ELECTRO - HORTICULTURE 



LLEUSINI 



527 



artificial liglit hastens 

 plants to grow luoru i 

 to be considered ari-. il 

 light and determiuiuL' 



.tion, and thereby causes 

 The practical questions 

 tlir expense of using the 

 ilit're are injurious ele- 

 iv,.,i light. 



Ill- light is the spectrum 

 :i^.s incident upon com- 

 ;.iv light is rich in rays 

 i~ part, and these rays 

 it^. These rays of the 

 11111 ai-<^ eliminated by a 

 iirir light is surrounded 

 , liiiiig above the roof of 



Long-continued expi-riments at fornell University have 

 shown that each kind of plant behaves in its own way 

 in the presence of electric light. It is not possible to 

 prophesy what the results may be in a given species. A 

 few plants, as (oiiiatoes, English cucumbers, and carrots, 

 seiMii t.i !"■ very little affected either injuriously or bene- 

 ticiallv. Xiariy all flowers are hastened into bloom by 

 the iiitluiiiie uf the light, and their colors are often 

 brighter than under normal conditions ; but in many 

 instances they do not last so long. The best results 

 are secured if the light is applied to the plants when 

 they have reached nearly or quite their full stature. 

 If applied very early in tholr growth, they tend to 

 make flowers before the plant has attained sufficient 

 size. In floriculture, therefore, the chief i rictical value 

 of the electric arc light seems to be its influence in 

 hastening the flowering of certain pUnt m daik cli 

 mates, or when plants must be had f r let i t \ 

 son. For instance, if the light is appli It 1 till 

 for a month before their normal lil tl 



period of bloom may be hastened froii t t 1 



Lettuce has shown greater beneficial r It t m tl 

 application of the electric light than ai } other plant 

 with which careful experiments have been ma le Let 

 tuce which receives light from the arc lamp for half of 

 each night may be expected to reach marketal le size 

 from one to twi. wrrk~; In fore the normal crcj 



As a rill'-. 1m tt.r n >ults are secured when tl 1 (,ht 

 runs only lialt Ihr ni:;lit. A common two tl i i 1 

 candle-power iJL'lit lias a marked effect on tl e ^. th f 

 many plants at a distance of sixty to even i: ne 1 n Ire 1 

 feet. The incandescent light has a similar ii H ence 

 but not so marked. The incandescent or 'W el 1 h ^ 

 light is also capable of hastening the growth cf \ lant 



As now understood, the application of the eleetin, 

 light to the growing of plants is a special matter to 1 e 

 used when the climate is abnormally cloudy or when it 

 is desired to hasten the maturity of crops for a particu 

 lar date. Only in the case of lettuce has it been proved 

 to be of general commercial importance; and even with 

 lettuce, it is doubtful if it will pay for its cost in cli- 

 mates which are abundantly sunny. For the literature 

 of the subject, consult the publications of the Experi- 

 ment Stations of Cornell University and of West Vir- 

 ginia. L. H. B. 



ELE6CHAKIS ( Greek-made word, meaning deligMing 

 in marshes). Ci/perAeew. Rush-like native plants, 

 mostly of low, wiry growth, and commonest in marshes 

 and on muddy shores. They are mostly perennial. The 

 culms are simple, terete or angular, bearing a spherical 

 or oblong head of inconspicuous fls.: Ivs. usually re- 

 duced to nitri' slit'aths, TIk-v an- iiitrresting for the 

 borders of i..in.U. ami aiv v.rv'.-asv t.. naturalize. Three 

 species hav.- 1... n ..tl. r.il l.v .•..ll...-t..i-s : E. equlsetoWes, 

 Torr. A sli..n. ].laiit, with' t,-r.-tr li..ll..\v .•nlins 2-3 ft. 

 high, and cylindrical heads about the thickness of the 

 culm; resembles horse-tail (Equisetum). E. acicuUrlB, 

 R.Br. Hair-like, 6 in. high, making grass-like mats. E. 

 ov4ta, R.Br. Culms nearly terete, 12 in. high: head glo- 

 bose or ovate. L H. B. 



ELEPHANT'S EAR is a name for Begonias. The 

 Elephant-Ear Caladium is a Colocasia. 



ELEPHANT'S FOOT. Testudinaria. 



ELETTAEIA (native name). Scitamindcew. Differs 

 from Amomum in technical characters, as in the slender 

 tube of the perianth, the presence of internal lobes in 



the perianth, and the filaments, not prolonged beyond the 

 anther. Perhaps only 2 species, although more have 

 been described. E. Cardamdmum, Maton, affords the 

 small Cardamons of commerce, which are the dried 

 capsules, and which are used in medicine. The large or 

 China Cardamons are from sp.ci.-s ..f Amoiiiuni. The 

 Cardani..ns,.f X,.,.al and B.-nu-al aiv Aiii..ni.iiii ; tliose of 

 S. India arc Kl.'ttaria. Th.' Kl.-tli>ria i- iiatn.' t.. India, 



parts of S. Fla. I'lauts have been .jllurcd by Keasoner 

 Bros. The Cardamon plant grows 5-10 ft. high, bearing 

 an erect, jointed, closely sheathed stem, and lanceolate 

 acuminate entire nearly sessile Ivs. often 2 ft. long: fls. 

 purple-striped. It is said to prefer shade and a moist 

 soil. In three or four years plants give full crops, 

 but they become more or less exhausted after bearing 

 three or four crops. Prop, by dividing the roots and 

 by seeds. Under glass, handled the same as Alpinia. 

 L. H. B. 

 ELEUSlNE (Greek, JUleusis, the town where Ceres, 

 the goddess of harvests, was worshipped). Gramlnece. 

 Crab Grass. Yard Grass. Coarse, tufted annuals, with 

 the stout unilateral spikes digitate at the apex of the 

 culm. Spikelets several-fld. ; arranged in two rows 

 along one side of a continuous rachis, rachilla articulate 

 above the empty glumes: fls. perfect or the upper one 

 staminate: grain loosely enclosed by the fl. -glume and 

 palet Species 5 or 6 in tropical regions of the Old 

 World. Some are valued as 

 cereals in Africa, India, and 

 other eastern coun- 

 tries. For E. ^Kqyptlaca, 

 see Jl,ir/,il,„t,',u„i„. 

 Indica, ria>rtn. Dog's 

 iiiK Grass. Fig.757. 

 -4 ft. high ; culms 

 ig, fl.attened : spikes 

 o-V. aiiout 2—4 in. long, digi- 

 tate, often with one or two 



lower down : spikelets 3-6- 

 fld. Blooms from June to 

 October. — A very 

 grass in cultivated fields 

 and dooryards in the South, 

 often troublesome as a weed 



coraciLna, Gaertn. Afri- 

 can Millet. Fig.758. Erect, 

 " igh, closely related f 



nd much resembling M. 



liidUa. Can be distinguished from it by its stouter 

 habit, shorter, broader and larger spikes. — Cult, in 

 India, China and Japan for the grain. Beer is brewed 

 from the grain in Abyssinia. In cult, in America as 

 an ornamental grass. Coracana means. "of the crows." 



Barcinon^nsis, Costa. Culms tufted, 6 in. to 1 ft. 

 high: leaf -blades short, about one-sixteenth of an in. 



