The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1893-07-15
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
MATTERS OF INTEAREsT
TO CURIOUS MINDS.
The wonderful Progress Made H.
the Cultivation Of Plants by EIec-
tricity-FOddcr From Trees-An-
other Type-CompOsing Machine.

Some most valuable additions to the
data available in regard to the new
science Of e%lectroculture, or the cult
walton Of plants by electricity, nave
been made by Brother paulin, as inc
results Of a series of experiments con
Quoted scientifically. These expert
ments have extended w the last two
years. Finding that electricity exerted
a favorable influence on vegetable LIE,
Brother raulin devised what he called
a "gecmagnetifere,' for the purpose Of
attracting what electricity Is found
near the earth in consequence of me-
neurological phenomena, such as storI1s,
rains. wind. etc, and distributing It In
the ground in the vicinity Of the roots
Of Plants. The seomlgnetitere IL q res,
nous pole, ranging In height from ~
to 90 feet, which is planted IN the
ground, and which supports, by means
of porcelain insulators, a galvanized
iron rod that terminates In nv copper
points; these points project prominent
" from its top. This collecting brusn
IL connected by means OF b rod WIN
a system of wires 6 feet 8 inches apart,
which distribute the electricity IN the
ground which it il proposed 10
ence. The area depends upon the
height of the pole. An area OF, say,
1858 square yards, for example, ID
allowed q pole 40 feet 2 inches 6
The wires are buried to o depth 81
6 to IS inches in the ground, and VIII
last for many years, in fact until they
are destroyed by rust, The first exr
pertinent made by Brother Paulin was
conducted In the spring of 1891, IN "a
potato field belonging to a farmer IN
the suburbs of Montbrison, France. A
report was published in the following
July which drew special attention to
the marka ed %irregularity in the vcgeta-
ton in the field which has been brought
under the influence of the current. 1t
said: I'm an exact circle in which the
electric conductors are buried the po-
tato plants have a growth double that
IN the rest of the field. And this is true
without exception. There Is no gap
in the groups of plauts, forming a cir
Gle almost as exact as If it had been
drawn by a compass" The Agricultur-
al Society of Montbrison regarded the
results attained of such Importance "a
to entitle Brother Paulin to o special
medal. The report of the committee
shows that the operations Of the geo
magnetifere extended over an area OF
Is feet s inches in radius. In this
part of the field the stems of the po-
tato plants attained an extraordinary
size and development, and preselyed
at the same q freshness that e0ltrasted
very f%avorably with those in neietbor-
ing parts of the field. The stems were
measured and wefe found to leach q
height Of 57.87 inches and 3S1=l,OOO
inch in diameter. -Four patches OF
ground which represented the average
vegetation in both parts Of the field
were selected, two of which were trav-
ersed by wires, while the other two
were rot subjected to the influence Of
electricity. The thirty-two meters in
the former area yielded 19a pounds
of potatoes, while the same area of the
uniniuenced portion Of the field pro-
duced LA pounds. The production per
hectare can acres, in the first case
would he 81, 600 pounds, and in the sec
end 41,14Q pounds. This result, at
tanned without any special fertilizing
and with q common variety of potatoes
equals the best crops obtain ID at large
expense with chemical fertile srs. -~+