The herald., 1896-10-24
AN ELECTRIC FARM.

It was never supposed by the early
experimenters with electricity that
their subtle agent could ever be made
of any practical value to the farmers.
but in the light of recent discoveries
almost anything seems possible, If not
probable, in the application of this fluid.
Electric plows have been patented
in Vienna, and electric hay rakes, reap
ers, carts and threshing machines have
been placed upon exhibition in this coun-
try, and their utility tested favorably.
Experimental farms have been estab-
lished where nearly all the work has
been performed by means Of this pow
erful agent-flelds .plowed, narrowed,
fertilized and rolled, seeds planted and
covered with soil, plants fertilized and
weeds killed. and crops harvested and
threshed. The power has been generat-
ed by erecting large turbine wheel on
some stream where the current could be
depended upon to turn it. The cost of
manufacturing the electricity has been
in this way, and the prospects Of con-
Quoting our farms in the future on an
electric basis seem alluring and attrac-
tive.
But the most noticeable application Of
electricity to farming methods Is that
of employing a current to stimTlate the
growth of the plants. While nothing
plished in this field, the reports Of the
experiment farms and stations warrant
one in believing that something definite
may yet come out of all the labor and
trouble expended. The electric garden
may be a future novelty that will have
for it's chief recommendation real
practical utility.
Many years ago several European
scientists made experiments with cleo
tricity upon plant life. LenStrom in
Finland, Specimen in Southern Russia,
and Cell in France, worked independ-
emily along the same line, applying the
electric current to seeds and the soil
in which the plants were growing, and
to the air Immediately above the surface
of the soil. Suechneff, by applying the
electric current to the seeds and after
wards to the soil, raised radishes seven
teen inches long and five and one-half
inches in diameter The colors of flow
ers were also intensified or changed ac-
cording to the power and distance of the
current, and the maturity of the plants
was greatly hastened.
The first attempts to experiment along
the lines of Lemstrom in this country
were made at Cornell university abou;
five years ago. Agricultural scientists
had long recognized the valuable part
that atmospheric electricity played In
the life of vegetable growths. but the ar
tificial application Of it had never be-
fore been attempted. In addition to the
application of electricity to the seeds of
the plants, and to the soil, the expert
menters at Cornell used the arc light
at night. The plants receiving the bright
electric rays at night, and the sunshine
in the daytime, were found to grow
much faster than those not thus sup
piled with the artificial stimulant. Let
tuce, spinach, radishes and similar veg
etables were brought to maturity in
almost half the ordinary time required,
By applying the arc light direct to the
plants their growth was so accelerated
that many ran to seed before edible
leaves were formed. Plants placed with
in five feet of the lamp died and wilted
shortly after being taken out of the
soil.
The effect upon Towering plants was
almost startling. The plants were made
to shoot UP rapidly, and under forced
stimulation the stalks grew up tall, slen-
der and weak. The blooms were hasten
ed in their growth, and in the case of
petunias they produced more flowers
than by the old system. verbenas, on
the other hand, were uniformly injured
when placed near the electric lamp. Both
the leaves and the flowers were hasten
ed in their growth, but they were small
and insignificant, while many of the
lower clusters died before they had
reached their full expansion. The ef-
feet Of the electric light upon colors
was even more interesting than upon
the growth of the plants. The colors
of the tulips were deepened and made
more brilliant while most Of the scarlet,
dark red, blue and pink flowers were
turned to a grayish white. Nearly all
of the flowers artificially stimulated
into beauty by the electric light soon
lost their brilliancy and faded much
more quickly than those raised by ma
ture's methods.
An important part of the experiments
that have been made along this line
is that the crops that were not injured
by the electric lights were nearly twice
as large as those exposed to the inffu-
ence of the current. Lemstrom in try
ing to measure the influence of the cur
rent upon growing wheat and vegeta-
bles procured so per cent more grains
from a small tract of ground that was
planted with O small network Of wires
than from similar plot Of soil not thus
stimulated
Experiments have been continued
with more or less regularity at Cornell
since these first discoveries and It is
probable that we will yet be able to
attain the results long anticipated by
agricultural scientists. Some plants
have been found to have such . fond