Daily public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1892-191?, 1896-08-29
ELEcrRIc LAMPS.
Used successfully to Stimulate the Growth
of Flowers aud Plants.

of Flowers and Plants.
The stimulation of the growth Of
plants by the electric light has hitherto
been looked upon as fad or pretty
experiment, and of no great practical
value, but some details of recent re-
suits in the forcing of vegetation under
she influence of strong artificial light
sho,, 3hat that system has taken n firm
hold on the modern market gardening
industry. This is in great measure due
TO the assiduous efforts of Cornell usaj-
vcrsity to develop whatever was eftcc-
tive i'm the method, to which end it has
been experimenting diligently for the
last six years. During the year it's re-
ports have become so encouraging that
many horticulturists and large growers
Of vegetables have been led to apply the
electric light for cultivation purposes.
a fancy truck farmer in Massachusetts
calculates that he obtains a gain of five
days in crop of lettuce by the use OF
the light, and as he grows three crops
during the winter the total gain is two
weeks of time.
The gain from one crop he estimates
as sufficient to pay the expenses of rum
ming the lights all winter. All the light
he uses for the lettuce forcing is derived
from three lamps of 1000 candle power
each, which run all night. The failures
in electric gardening have greatly
diminished with the increase of knowl-
edge as to the effect of different grades
of light, and their specific influence on
certain plants. For instance, the light
Of the uninclosed arc and that modified
by glass globe have sometimes marked
~ opposite effects, the former often
proving injurious instead of beneficial
TO the plants. Some flowers, which at
first seemed to suffer from the light,
afterward became, accustomed and
thrived under il. On the other hand,
some flowers that were for short time
apparently stimulated and strength
ened began TO weaken and fail in few
days.
The color of turnips was deeper and
richer for awhile, but the flowers lost
their brilliancy when exposed to the
sunlight. This fact suggested to q
Jersey gardener the shrewd idea OF
growing flowers for bouquets or cor
sage bouquets for use at night. He finds
that these flowers are almost double the
ordinary size, and exceedingly brilliant,
but when they are to be used for evening
decoration they must be kept in dark
rooms during the daytime. Large guam
titles of such flowers are now being cul-
tivated for the purpose Of being exc
posed for sale only at night in stores
lighted by electricity. In the earlier
experiments the color of scarlet flowers
turned to grayish white, and, while all
bloomed earlier and produced larger,
blossoms, they soon faded. A reduction
in the quantity of light, and softening
of it by opal glass globes remedied tais
trouble. 1t was long thought that
plants grew more rapidly under the in
fuence of the electric light because of
the extension of their working hours
the continuous light prevented them
from resting at night-but scientists
now generally concede that electricity
helps the plants to assimilate the ME
trogen of the atmosphere, and favors
them in talSingup certain mineral salts
of the earth.