NEW PRACTICE. 299 



offers an attractive field for investigation. It is well known 

 that bacteria play an important part in the life of plants. It 

 is also known that electric waves of sufficient power to re- 

 produce the human voice may be generated and transmitted 

 for considerable distances a mile or more with very little 

 power simply by grounding one terminal of an exciting in- 

 strument and burying a zinc or copper plate at the distance 

 indicated. How would the bacteria which are concerned in 

 the elaboration and feeding of plant food to vegetation be 

 affected by such a current? If they could be stimulated to 

 redoubled activity the plant might display some surprising 

 manifestations, while at the same time the system would be 

 practicable for extensive areas. 



It has been truly said that what is needed in agriculture to- 

 day is not so much revolution in agricultural practice as im- 

 provement. Both are going on. Throughout the country 

 the new and the profitable are being put into practice as never 

 before, and the soil is being made to bring forth for him who 

 tills it an abundance the like of which was neither deemed 

 nor dreamed possible by the farmers of any bygone gener- 

 ation. 



