THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



electric energy in the growth of plants, Dr. L. H. Bailey was carry- 

 ing on some valuable experiments at Cornell from 1891 to 1893. 

 Dr. Bailey in the following report, copied from his bulletins on 

 electric experiments gives us not only the results of artificial light 

 on the growth of lettuce but also a detailed report of the cost of 

 lighting the greenhouses. 



LIGHT ON LETTUCE 



"Lettuce was greatly benefited by the electric light. We had 

 found that under protected light the lettuce had made a better 

 growth than in normal conditions. Lettuce of two varieties — 

 Landreth Forcing and Tennis Ball or Boston Market — was trans- 

 planted onto bench No. 4 when the Hght started. Both varieties 

 were planted in each house, and the plants were all alike; and all 

 the conditions in the two compartments were kept as nearly alike 

 as possible. Three weeks after transplanting (Feb. 5), both vari- 

 eties in the light house were fully 50 per cent, in advance of those 

 in the dark house in size, and the color and other characters of 

 the plants were fully as good. The plants had received at this time 

 70^ hours of electric light. Just a month later the first heads 

 were sold from the light house, but it was six weeks later when the 

 first heads were sold from the dark house. In other words, the 

 electric light plants were two weeks ahead of the others. This 

 gain had been purchased by 161^ hours of electric light, worth at 

 current prices of street lighting about $7.00. 



"This lettuce test was repeated and was watched very closely 

 when the lamp was transferred to the compartment which had 

 formerly been kept under normal conditions. The same results 

 were obtained, and the differences between the two crops were so 

 marked as to arrest the attention of every visitor. The electric 

 light plants were in every way as good in quality as those grown in 

 the dark house ; in fact, the two could not be told apart except for 

 their different sizes. The history of the plants is as follows : The 

 seeds were sown in fiats February 24th. Until March 17th they 

 were grown under ordinary conditions, at which time they were 

 set in their permanent positions in the two compartments. We 

 began to pick lettuce from the light house April 30th, but the first 



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