The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-07-18

| a A IS and brilliancy of coloring
V HG1a phenomena which seem in.
compatible with the climate. For the
s Arctic summer, though nightless, is
very short, the sun is low, and its rays
are often intercepted by fog and clouds,
SO that it cannot furnish an amount Of
light and heat favorable to very rapid
growth.
The inyestiga tons of Professor Lem
strom, of Helsingfors, and others, tend
. to show that electricity exerts great
4 influence on the growth of plants, and
this view is confirmed by the luxuriant
Vegetation Of the zone of action of that
{ioIent electrical manifestation, the au-
bra borealis Furthermore, a close
a connection has been found, in Finland,
\ between fruitfulness and frequency of
4 auroras. Finally, Lemstrom was led
to attribute to the sharp points Of
plants, such as the beard Of grains,
the function of lightning rods" which
collect atmospheric electricity and facil-
tate the exchange of the charges OF
the air and the ground
Thereupon he proceeded to submit
4 the suspected effect of electricity upon
& vegetable growth to the test OF expert
8 ment, beginning in 1885 with num-
Der Of flower pots containing similar
soil and seed. Some Of the pots were
.eubjected to the action of an influence
pr inductive. statical electric machine,
HE pole of which was connected with
the soil in the pot, and the other with
8 wire netting stretched over it. The
other pots were left to nature. The
selectric machine was driven several
hours daily. Within a week the cleo
trified plants showed a more vigorous
growth than the others, and in eight
weeks the disparity in weight of grain
and straw alike, amounted to forty per
cent This favorable result suggested
a field experiment with barley, in
which an increase Of thirty -seven per
cent was obtained by identification
In the following year the experiments
were extended to various plants. The
results we're contradictory in some re-
spects. and showed that the advantage
deriyabIe from electroculture depends
also upon other factors. such as tenn
perature, moisture Of air and soil,
and the natural fertility and the. ma
nuring of the latter The supply of
water proved to be of especial i'm
portance. Extensive experiments with
potatoes carrots and celery showed
increases in crop of from thirty to
seventy per cent. Potted strawberry
plants, in the greenhouse, produced
ripe fruit, under electrical influence,
Ia half the usual time Small differ
ences, possibly due to extraneous
causes, appeared when the direction of
the current was reversed. Other field
experiments gave increases of as, So,
occasionally So per cent. for grain, and
cabbage, tobacco, fax, turnips and
.eas grew better without electrifca
ton thGsN#sth it.
Ehen Eemstrom, in order to test the
4ect of climate on electro-culture.
transferred his experiments from Fin
fand to Burgundy where be found his
Earlier observations confirmed, partic-
'uIarly in regard to the great influence
lof irrigation. He concluded. that. the
|more vigorous growth induced by cleo
|tricity must be sustained by rapid
,ingestion of food. shat is to say-a rich
soil being presupposed-by an album
liant supply of water. With copious
watering peas, which in the earlier
Experiments had reacted unfavorably |
4 TO identification, now showed diff
ference of seventy-fve per cent in
4 favor of the electrified plants, carrots
gave an increase of 125 per cent and
sugar beets augmented their percent
zage of sugar by fifteen per cent. The
experiments in Burgundy also con
firmed the Importance of the character
of the soil The richer the soil, the
4greater is the advantage of electricas
culture, which is quite useless in very
Door ground. Hence, the Sahara can
not be converted into garden by
electro-culture.
In 1883 Lemstrom's experiments
sceased for time, but other investi-
gators attacked the problem from a
different side, endeavoring to affect by
Identification, not the growing plant,
put the seed. The Russian botanist,
&pechniew, submitted grain to electri-
action, and thought that it sprouted
rllersand more vigorously than grain
hot so treated. Pautens, who in 1894
Repeated Spechniew's experiments on
"a larger scale, came to the conclusion
that electricity had no effect on dry
seeds, but that it promised excellent
results when applied in connection
with moisture-which in itself pro-
notes termination The same con-
s elusion was. reached by Kermey. who
4 In 1897 electrified grain strewn on
moist sand in glass cylinder through
which it could be observed. The metal
top and bottom Of the cylinder were
connected to the poles OF galvanic
battery.
But while electrical treatment of dry
grain is comparatively simple and
cheap, electrifcation during germina-
tion is even more difficult and costly
than the application of electrocuIture
to the growing plant. Grandeur and
Leclerq, therefore, returned to the lat
ter method, but, instead of using an
artificial source, they studied the effect
Of atmospheric electricity by covering
part OF 4 aeld with wire netting. The
uncovered plants showed an increase
of SO to 60 per cent in growth and
iruitfulness over the plants which
were shielded by the netting from
. natural electrical action.