Plant Culture by High Frequency Current 



Part VI. Wiring the Plot 



THE high-frequency current pro- 

 duced by the apparatus described in 

 past articles is administered to the plot 

 of ground under cultivation through the 

 agency of an overhead network of cop- 

 per wires and a ground connection con- 

 sisting of strands of wire buried in the 

 earth of the plot. The transformer house 

 is preferably located at one end of the 

 plot in order that the high-frequency cur- 

 rent may be carried to the area under cul- 

 tivation by the shortest possible route. 

 This is highly desirable, as an appreciable 

 loss would be sustained in a long trans- 

 mission line. 



The equipment recently described is of 

 sufficient power to cultivate a plot of 

 ground embracing 5,000 square feet, and 

 in the case under the writer's observation 

 the plot measured 50 feet in width by 

 loo feet in length. The ground wires, 

 three in number, were run the entire 

 length of the plot and spaced ten feet 

 apart. Crossing these wires at ten- foot 

 intervals were ten bridging wires ar- 

 ranged as shown in the illustration and 

 soldered at each joint. In all cases the 

 wire was of No. 16 bare copper. At the 

 end of the plot nearest the transformer 

 house, the ground wires were brought 

 together in a rat-tail and connected with 

 the ground lead of the apparatus. 



The overhead network presents a more 



* This article is one of a series dealing with various 

 methods of electrical plant culture that has appeared 

 in this publication since September, 1914. The va- 

 rious instalments have dealt with the different meth- 

 ods of applying electricity to horticulture, as well 

 as _ described the construction of the apparatus re- 

 quired. Back numbers may be secured at 15 cents 

 each while the supply lasts. 



difficult problem. In the experimental 

 plot ten wires spaced five feet apart ran 

 the entire length of the plot and were 

 supported at either end upon high-ten- 

 sion insulators held by posts which were 

 of such a height that they suspended 

 the wires seven feet above ground. At 

 twenty-foot intervals on either side of 

 the plot, additional posts were located 

 and cross wires between each two of 

 these posts completed the network and 

 at the same time relieved the strain upon 

 the slender wires running the length of 

 the plot. As in the case of the ground 

 network, all joints were soldered. The 

 overhead connection is in the nature of a 

 continuation of each of the long wires 

 to form a rat-tail, grouping all of the 

 wires where they are connected with the 

 high-tension lead passing through the 

 glass window of the transformer house. 



The insulators on the posts may be of 

 the conventional glass high-tension type 

 or they may be cobbled up by grouping 

 a series of porcelain cleats as suggested 

 in the appended illustration. The best of 

 insulation is none too good, particularly 

 in damp weather, as the high-tension cur- 

 rent leaks badly in its effort to find its 

 way to the ground. 



The actual time of treatment will natu- 

 rally rest with the individual investiga- 

 tor. From one to four hours, both night 

 and morning, is a fair dosage, and note- 

 worthy results have been obtained with 

 this average treatment. The plants or 

 vegetables under cultivation should be 

 planted in duplicate in a neighboring 

 (Continued on page 246) 



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