THE ELECTROCULTURE OF CROPS 615 



jectured, we know next to nothing about the inter-relation of 

 the various processes which make up the life of the plant and 

 their variation in different phases of that life. It is no wonder, 

 therefore, that the scientific agriculturist has always been very 

 sceptical of the results obtained in plant physiology, and that 

 there has resulted an apparent discrepancy between the results 

 obtained in agricultural practice and in physiological experi- 

 ments. 



Hence it is not surprising that in regard to the contributions 

 of plant physiology to electroculture there is very little to be 

 said. In all the physiological researches conducted in order 

 to solve problems of electroculture there is a lack of realisation 

 of the electrical problems involved and a neglect to inquire 

 into the progress of pure physics, so that there is a general 

 idea that it is unessential in these experiments to trouble about 

 the conditions of discharge of electricity, and that results 

 obtained, for instance, from experiments with currents of low 

 E.M.F. through germinating seeds can be used as arguments in 

 regard to experiments with electric discharge through air on 

 actively growing and maturing plants. 



A favourite subject of investigation by the physiologists 

 was the effect of electricity on protoplasmic movement. In 

 1837 Amici and in 1838 Becquerel and Dutrochet studied the 

 influence of an electric current on the movement of protoplasm 

 of Chara vulgaris. Similar experiments were conducted at a 

 later date by Heidenhain (1863), Kuhn (1864), and others, on 

 protoplasmic movements in the leaves of Vallisneria. Similar 

 experiments have been performed up to our own day, but 

 nothing fruitful for our subject has resulted from them. 



A few investigators have attacked the problem from the 

 point of view of determining whether the beneficial effect of 

 electroculture is due to an acceleration of the assimilatory 

 process. For this purpose a current was passed through a 

 piece of a water plant, as by Thouvenin (1896), or through an 

 aerial leaf, as by Pollacci (1907), and in each case an increased 

 rate of assimilation was recorded as a result of the passage of 

 the current. But these experiments are open to so much 

 criticism that it is impossible to draw any conclusions from 

 them. This holds also for arguments derived from in vitro 

 experiments, such as those of W. Lob (1905), who argues from 

 the supposed formation of formaldehyde from carbon dioxide 



