874 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.TF. [Nov. 2, 1908. 



Ill (•(iiiiicci ion with tlic (|ucsti()ii of iiiti'O^cn mijijiIv tlu- ]M)t('iitialitii's of 

 ieguiniiious cfdiis ill idtatioii with niain, such as hiccnic, ch^vcr, cowpeas, 

 tares, peas and Ix-aiis. are not overlooked. This system ot' culture is strongly 

 advocated, but it could not be as extensive as the forcL'oiiig. General resort to 

 it would inevitably reduce the grain area. 



4. Thwaite System of Electee culture. 



Not only indirectly is electricity a \aluable aid to agriculture, as in the 

 manufacture of atmospheric nitrates, l)ut it has now been satisfactorily 

 demonstrated that the direct application of the ravs of electric light has a 

 iiowei-ful and Ix'iieficial effect in stinudatiTi"- and acceleratinsr tiie growth of 

 plants. This fact was known innneiliately after the invention of the electric 



arc by Jablockhoff", and nearly 

 thirty years ago Sir William 

 Siemens in England made 

 conclusive tests in this direc- 

 tion. ^\'ell-developed straw- 

 berries of excellent flavour 

 were exhibited by him at a 

 meeting of tlie Royal Society 

 in 1880. Bei'thelot in France, 

 liemstrom in Sweden, and 

 Bailey in America, prosecuted 

 further investigations of a 

 similar nature with satisfac- 

 tory results. 



But it remaine<l for the 

 experiments now being carried 

 out at the Koyal l'>otanic Gar- 

 dens in London to solve more 

 completely the problems of 

 plant grow ing under electric 

 light, by means of what is 

 known as the Thwaite system 

 of electro-culture. 



The necessary aarents in this 

 syst(>tn ai-e CI) nil ample sup- 

 ply of violet or chemically 

 active rays, projected fi-om 

 powerful and luoNini; arc 

 lamps ; (2) a supply of electrostatic current for the atmosphere and the plant 

 roots ; (3) the plant environment of an atmosphere containing moisture and 

 carbon dioxide, in the pi'oportion common to f(>rtile countric^s, and a 

 temperature ranging from 70 to cSO degrees Fahi-. : (4) an ideal fertilising 

 agent; and (5) an ample suj>ply of water for the loots. 



The apparatus em ploved to fuliil these conditions is installed in an <ir(linary 

 glass-house, and consists of a suction power gas plant, the engine of which i.s 



Thwaite Electro-Culture System Rear Side of the Arc Light 



From The Srifntiiic Aii\encii7i. 



