878 Jr/rictdtural Gazette of y.S.W. [Nor. 2, 1908. 



\u rcLjard ti> tho coimiici'cial side of tlir ijucstinii. Professor Lemstrom 

 takes for an exainjile a :^r)-acre liclil of \\lieat. He puts the initial cost of 

 the apparatus at <£10(~', and the ainuial upkeep at £23. The inercased 

 yield of 45 per eent. in the first crop pays not only the upkeeji, hut two- 

 fifths of the initial outlay. On larger areas the profit would Ic much greater, 

 inasmneli as the cost of working does not increase in the sanu' i-atio. Foui' 

 years have passed since Lemstrom jiuhlishcd tlic^c jtarticular.s, and as there 

 i.s considei'ahle modification in the system novv in use in England by Sir 

 Oliver liodge, and decreased expense is usually the natural accompaiument 

 of scientific advance, further information as to the cost of the later system 

 is awaited with considerable interest. 



It was as the result of years of study '\n connection with Ins jiolar region 

 voyages of research, in which lie realiscMl that the greatest plant acti\ity was 

 concurrent with the periods of greatest auroi'al vividness, that Lemstrom was 

 led to the conclusion that electi'icity nuist be reckoned among the priiicipal 

 factors of })lant life. 



It is said to have been demonstrated that the use of electrified .seeds not 

 only produces a larger quantity of successful plants, but that a greater pro- 

 portion germinate. 



7. Utilising Atmospheric Electricity. 



fSo far back as the year 1746 a Scotch scientist named Maimbray made 

 experiments on the influence of atmospheric electricity on myrtle trees, and 

 in a pajier read last year before the Bristol Naturalists' Society, reference 

 was made to the mode of applying electricity to plants employed by a Fi'encli 

 ecclesiastical scientist, the Abbe Berthelon, in 1783. He used an apparatus 

 for concentrating atmospheric electrical discharge upon plants, and demon- 

 strated an improvement in the appearance of vegetation, and in the fertility 

 of the plants. Contrariwise, Grandeau, in 1S79, protected plants from the 

 atmospheric electric influence, and showed that development was therebv 

 gi-eatly retarded. Coming to the present day, Professor Berthelot, in his 

 experiments at the Mendon Agricultural Chemistry Station, compared the 

 growth of plants at the top of a tower nearly 100 feet high with that of 

 plants at the foot of the tower, and concluded that the greater gro\\th at the 

 higher level was largely due to the potential gradient in the atmosphere. 



French scientists have directed theii' attention particulai'ly to this question 

 of utilising atmospheric electricity, with successful results. The system is to 

 set up a geomagnetifere — or kind of lightning conductor — in the centre of a 

 field, and to connect witli it a netwoi-k of wires ruinung through the soil. 

 One trial of this kind showed an increase of ')() per cent, in a potato crop, 

 while the improvement was still greatei in the case of tomatoes, peas, and 

 other plants. 



8. Preliminary Experiments of the U.S.A. Agriculture Department. 



Experiments in electro-culture are being made by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, in order to determine whether any increased 

 yield or hastening of maturity results from such treatment. The iiivestigations 



