880 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [iV^or. 2, 1908. 



All who are inteiested in tlic closer study of this important subject of x\w 

 utilisation of the electric current in the a<^ricultural and horticultui-al indus- 

 tries are i-ecomniended to obtain a co})y of Professor Lenistroni's " Electricity 

 in Agriculture and Horticulture,"' a handy little volume of 72 pages, published 

 by the Electrician Printing and Publishing Company, Ltd., Fleet-street,. 

 London. Further details in connection with the experiments dealt with in tliis 

 article will also be found in The World's Work oi October, 1!)(>7. ;nid Ajiril 

 1908; in Nature of July 2.3, 1908; in the FortniyJuly Rerv'iv of .April, 

 1908 ; in the Hcientijic American of October 19, 1907, and February 22,. 

 1908 ; and in the Electrical Eiiginter of July 24, 1908. The latter is a 

 contribution from the pen of Sir Olixcr Ijodge. 



10. Preliminary Experiments at tlie Hawkesbury Agricultural College. 



At the Hawkesl)ury Agricultur-al College, Professor Lemstrom s experi- 

 ments, as set forth in his Ijook on " Electricity in Agi-iculture and 

 Horticulture, ' have for some time been a matter of study ; but in the absence- 

 of his appai-atus, it did not seem practical to apply the tests. Recent 

 developments reported, however, led to some interesting laboratory tests in- 

 the shape of pot experiments. .Subsequently, attention was drawn to some 

 results obtained from treating wheat with a high intensity current while in a 

 solution of copper sulphate, and seed has since been subjected to this treat- 

 ment at the College and planted out in the experimental plots. Framed 

 samples of wheat plants, showing a great improvement in stooling and in' 

 general vigour, are on \'iew in the visitors' room. Further pot and field' 

 expeinments are now in progress, with the object of testing the correctness 

 ()!■ otherwise of the first laboratory experiments, but under cf)nditions some- 

 what raoi'e varied. When there have been sufficient repetition trials, definite 

 conclusions will be arrived at and made public. 



With regard to the more extensive experiments in connection with the- 

 direct application of the electric current to wheat fields, further details of 

 Sir Oliver Lodge's tests, and the arrival of the necessary plant for carrying 

 out this kind of work, are being awaited, and, as soon as possible, it is pro- 

 posed to treat an area of about 10 acres. 



11. South Australian Experiments with Electrified Seed. 

 Experiments with electrified seed have also been made in South Aus- 

 tralia, near Yorketown, in the Yorke Peninsula, by the late Mr. George- 

 Butterfield, and tlio results have b(!en made public in a jiaper read at a 

 meeting of the local branch of the Agricultural P>ureau. It should be stated 

 that unsuccessful attempts at the direct application of current to the soil had 

 been made. The seed to which electric current had been appliefl during, 

 from three to five minutes, in various degrees of strength, was then sown in 

 different pots, while in one pot untreated seed was planted for comparison- 

 There was an improvement reported in the plants from the electi'ified seed 

 ranging from 55 to 80 per cent. This encouraged Mr. Buttei-field to make 

 an extended field trial. From one plot planted with seed electrified with the- 



