Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-03

ABOUT tender blossoms peeping out in the
| glad sunshine will have to study up in
| electricity to be in a position to compose
| thoroughly up-to-date poemlets. An cleo
| troculturist is a man who grows things
| by the aid of electric light He makes
the light do duty as sunshine, and as all
varieties of plants do twice as much
| growing in the daytime compared with
| the night, when they are supposed to go
| to sleep, he keeps them awake by turning
| on the electric light after shutdown and
| forces them to keep on growing every
| hour of the twenty-four
Many people have enormously thought
| that 1t was necessary to the good health
| of plant for it to sleep at night. The
electrocuturist says this is all bosh
Plants, he claims, do not sleep, rest, re-
cuperate or do anything of that kind at
night They simply waste away the
time. They might just as we'll keep on
growing at night as in the daytime, he
argues, and moreover they accomplish
Just as much in less than one-half the
time.
Invigorates the Roots.
Not only does the electricity give them
kind of make believe sunshine, but it
also allows of reintroduction of current
In the soil surrounding the plants, invig-
Grating the roots and forcing them to
grow to an unusual size. The use of the
electric current in this way has, when
discreetly applied, the same effect upon
plants that it has upon the human body
when the latter is afflicted with certain
forms of disease. In the case of paralytics
electricity is applied because it stimu-
lates the nerves and muscles in much the
same way that natural exercise does.
In cases where electricity has been ap-
piled to the soil great care has been
taken in the regulation of the current.
Electricity is mighty peculiar thing,
and its relation to vegetable life has
been found to be quite similar to it's eff
, fectS upon the human body. For in
stance, strong current of electricity
has been used successfully for the re-
moval of superf1uous hair, while a mild
current has been used efficaciously for
the restoration of hair upon bald heads
In its use with vegetable life a strong
current has been found to be deadly 1t
kills the roots, or so stunts the growth
of the plants as to render them next to
useless. On the other hand, a mild cur
rent has been found to be most slim
ulating.
The use of electricity upon all kinds
of vegetable life can be said to have
passed the experimental stage, although
the first experiment was made at a COM
parativeIy recent date. In many sections
of the country scientists interested in all
the phases of agriculture and horticul-
ture are now conducting experiments,
some In one way and some in others, but
all with the use of electricity.
Already a New Jersey farmer has
taken advantage of these scientific dis
coveries, and expects soon to be in
position to raise eight or ten or a dozen
crops a year and compete actively with
the growers of the far south who flood
the northern markets with early fruits
and vegeta bles. The Toms river flows
through part of his farm, and he damned
the water for the purpose of giving pow
er to a small electric plant on the side of
the stream.
This farmer soon had enough electricity
to supply good sized country town, but
unfortunately nothing of the kind was
near. He imported several electric plows
from Vienna, each one capable of cutting
six burrows at time, and motors were
rugged up to them SO that they would
turn over the surface soil at very little
expense.
] Ground wires and overhead wires ram