110 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



and will thorefore be already familiar to most of 

 our readers ; but as some of the otlier articles 

 refer to tins statement it has been deemed best 

 to preserve at once and together these differ- 

 ent accounts and suggestions, tliat the subject 

 may be, as far as this journal is concemed, dis- 

 missed until the close of the year, when doubt- 

 less we shall have reports of other and perhaps 

 more particular and reliable obsei-vatious. 



In such a case it is better to do a little too 

 much, than to fall short of what might be ex- 

 pected or useful. 



Corn Cultivation by Electricity.— 

 At a meeting, last week, of the Polytechnic 

 Society of the West Riding of Yorkshu-e, the 

 following description was given of the result 

 of the first considerable experiment of apply- 

 ing the free electricity of the atmosphere to the 

 cultivation of com. Dr. Forstcr, of Findra.s<-iie 

 House, near Elgin, had thrashed, weighed and 

 measured his electric cultured chevalier Bariey, 

 and the product was the enormous quantity of 

 104 bushels, or 13 quarters per ton ! The tail 

 com was not measured, and each bushel weigh- 

 ed 54 i lbs. The weight of the straw was 

 9,300 lbs. per acre. The cost of the electric 

 apparatus is £1 per acre, which will last for 

 twenty years. 



V; j; 29 yards. A c 



Strong Wood Hooked Stake. 



COST. 



fi lbs. of iron wire at 4.1. per lb. for buiied wire, . . -28. 



4 do. do. at 3d. per lb. for euspend. do Is. 



•J poles of dry wood, at 6d. each, Is- 



Labor, &c ^• 



5e. 

 As the area increases the cost diminishes ra- 

 pidly. Convenient and desirable areas arc for— 



Two acres. 127 by 75 yd.«. U of an acre, 73} by Xi yd.?. 

 - -- i do. 55 bv -22 do. 



I do. 36 by 16* do. 



One acre, 80 by .55 do. 

 5 of an acre, 82i by 44 do. 



The mode in which the plot is laid out, is as 

 follows: with a mariner's compass and mea- 

 sured lengths of common string, lay out the 

 places for the wooden pins, to which the buried 

 wire is attached, (by pas.siug through a small 

 staple). Care must" be taken to lay the lengtli 

 of the buried wire due North and South by com- 

 pass, and the breadth due East and West. This 

 wire must be placed from 2 to 3 inches deep in 

 the soil. The lines of the buried wire are tlien 

 (2 



completed. The suspended wire must be attach- 

 ed, and in contact with the buried wires at both 

 of its ends. A wooden pin with a staple must, 

 therefore, be driven in at A, and the two poles 

 (one 14 and the other 15 feet) being placed by the 

 compass North and South, the wire i.s placed 

 over them and fastened to the wooden stake, 

 bui touching likewise at this point the buried 

 wire. The su.speuded wire must not be drawn 

 too tight, otherwise die wind will break it. 

 jElectro culture is a very interesting subject ; 

 but we must not allow ourselves to be misled 

 by it. It is to be regretted that Dr. For.ster's ex- 

 periments are not given at more length ; at 

 present they are so imconipletely stated, that no 

 opinion can be formed upon them. As to iron 

 wires lasting in the ground for twenty years, 

 that is inconceivable, unless they are protected 

 in some way. Upon the whole, we think it 

 better to ^\ait, than to come to any conclusion 

 either one way or the other.] Lond. Agr. Gaz. 



Electric Agency applied to Horticul- 

 ture. — I have been making several experi- 

 ments, the results of which have been of the 

 most satisfactory character. My application of 

 the subtle agent has been through the medium 

 of galvanism, and as it is generated it is totally 

 under control, which is not the case if it is col- 

 lected (as is generally the case) from the atmo- 

 sphere, which is always subject to the uncertain 

 fluctuations known to exist in telluric and at- 

 mospheric electricity. My experiments are, of 

 course, far from matured, but yet they may not 

 be void of interest to j'our.self 



First Experiment : T took an old 50-pair gal- 

 vanic trough, and lined one-half the length of 

 one side with zinc, and the oppcsite side in a 

 similar manner with copper ; they being about 

 12 inches long and 2 deep, leaving a di.stance be- 

 tween the plates of 4 inches, and connected by a 

 zinc band. The trough was filled with moist soil 

 and Turnip seed .sown thickly upon the surface 

 and pressed into it, but not covered, one-half 

 being under the galvanic iniluence, the other in a 

 natural state. Kesult.s: the seeds under galva- 

 nic influence swelled and sprouted many hours 

 before the others, and twice as many vegetated ; 

 and by die time they were all well up the gal- 

 vanic ones had the advantage of 24 hours. I 

 should tell you that they were placed in a tem- 

 perature of more tlian 60°, and were all well up 

 in three daj-s ; therefore 24 hours is a most ex- 

 traordinary advance. 



Second Experiment : I lined a common flow- 

 er-pot, 6 inciies wide at the top and 4 at the bot- 

 tom, with zinc and copper, as in the last expe- 

 riment, die plates being, of cour.«e, deeper ; I 

 then sowed three Cucumber seeds in it, and 

 three in another pot, without galvanism, and 

 placed both in the same temperatuie, as the last 

 experiment. Results: In the course of two 

 days, the galvanic seeds appeared 11 hoiirs be- 

 fore the others ; in three days both were well 

 up, the galvanised having greatly the advantage 

 in strength and color, and gouig ahead rapidly. 

 After a lapse of a fortnight, the galvajii.»ed seeds 

 seemed to have tlie advantage of four days' 

 growth, were much darker in color, and about 

 twice as strong, healthy, and vitrorou.s. I also 

 tried an experiment with some Pea,s. which had 

 been sown some time previously, and were jnyt 

 cutting the ground. A zinc jilate, 1 foot square, 

 was placed at the end of one of the double 

 rows, and buried to an inch below its upper 

 edge, and a similar plate of copper was buried 



