Electrical Treatment on Potato Crops. llo 



that by means of it the plant was raised in tone, and so was helped 

 to resist disease. Electricity had a tendency to exhaust the land 

 quicker, owing to the acceleration of the crops. It would not 

 take the place of manure. 



Electrical Treatment on Potato Crops, 1911. By Miss 

 E. C. Dudgeon, Lincluden House. 



The following is a brief account of my experiments during 

 the past season on the growth of potatoes with Electric Treat- 

 ment, by means of the Oliver Lodge-Newman High-tension 

 Electric Discharge Apparatus. 



The field chosen fo": the trials was one on the farm of Lin- 

 cluden Mains, near Dumfries, tenanted by Mr Cameron, who gave 

 me every possible assistance in carrying out the experiment. The 

 portion reserved for experimental purposes was about 8 acres, 

 which, from the date of ploughing till the planting of the seed 

 tubers, was treated all over in precisely the same manner. The 

 land was practically level, having only one or two slight undula- 

 tions ; the soil varied slightly, some portions being loamy, while 

 others Avere gravelly, but as these inequalities were distributed 

 over the whole field, care was taken in dividing the plots so as to 

 include equal portions of each variety in both experimental and 

 control areas. 



The field was ploughed in February, after which it was 

 given a dressing of Biggar's Special Potato Manure — about 6 cwt. 

 to the acre — and at the time of putting in the seed tubers, about 

 25 cart loads of farmyard manure per acre was spread between 

 the drills, which were 27 inches apart. 



Owing to a spell of wet weather it was not possible to com- 

 mence planting till the third week in April, and for the first week 

 after planting had been completed rain fell for several days. 

 From May 4th to June 15th the weather was bright and dry ; after 

 that date rain fell for several days, when dry weather again set in 

 and continued up to the date of lifting the crops. 



The Electric Discharge was applied daily from May 1st till 

 August 18th, averaging during that time four hours per day. The 

 hours for putting on the discharge were regulated by weather con- 

 ditions — on dull days it was applied both morning and afternoon ; 



