conditions. The inside light was placed at
one side over the entrance into the house, in front of a
metallic reflector to save the rays that would otherwise
be lost to the plants inside the house. The house was
planted in the first place with peas, French beans,
wheat, barley, and oats, as well as with cauliflowers,
strawberries, raspberries, peaches, tomatoes, vines, and
a variety of flowering parts, including roses, rhodo-
dendrons, and azaleas. All these plants being of a com-
paratively hardy character, the temperature in this
house was maintained as nearly as possible at 60deg.
Fahr. The early effects observed were anything but
satisfactory. While under the influence of the light
suspended in the open air over the sunk houses the
beneficial effects due to the electric light observed
during the previous winter repeated themselves,
but the plants in the house with the naked electric
light soon manifested a withered appearance. Was
this result the effect of the naked light, or was it
the effect of the chemical products—nitrogenous
compounds and carbonic acid—which are produced
in the electric arc? Proceeding on the first-named
assumption, and with a view of softening the rays of the
electric arc, small jets of steam were introduced into
the house through tubes, drawing in atmospheric air
with the steam, and producing the effects of clouds
interposing themselves in an irregular faehion
between the light and the plants. This treatment was
decidedly beneficial to the plants, although care had
to be taken not to increase the amount of moisture
thus introduced beyond certain limits. As regards
the chemical products—carbonic acid and ritrogenous
compounds—it was thought that these would prove
rather beneficial than otherwise in furnishing the very
ingredients upon which plant life depends, and,
further, that the constant supply of pure carbonic
acid resulting from the gradual combustion of the
carbon electrodes, might render a diminution in the
supply of fresh air possible, and thus lead to eco-
nomy of fuel. The plants did not, however, take
kindly to these innovations in their mode of life,
and it was found necessary to put a lantern of clear
glass round the light, for the double purpose of
discharging the chemical products of the arc and of
interposing an effectual screen between the are and
the plants under its influence. The 'effect of inter-
posing a mere thin sheet of clear glass between the
plants and the source of electric light was most
striking. On placing such a sheet of clear glass so as
to intercept the rays of the electric light from a por-
tion only of a plant—for instance, a tomato plant—it
was observed that in the course of a single night the
line of demarcation was most distinctly shown upon
the leaves. The portion of the plant under the direct
influence of the naked electric light, though at a
distance from it of nine to ten feet, was distinctly
shrivelled, whereas that portion under cover of the
clear glass continued to show a healthy appearance,
and this line of demarcation was distinctly visible on
individual leaves. Not only the leaves, but the young
stems on the plants, soon showed signs of destruction
when exposed to the naked electric light, and these
destructive influences were perceptible, though in a
less marked degree, at a distance of 201 t. from the
source of light. A question here presents itself that
can hardly fail to excite the interest of the physio-
logical botanist. The clear glass does not apparently
intercept any of the luminous rays, which cannot
therefore be the cause of the destructive action. Pro-
fessor Stokes has shown, however, in 1853, that the
electric arc is particularly rich in highly refrangible
invisible rays' and that these are largely absorbed in
their passage through clear glass, it therefore appears
reasonable to suppose that it is those highly refrangible
rays beyond the visible spectrum that work destruc-
tion on vegetable cells, thus contrasting with the
luminous rays of less refrangibility, which, on the con-
trary, stimulate their organic action. Being desirous
to follow up this inquiry a little further, I sowed a
portion of the ground in the experimental conserva-
tory with mustard and other quick-growing seeds, and
divided the field into equal radial portions by means
of a framework, excluding diffused light, but admit-
ting light at equal distances from the electric arc. The
first section was under the action of the naked light,
the second was covered with a pane of clear glass. the
third with yellow glass, the fourth with red, and the
fifth with blue glass. The relative progress of the
plants was noted from day to day, and the differences
of effect upon the development of the plants were
sufficiently striking to justify the following conclu-
sions :—Under the clear glass the largest amount of
and most vigorous growth was Induced; the yellow
glass came next in order, but the plants, though
nearly equal in size, were greatly inferior in colour
and thickness of stem to those under the clear glass;
the red glass gives rise to lanky growth and yellowish
leaf; while the blue glass produces still more lanky
growth and sickly leaf. The uncovered compartment
showed a stunted growth, with a very dark and partly
shrivelled leaf. It should be observed that the
electric light was kept on from five p.m. till six a.m.
