Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1893-07-20
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
SARioIs MATTERS or INTEREST
TO curious MINDS.
The Wonderful rrugrcss Made In
the Cultivation of Plants by Eicc-
triritS--Eoddcr From Trccs--An-
other Typc-CompoSinG Machine,

Some most valuable nj Iii pus To the
data available IN regard 10 the new
science of clectroculturc, or the cult
walton of plants 10y electricity, have
been made by Brother, paulin, MS the
results of n series of experiments con.
Quoted sricn,incallv These expert,
ments have extended over the last two
years. Finding that electricity cNcrtcl
favorable iniiucn q IN vegetable life,
Brother rnuln devised what he called
"gcomnguctifcre, for the purpose Of
attracting what electricity Is found
near the earth In consequence of me
neurological phenomenal, such as storlas
rains wind, etc, aud distributing 1t IN
the ground In the vicinity Of the roots
of Rants. The ycom lgnctitStc Is Il res
inous pole, ranging In height from 10
to 90 fcat. which Is planted IN the
ground, and which supports, by means
OF porcelain mSulatorS, II galvanized
iron rod that terminates In i've copper
POINTS; these points project prominent
" from It's top, This collecting brush
Is conn Nctcd hS means of the rod witt,
n system of wires feet o inches apart
which distribute the electricity In the
ground which II is proposed 10 inllu-
cncc. Tho area depends upon the
height of the pole. An area of, say,
3,aSS square yards, for example, Is
allowed n pole 10 feet > Inches high.
The wires ARE buried 10 II depth Of
q To Is inches In the ground. aud viii
last FOR nanf years, m inct until illcy
are destroyed by rust. The first cN.
pertinent made by Brother Pnulin was
conducted In the spring OF 1891, In a
potato field belonging to farmer IN
the suburbs of Monthrison, France, A
report was published In the following
lllly which drew SpcCill att milton 10
The marked irreguarlty In The vcgcta-
ton In the field which iaS been brought
under the influence Of the current II
said: "ln nm exact circle In which the
electric conductors are buried The po-
tnto plants have growth double thni
III the rest of the field And this is true
without exception There Is no gap
IN the groups of plluts, forming cir-
cIa almost as exact ns VI u had been
drawn by n compass" The Agricnlur-
nj Society Of MontbrlSon regarded the
results attained of such Importance ms
10 entitlc Brother Paulin Ia II special
medal The report of the committee
shows that the operations of the geo
mngncilfcrr extended over nm area of
90 feet i inches IN radius, In this
part of tie field the stems of the po'
tnto plants attained m extraordinary
size and development nud preserved
NJ the s;lmr Il freshness that oontrnsted
very fnyornhly with those In nciplb"r-
ing parts of the field. The items were
measured and were found 10 .rncli II
height of 5TSI inches hul ISi-l,oW
inch In diameter -Four patches of
ground which represented the average
vegetation IN both parts Of the iicld
were selected. two OF which were tray
ciscd by wires, while the other two
were rot subjected 10 ;he ntuenc, or
electricity. The thirly-two meters IN
the former area yielded l!DS pounds
Of potatoes, while the same area OF the
uninlluonccd portion # the ii,ld pro-
duccd ~ pounds The production per
hrctnrc t21T acres, In the iirSt ease
would be ~ GDO pounds, ana In the see
cnd ii,1IO pounds, THIS result, NJ
tanned without any special fcrlilizlng
and with u common variety of potatoes
equals the best crops obtain III NJ large
expense with chemical fertilizers.