26 



BULLETIN 1379, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



and variable complex of conditions, designed to include the study of 

 positive and negative potential in relation to fertilizers and irrigation 

 and the relation of these factors to the composition of grain and straw. 

 The results shown by Gerlach and Erlwein reporting experiments 

 with oat crops at Mocneln are selected as representative. (Table 26.) 



It may be well worth while to consider Table 26 in some detail, 

 since it seems to represent a thoroughly impartial study of the 

 methods which have given success elsewhere. 



The instances in which duplicate trials were run and the agree- 

 ments to be noted for these cases show rather conclusively that lack 

 of uniformity in soil conditions was not a disturbing factor in these 

 experiments. The six plats giving notably higher yields are those 

 with fertilizer and irrigation. These are in good agreement and show 

 no appreciable advantage for the three types of electrical treatment 

 represented, the averages for relative yields only being as shown in 

 the summary of Table 26. 



The plats in these experiments were about one-fourth acre each, 

 the control plats being separated from the electrified plats by about 

 325 feet. The potential of the direct-current network was about 

 30,000 volts, whereas that of the alternating current was about 

 20,000 volts. The statement of Lemstrom that the better the con- 

 dition of the field the more favorable the influence of the high-tension 

 discharge is not substantiated by these trials. In brief, the German 

 experiments give little evidence of any definite crop increase at- 

 tributable to the electrical treatment. 



In 1913 Dorsey conducted greenhouse experiments in Ohio with 

 radishes and lettuce, using a high-frequency current. In a letter to 

 Doctor Briggs dated August IS, 1913, he reported the relative weights 

 of 10 plants selected at random from each area. These are shown in 

 Table 27. 



Table 27. 



Results of electrocultural treat merits of greenhouse radishes and lettuce 

 in 1913, according to Dorsey 





Relative weights (grams) 



10 plants 



Radishes 



Lettuce 





Treated 



Control 



Treated 



Control 



Total 



20.-,. 7 



139.5 



120.5 



9.3 



180.0 



79.4 



95.0 



5.6 



67.0 

 60.7 



46.1 





41.8 



Tops 







6.3 



4.3 







Dorsey also conducted field trials with a high-frequency current. 

 The plants used were beets, lettuce, cabbage, beans, melons, cucum- 

 bers, and tobacco. They were planted in long rows, one-half of each 

 row being under the charged network. The treated plat covered 

 about half an acre. The network was 9 feet above ground with wires 

 15 feet apart and carried a voltage of about 50,000 at an estimated 

 frequency of about 30,000 cycles. The power was taken from a 

 73^2 kilowatt 220-volt transformer supplying 11,000 volts at 60 

 acycles and exciting an oscillating circuit containing the network as 

 capacity. Treatment was given daily, three hours in the forenoon 