every night except Sundays during the experiment,
which took place in January, 1881, but that diffused
daylight was not excluded during the intervals; also
that circulation of air through the dividing framework
was provided for. . . Having in consequence of these
preliminary in quiries determin ed to surround the electric
arc with a clear glass lantern, more satisfactory results
were soon observable. Thus peas which had been sown
at the end of October produced a harvest of ripe fruit
on the 16th of February, under the influence, with
the exception of Sunday nights, of continuous light.
Raspberry stalks put into the house on the 16th of
Deceinber produced ripe fruit on the Ist of March,
and strawberry plants put in about the same time
produced ripe fruit of excellent flavour and colour on
the 14th February. Vines which broke on the 26th
of December produced ripe grapes of stronger flavour
than usual on the 10th of March. Wheat, barley,
and oats shot up with extraordinary rapidity under
the influence of continuous light, but did not arrive
at maturity; their growth having been too rapid for
their strength caused them to fall to the ground after
having attained the height of about 12 inches. Seeds
of wheat, barley, and eats planted in the
open air and grown under the influence of the ex-
ternal electric light produced, however, more satis-
factory results; having been sown in rows on the
6th of January, they germinated with difficulty on
account of frost and snow on the ground, but deve-
veloped rapidly when milder weather set in, and showed
ripe grain by the end of June, having been aided in
their growth by the electric light until the beginning
of May. Doubts have been expressed by some bo-
tanists whether plants grown and brought to maturity
under the influence of continuous light would produce
fruit capable of reproduction; and in order to test this
question, the peas gathered on the 16th of February
from the plants which had been grown under almost
continuous light action were replanted on the 18th of
February. They vegetated in a few days, showing
every appearance of healthy growth. Further evidence
on the same question will be obtained by Dr. Gilbert,
F.R.S., who has undertaken to experiment upon the
wheat, barley, and oats grown as above stated, but still
more evidence will probably be required before all
doubt on the subject can be allayed. I am aware that
the great weight of the opinion of Mr. Darwin goes in
favour of the view that many plants, if not all of them,
require diurnal rest for their normal development,
and it is with great diffidence, and without wishing to
generalize, that I feel bound to state as the result of all
my experiments extending now over two winters, that
although periodic darkness evidently favours growth
in the sense of elongating the stalks of plants, the
continuous stimulus of light appears favourable for
healthy development at a greatly accelerated pace
through all the stages of the annual life of the plant
m fro the early leaf the ripened fruit. The latter
is superior in size, in aroma, and in colour to that
produced by alternating light, and the resulting seeds
are not, at any rate, devoid of regerminating power.
Further experiments are necessary, I am aware,
before it would be safe to generalize, nor does this
question of diurnal rest in any way bear upon that
of annual or winter rest, which probably most plants,
that are not so-called annuals, do require. The
beneficial influence of the electric light has been very
manifest upon a banana palm, which at two periods
of its existence—viz., during its early growth and
at the time of the fruit development, was placed (in
February and March of 1880 and 1881) under the
night action of one of the electric lights -set behind
glass at a distance not exceeding two yards from the
plant. The result was a bunch of fruit weighing 751 b.,
each banana being of unusal size and pronounced by
competent judges to be unsurpassed in flavour. Melons
also remarkable for size and aromatic flavour have
been produced under the influence of continuous light
in the early spring of 1880 and 1881, and I am con-
fident that still better results may be realized when
the best conditions of temperature and of proximity
to the electric light have been thoroughly investigated.
