ELECTROCULTURE 



23 



Table 22. — Results of electrochemical treatment of garden crops at Bitton, as 



reported by Newman 



Crop 



Treated 

 plants 



Notes 



Cucumbers, increase 



Strawberries: 



5-year plants, increase. 



1-year plants, increase- 

 Broad beans, decrease 



Cabbage 



Celery, increase 



Tomatoes (no difference). . 



Per cent 

 17 



36 

 80 

 15 



Less subject to bacterial disease. 



More runners produced. 

 5 days earlier. 



10 days earlier. 



During the same year an installation was working at Gloucester 

 with higher voltage and wires 5 feet from the ground. The following 

 results with treated plants were reported: Beets, 33 per cent increase 

 and higher total sugar content; carrots, 50 per cent increase; turnips 

 showed an increase, but the percentage was not recorded owing to 

 slugs. 



In 1906 Newman (37) and Lodge (33), at Evesham, began some 

 electroculture experiments using about 40 acres, 20 of which were 

 electrified with a network 15 feet above ground. The Lodge ap- 

 paratus was used, 22 poles carrying the wire over the area, with small 

 wires 12 yards apart. These experiments were continued several 

 years. The results are summarized in Table 23. 



Table 23. — Results of electrochemical treatment of crops. at Evesham in stated 

 years, as reported by Newman 



Year and crop 



Electri- 

 fied 

 crops 



Notes 



1906: 



Wheat (electrified area 12 acres)— 



Canadian, increase 



Per cent 



39 

 29 



/ 29 



I 18 



25 



24.3 



9 

 30 

 8.4 



[Sold for iy 2 per cent higher price when bakers 

 found it produced a better baking flour. The 



English, increase 



\ somewhat poor yield from the control plat was 



1907: 



Wheat (electrified area 11 acres), in- 

 crease. 

 Strawberries, increase 



probably due to deficiency in lime, afterwards 

 [ rectified. 



Estimated by cartloads. 



1908: 



Wheat (electrified area 7.68 acres), in- 

 crease. 

 Strawberries, decrease. . 



Dry season. 



By weight per plant (average). 



Tomatoes, increase 



Cucumbers, increase 







Newman reported later (38) that during seven successive years 

 (1905 to 1911) wheat gave an average increase of 21 per cent in weight 

 of grain and an increase of straw which it was not possible to measure. 



Potato variety experiments conducted at Dumfries, Scotland, by 

 Dudgeon in 1911 and 1912 (14) gave the yields shown in Table 24. 



