Nov. 2, 190S.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 881 



full strength of the machine for five minutes, a result at the rate of 20 

 bushels 44 lb. per acre was obtained ; from another plot, planted with seed 

 ■electrified to one-half the full strength for five minutes, the result was 18 

 bushels 40 lb. per acre ; while on a check plot sown in the ordinary way, 

 the yield was 16 bushels 10 lb. per acre. 



Mr. Butterfield did 

 not live to continue his 

 experiments, but they 

 were followed up by Mi-. 

 Charles Barclay, of Cor- 

 ney Point, who is stated 

 to have increased his 

 own yield with treated 

 seed on 60 acres by fully 

 40 per cent. Strangely 

 enough, though he is 

 reported to have treated 

 his whole crop in the 

 following year, no pai-- 

 ticulars of the result 

 appear to have been 

 made available. 



The machine used for 

 applying the current to 

 the steeped seed appears 

 to have been an ordinary 

 medical coil set, such as 

 is used for rheumatism, and costing from £2 to £3. 



Other experiments have been made at Werris Creek, in this State, by a 

 farmei', who is reported to have obtained very satisfactory results from various 

 plants, the seeds of which had been electrically treated. 



Medical Coil Set; as used in the South Australian seed-electrifying 

 experiments.— From block by Anthony Horderu & tons, Sydney. 



12. Question of Nitrogen-fixing Industries in Australia. 



In regard to the pi^acticability of establishing atmospheric nitrogen-fixing 

 industries in Austi-alia, we certainly have not the extent of water-power 

 like that employed in Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, America, and other 

 countries with great waterfalls. Nevertheless it need not be concluded that 

 we are destitute of the means of obtaining the necessary power. It is held by 

 some that even in the hydro form available power might be obtained from the 

 Barron Falls, the Tully River Falls, and the Wallaman Falls near Ingham, in 

 Northern Queensland. The question is whether the falls are of sufiicient per- 

 manence ; and in this connection the representations, pictorial or otherwise, 

 which we are accustomed to, are published more with the idea of attracting 

 tourists to the district. What amount of power could Ije obtained therefrom 

 would require careful consideration. 



