New-York tribune., 1894-01-14
ELETTRICITY IND PLANT GHOU IH
RESULTS OF CAREFUL EXPERIMENTS At THE
n,TCn EXPERIMENT STATION.
From The Boston Herald

| From The Boston Herald.
AmnTrS Plotssor 2r e. H. Warnr mreorolossi Of the
Hatch Experiment Station Of the state AgflcuIt- =
urai coeee made some Interesting and important
experiments in electro culture. and the history and
results Of these he has given III a coh'lSe anu
very entertaining report that has just been pub
Iished in Erlletin = Of The Experiment Station
in the report Professor Warner says that the
and develotmont of plants has long been rccos
nized but Just what the relation Is. experiment.
lem one would naturally turn TO batterieS STUDY
the effect of currents prodncrd cheiiicaW & n'n
ir.city produced in the aimospherr .,.....
thus far carried on. but which have given NAM W
contradictory results In these th"r" was ntte % OF
no hing dom, determine the quantity ot rl"'ttl9
current used a; any slN'n nm III ,,IoI ed in
cases however u galVanoincter wa rinp'oSru , ""
prove thr existence or non-cNisience OF current
but there Was no apparatus used Tor h"'ihS III"
exact number of amp"rrS or Noi'S ,...,,,,,
the exact quantity of electricity 10 which The plants
are subjected is u is essential 70 N""" ''' 'N'
teuc, OF the electric current , ,l.,r,
Two years ago experiments dealing win el'citir-
~ only were begun at the station. ana M t'sn'S
moro extensive basis In the hrst garden th"re was
no wa, 10 determine at any given iime ihr Juan
AS the electricity was ierived from the common
al h,tt.rv IN. str.ngth Of the current changed
A. different times being much stronger wh"h IN"
chemicals were renewed The following is taken IL
r"c, from Professor warner report
TO obvi4ie his difficulty It was decided 10
hirh tho current could be- entirely controlled and
,n@as,ireI For purpose Of comparison two plois
Of .ro1nd ~, prepared side by side. each s'S'
o., on, to he used Win Inc other without. ri"c-
,rlcitv I'm THIS paper these plots viii b" d"Ss
mated a. the electric and nou-"cctric gardens "" ne
soil was rich oam well spad"l ana th" @ pn'H ~ ~
situated that the rows of m" non-"~ctrc "'fr t'r
continuation Of thos" oi M" 'l"', k"ru,m. k, ,t
4 space 81 about twenty inches Nins h"'~''h VIE
Two Around The electric bed. or garden "'- con
,tuc,cd a :ramework mad" on sk' ,asm ,or. ,',''
b.rs on which were fast"ped porcelain ihsu,',o,S
four inches apart. continuous non .'hNnia''" ."p
per wire $50 L., WAS strung on th"S' POI lam 1i
nsuators. and the whole structure Wa 'h.n m"' H.
So that th, wirs should be tw" Inches below IN"
surface Of the ground Near "i hhn' ~"r i, I,.,
s,yi,rhes meters voltmeier. amm"ter r-lnr"r ana
resistance lamps when ih" arIar"i"S was i ,inrd m
place. perfect control "i IN" '"fI'n's W., W. .' ~
thronchoui the whole tim" the "Nprriih"nt Wa "'
nrogreee El.ciriHty WAS generated Nv IN" dNhh-
mo the electric lfht Sih'l"h; ,n' @ u, -,
,iternatinc and was applied nightly from ilin' 81
un'ii after II O'Clock. or 'n'ni l"n' "''' '''''
from Junr 10 20 octob"r !. inclnslv"
Prom Jun. 10. the beginning "f IN" rspei mrn'
., I,l, i9 fh. current WAS steadily increased from
,,.,iv. ,r,t.r.s io ihiriy-uinc amperes which was
th. mavlnim reached and u remained ~ TINS pom,
from july - - S""'inn'' |' u, 49,. ,t', 49,
from nfi"en minimum 10 MY -tf"" - "
The ground. having been PREPARED. was plantra
Iunc with seeds OF ten N|r't'" ~ "E"'a"I'rI'
liz.r Whatever was used. and II thor" "hs any ar
ference IN IN" f"riiiiiy ol tn' r1lI. ~ wa tm ,.
rIod III Investigation ana study both. plots w"r"
subjected to identical ,r'a,,nrn, saH" IN ,n' sp
nrsf ,rnlied June 10. the current being lively" am
p"rrs q" h sf,rt that The dffoct ~ The stronger
pn, n,i,,,t be NOR" niclligcntlv studied the
''..,I,,.,t t,rocrcl"d. Throughout th" period The
,,n,rd was kept we'll wlter"i. IN order that II
MIMI act as q good conductor
There 4 then given fpll history Of tn" vegetables
, ,nev u,nt,ir.d From the summar,' OF results re-
corded In fh- report. Professor N"IH"t "r"WS IN"
following conclusions:
fat rn,t when subjected to electrical influences
s,,,. ,.rieiias of seeds sermnat" NOR" quickly and
certain plants bioSs"W sooner.
III, Thai sornc kinds Of vegetables have n ten
drncy 10 enlarge ih'ir roofs VIII" DINERS gro"
large amount 81 tops
&C., 'rhat plants standing near the electrodes de-
volnD a larger growth of roots and foliage.
al, Tha' Tomatoes Tipen sooner.
,n, THAT the vegetables experimental with were
not at an injured h., current az thirty am
urr.s win voltag. of fify-threr. but rather were
stimulated n growth
IL. adds that growing vegetables by electricity
can hardlv hr considered practical Experiments
u,itb IAN polrs crowned with teeth. for collecting
the cl.ctr.civ Of Ga" atmosphere or where copper
ard zinc mates buried beneath the plants were
ue.d cns, very little compared with the
uensn of growing plants with the aid OF electric
currents generated by batteries or dynamOs. The
II e,hod of collecting and using atmospheric elcc
tr,,itv might b.. employed with possibility of the
farmer being well paid 10y an increased growth Of
ccreals and som" varieties of vegetables but when
batteries and dynamos employed. the cost Of
suliing from a network Of lines In addition the
expense of generating the electricity used would
render the Undertaking too expensive Tor the every
day farmer The increase In crops would scarcely
nay for the trouble and outlay: but. bc this II
may il is very apparent that electricity does to
ront Of plants. what the results of the foregoing
cxrermcnts wOud have been had the plants. during
their been Subjectc,i to continuous elec-
trIcll Influences. cannot ne foretold