SOIL AND WATER 101 



That is a very striking endorsement of what I have said 

 about the efPect of the sign and quantity of current. The 

 terms positive and negative are misnomers and onl}?- serve 

 a useful purpose in indicating the direction of energy and 

 movement. I have shown that an excess of current is 

 harmful to the plant and that an upward driving force, ^,e., 

 positive to bottom and negative to top of soil produces 

 tall, anaemic growth. Now positive to bottom and negative 

 to top of soil simply means that the current takes an upward 

 direction. K the soil and the plant in it were unduly stimu- 

 lated whether by heat, further assisted by water, reducing 

 resistance to a fraction of that which normally obtains, 

 or by high electrification equilibrium would be disturbed, 

 by the energy from below being made greater proportionately 

 than the energy from above, and there would be an upward 

 driving force as an inevitable consequence. The efifect of 

 abnormal temperature appears to be fully recognised but 

 the views held in regard to certain other forms of stimuli 

 are inconsistent and are at variance with experimental 

 results. Moderate increases of temperature must not be 

 exceeded, but high tension currents are persistently employed 

 in electro-culture, even under the direction of men of such 

 imdoubted scientific attainment as Sir Oliver Lodge. It 

 is very much on all fours with the appUcation of high tension 

 currents to the human body, and just as empirical. 



Water 



Dr. Russell tells us that " the relationship between food 

 supply and water requirements is very interesting but not 

 easily explained," and that " unfortunately no correlation 

 has been traced between water requirements and plant 

 structure." 



I am not concerned with the chemical side of the question 

 — that is in very able hands — but with water as an 

 electrolyte. 



" The amount of water in the soil has a marked effect 

 on the character of the plant, the time of ripening, and 

 the composition of the grain. As the water supply increases. 



