124 



SCIEXCE-GOSSIP. 



ELECTRICITY IN HORTICULTURE. 



By Herbert C. Fyfe. 



HP HE late Sir William Siemens was one of the 

 first to make a practical use of electricity in 

 the greenhouse. It was, however, soon after the 

 discovery of atmospheric electricity, that botanists 

 began to perceive that Nature used electricity in 

 seme way or another to further the growth of a 

 plant. Probably the first experiments in this field 

 were carried out by Von Maimbray, of Edinburgh, 

 in October, 1746. Abbot Nollet also, about this time, 

 gave much study to the subject, and in 1783, we 

 find the first published book on the subject, by 

 Abbot Bertholon : " Concerning Electricity in 

 Plants." Bertholon was inventor of the " Electro- 

 vegetometer," a machine which was ingenious in 

 its construction, but which did not find much 

 favour with the farmers of the day. About thi«; 

 same date, Gardini found that wire placed over 

 plants prevented the atmospheric electricity from 

 reaching the plants. 



In 1787, Ingenhouse came forward as a dis- 

 believer in the beneficial effects of electricity on 

 plants, and he was supported by Sylvestre and 

 others. Each party carried on a controversial 

 war against the other for some time, but we do 

 not find any substantial increase in our knowledge 

 of the subject till 1878, when Messrs. L. Grandeau, 

 A. Leclerc and E. Celi devoted their attention to 

 it and came to the conclusion that electricity 

 favoured germination and accelerated the growth 

 of plants. 



There can be no doubt that when certain kinds 

 of seeds have been electrified they come up more 

 quickly than those sown in the ordinary way. 



Professor R. Chodat, of Geneva, has shown that 



when bean seeds were placed in communication 



with a Holz machine and electrified for several 



hours each day, they produced leaves sooner than 



non-electrified bean seeds. He also showed that if 



a pot of Oxalis be electrified when twilight is 



coming on, the plant will remain awake longer than 



will the ordinary plant under normal conditions. 



Another series of experiments was carried out by 



Mr. N. Specnew, in America. He showed that by 



swelling seeds in water and placing them in glass 



cylinders, copper discs being pressed against the 



seeds and the discs being connected with the poles 



of an induction coil, while the current was put on 



for one or two minutes, the electrified seeds came 



up sooner than non-electrified ones. These are 



;; — r :: hi; results — 



5 ."- 

 Peas. Beans. Barley, flower. 



(1) Electrified Seeds 253 2 ] g 



(2) Non-electrified Seeds 4 6 5 15 



The electrified seeds were found to bear better 

 developed leaves, to be larger in size, and to have 

 brighter colours than non-electrified ones. It was 

 also shown that electric currents in the ground 

 prevented plants from succumbing to mildt 



Mr. C. D. Warner, another American, who has 

 given much time to this subject, says that the 

 phenomenon of circulation of the sap in plants is 

 due to electricity, and that plants grow more 

 quickly by night because thej r are covered with 

 dew, and thus they become good conductors. 

 Currents pass through the medium of plants from 

 air to earth, and vice versa, and during their passage 

 convert the soil elements into plant food. The 

 upward currents then gather up the dissolved 

 elements, and carry them to their proper places. 

 Dr. James Leicester, an English observer, pointed 

 out a short time ago that weak currents, when 

 passed through the soil by means of glass vessels 

 and earth plates, made the seeds grow much more 

 rapidly. In the case of hemp seed, the plants were 

 fully an inch above the surface before there was 

 any sign of it under ordinary conditions. 



Mr. Selim Lemstrom, both in Finland and in 

 France, ha* demonstrated by numerous experiments 

 that with insulated systems of wires stretched over 

 fields and placed in communication with Holz 

 machines, the development of the following plants 

 was favourably influenced by electricity : — Wheat, 

 barley, red and white beets, potatoes, beans, 

 strawberries, rye, oats, parsnips, celeriac, rasp- 

 berries, and leeks ; while on the other hand the 

 development of some plants was more or less 

 interfered with by electricity, viz., peas, turnips, 

 carrots and cabbages. The influx of the electricity 

 was interrupted during the full heat of the noon- 

 day sun. 



Turning now from these experiments on the 

 actual germination of the seed, let us consider the 

 effect of the electric light on 5-oung plants in the 

 greenhouse. Some experiments, indeed, have been 

 made which seem to show that when pots contain- 

 ing seeds are placed under the influence of the 

 electric light or of magnesium light during night- 

 time, instead of being kept in the dark, they come up 

 r. . r- ;uir.idv t'nar. ir r:.E >er_: ;::::, -ii'i::-:irr.e 

 in darkness. But for the actual germination of the 

 seed moisture and heat are required quite as much 

 if not more than light, and it is probable that 

 artificial light exerts its influence on the plant 

 when the young shoots are beginning to appear 

 above ground. 



Sir William Siemens came to the conclusion that 



