1746 



METHODS OF SOIL CULTIVATION 



the swampy condition of the area was due to the Okeechopee lake and that 

 as the rim of the lake was some 20 ft. above the level of the tidal river, the 

 reclamation could be effected by merely cutting canals through the rock 

 rim of the lake and allowing the water to flow away by force of gravity. 

 The first reclamation project which has already been carried into effect 

 included the excavation of 4 canals of a total length of 200 miles and of an 

 average cross section of 5 X 60 ft.; 6 dredges were employed for the purpose. 

 For the making of the smaller ditches other machines were used. One of 

 these is illustrated iu the adjoining fig.; it not only dug trenches but pul- 

 verised the soil at the same time, moving across the land at the rate of 500 

 ft. in 10 hours. Another ditcher used was capable of cutting a trench 400 ft. 

 long 6 ft. deep and 3 ft. wide in one day. The total length of the lateral 

 canals amounted to 2000 miles, draining an area of i y^ million acres. 



The success of the enterprise has been so complete that a second pro- 

 ject is now in hand for reclaiming the remaining 2 14 million acres and will 

 be completed within a year. As soon as the land is ready it is sold by the 

 State Government and divided up into farms, settlers being attracted 

 from all the other parts of the United States. 



The total cost of reclamation has been estimated at 4 ^ million 

 dollars. 



MicrnoDS I 



OF SOIL 

 ''ULTIVATION 



1260 - Experiments in the Application of Electricity to Plant Production, in England. — 



INGVAR JoRGENSEN, ill Thc JoKi'iial ol the Board of Agriculture, Vol. XXIII, No. 7, pp. 671- 

 672. London, October 1916. 



Experiments on the effect of overhead elect.rical discharges on crops 

 were continued in 1915, a crop of oats being grown under this treat- 

 ment at lyincluden Mains, Dumfries. 



The crop was grown on ground which had been used for the three 

 previous years for similar experiments with potatoes. The experimental 

 ground consisted of two plots each of i 1/, acres lying side by side, one of 

 them receiving the electric discharge, the other being used as the control. 

 The two plots were separated by a well-earthed wire screen reacliing to 

 a height three feet above the level of the charged network. It was hoped 

 by this means to prevent any considerable leakage of current from the 

 electrified area to the control. Readings of a sensitive electrometer showed 

 that the screen much reduced the amount of discharge reaching the non- 

 electrified area, but it did not do away altogether with the leakage. 



The season was a particularly dry one, accompanied by a scorching 

 sun, and as the soil is of a ver^^ porous nature the conditions were not 

 conducive to a heavy crop. 



From the early stages of growth the crop on the electrified area 

 showed a marked superiority in comparison with that on the control 

 area and did not suffer from the prevailing drought to the same extent. 



The discharge was run for 557 hours during 108 days, i. e., an average 

 of 5 hours a day. 



The two crops when ready for harvesting were cut, threshed and 

 weighed separately. The weights of the two crops are given below, and 



