Fortunes for Farmers 



used to warm the soil and overcome frost and 

 inclement or untimely seasons, and if so, it would 

 revolutionize agriculture. Electricity will be plen- 

 tiful soon, and cheap enough, either atmospheric, 

 when the only expense will be the first outlay, 

 or by the use of water or wind on a large scale. 



A French scientist is carrying out most sugges- 

 tive studies. He found that the air immediately 

 above the soil is charged with electricity at dif- 

 ferent tension to that in the earth, and by insert- 

 ing iron rods at intervals reaching below the crop 

 roots and above the plant tops, tapping both 

 strata, he obtained a weak but effective current 

 with distinct manurial value. What he has begun 

 others may carry on. Instead of allowing electri- 

 city to accumulate in the air until it discharges 

 as lightning to the earth, in waste, we may tap 

 all the strata for our own use and compel one of 

 Nature's violent forces into harness. It is of 

 course known that electricity is a valuable agent, 

 and its uses on the land are but beginning. If we 

 can regulate the temperature of the soil at will we 

 shall be indeed advancing! Whether or no we 

 succeed in producing rain, we can accomplish 

 much by irrigation, by conserving existing supplies 

 or by exploring the lower strata. 



There are of course the larger dreams. Many 

 minds have played around the utilization on a 



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