My object hitherto has rather been to ascertain the
general conditions necessary to promote growth by the
aid of electric light than the production of quantita-
tive results; but I am disposed to think that the time
is not far distant when the electric light will be found
a valuable adjunct to the means at the disposal of the
horticulturist in making him really independent of
climato and set.von, and furnishing him with a power
of producing new varieties. Before electro horti-
culture can be entertained as a practical process it
would be necessary, however, to prove its cost, and
my experiments of last winter have been in part di-
rected towards that object. Where water-power is

available the electric light can be produced at an ex-
tremely moderate cost. Dr. Siemens then gives
some particulars respecting the cost of producing
the electric light ; and concludes by saying !
In conclusion I have pleasure to state that the work-
ing of the electric light and transmission of power for the
various operations just named are entirely under the
charge of my head gardener, Mr. Buchanan, assisted
by the ordinary, staff of under gardeners and field
labourers, who probably never before heard of the
power of electricity. Electric transmission of power
may eventually be applied also to thrashing, reaping,
and ploughing. These objects are at the present time
accomplished to a large extent by means of portable
steam engines, a class of engine which has attained
a high degree of perfection, but the electric motor pre-
sents the great advantage of lightness, its weight per
horse power being only 2cwt., while theweight of the p )rt-
able engine with its boiler filled with water may be taken
at 15cwt. per horse power. Moreover, the portable engine
requires a continuous supply of water and fuel, and
involves skilled labour in the field, while the electrical
engine receives its food through the wire (or a light
rail upon which it may be made to move about) from
the central station, where power can be produced at a
cheaper rate of expenditure for fuel and labour than
in the field. The use of secondary batteries may also
be resorted to with advantage to store electrical energy
when it cannot be utilized. In thus accomplishing the
work of a farm from a central power station, consider-
able savings of plant and labour may be effected, the
engine power will be chiefly required for day work, and
its night work, for the purposes of electro-horticulture,
will be a secondary utilization of the establishment
. . .

involving little extra expense. At the same time the
means are provided of lighting the hall and shrubberies
in the most perfect manner, and of producing effects in
landscape gardening that are strikingly beautiful.

In a leader commenting upon Dr. Siemens's address,
The Times says :

Science is not only rapid in its effects; it is eco-
nomical, whatever the vulgar testimony of cash
accounts may say. Nothing is ever lost or wasted in
its operations. Were Niagara or the Falls of
the Clyde at hand, Dr. Siemens might dispense
with an engine to work his electric lights. As
water power is too remote, and he is compelled to
employ an engine, he at least extracts a profit from
the consequent expenditure by substituting the
waste steam condensed in a heater for his former
greenhouse stoves. By day the sun is there, or
should be, to mature fruit and dye flowers. So
the electric energy, which in Dr. !Siemens's indus-
trious establishment no more than peas and beans is
allowed to make an holiday, takes a turn ot field
labour. Until it is wanted to earn prizes at flower
shows, or illuminate halls and shubberies, it cuts
chaff, slices swedes, saws timber, pumps water, and
renders itself generally useful. Wha; he has been
doing on a small scale he believed might be done
wholesale. A wondrous vista is opened up. There
is no reason why the Manchester millowner,
after displaying his calico machinery, should not
usher his guest into vineries and pineries on the
other side of the wall. There the light which
moves the shuttles 'will have been up all night
mellowing fragrant fruit. The iron and steel kings of
the north and the west will be able in the morning to
reveal to the bewildered visitor Titanic hammers
tractable to the thrill of a wireful of electricity.
After dinner they may escort him a mile off to see one
cornfield growing yellow under the radiance of the
same light which subjugated the metal mass, and
another crop already falling beneath an electric sickle.
The neighbourhood of a factory or a forge, now the
most insuperable of objections, will then be a distinct
attraction. Advertisements may be expected to dwell
rhetorically on the advantages of garden land in
the near vicinity of a busy manufacturing town with
abundance of engine power. If London do not spin
cotton or forge iron, it is an insatiable consumer of
mechanical force in other shapes. The more electricity
it accumulates for its ordinary daylight requirements
the better for its vegetable produce. By the time the
Metropolis has rebelled finally against its gas com-
panies and bathes in a shower of electric moonbeams,
fresh exemplifications of the system may cover the
roofs of Lombard-street with exquisite orchards, and
raise bright gardens in the then superfluous coal.
cellars."