.S/A' WILLIAM .v//-:.i//-;.v.v, /-.A-.-v. 253 



progress if subjected in winter time to solar light during the day 

 imd to electric light during the night. 



During the whole of last winter I continued my experiments on 

 ;in enlarged scale, and it is my present purpose to give a short 

 account of these experiments and of some further applications of 

 electric energy to farming operations (including the pumping of 

 water, the sawing of timber, and chaff and root cutting) at 

 various distances not exceeding half a mile from the source of 

 power, giving useful employment during the day-time to the 

 power-producing machinery, and thus reducing indirectly the cost 

 of the light during the night-time. The arrangement consists of 

 ;i lii^h-pressure steam engine of 6 horse-power nominal, supplied 

 by Messrs. Tangye Brothers, which gives motion to two dynamo 

 machines (Siemens D), connected separately to two electric 

 lamps, each capable of emitting a light of about 5000 candle 

 power. One of these lamps was placed inside a glasshouse of 

 2318 cubic feet capacity, and the other was suspended at a height 

 of 12 to 14 feet over some sunk greenhouses. The waste steam of 

 the engine was condensed in a heater, whence the greenhouses 

 take their circulating supply of hot water, thus saving the fuel 

 that would otherwise be required to heat the stoves. 



The experiments were commenced on the 23rd of October,. 

 1880, and were continued till the 7th of May, 1881. The general 

 plan of operation consisted in lighting the electric lights at first at 

 6 o'clock, and during the short days at f> o'clock, every evening 

 except Sunday, continuing their action until dawn. The outside 

 light was protected by a clear glass lantern, while the light inside 

 the house was left naked in the earlier experiments, one of my 

 objects being to ascertain the relative effect of the light under 

 these two conditions. The inside light was placed at one side 

 over the entrance into the house, in front of a metallic reflector,, 

 to save the rays that would otherwise be lost to the plants within 

 the house. 



The house was planted in the first place with peas, French 

 beans, wheat, barley, and oats, as well as with cauliflowers, straw- 

 berries, raspberries, peaches, tomatoes, vines, and a variety of 

 flowering plants, including roses, rhododendrons, and azaleas. All 

 these plants being of a comparatively hardy character, the tempe- 

 rature inthis house was maintained as nearly as possible at GO" Fahr 



