ELECTROCULTURE 5 



the machine used. The current from the network over the experi- 

 mental plat in section E was of the order of 0.1 to 1 milliampere per 

 acre, depending on the voltage and network used. This is of the 

 order of 10,000 to 100,000 times the intensity of the normal air-earth 

 current. 



EXPERIMENTS IN SECTION E 



It has been shown by Jorgensen and Priestley (26) that the ioniza- 

 tion from the highly charged network is by no means limited to the 

 area beneath the network, but may be carried by the wind to a con- 

 siderable distance, depending on the weather conditions. It was 

 consequently deemed advisable to separate the treated and control 

 plats so far as practicable. Accordingly, two plats of half an acre 

 each (132 by 165 feet) were selected in section E which were sepa- 

 rated by a distance of 350 feet, one plat being directly north of the 

 other. 



Fig. 1.— General view of the experimental field at Arlington Experiment Farm, showing the 

 system of double insulators used in suspending the wire network from poles and the power lines 

 leading to the motor in the apparatus house (foreground). Poles supporting the grounded net- 

 work along the side of the control plat may be seen in the distance. (Photographed May 8, 1918.) 



The rye which was growing on the plats of section E when they 

 were selected in 1913 was cut and weighed. The results show that 

 the productiveness of the two plats was about the same, being as 

 follows: Yield of south plat, 2,438 pounds; of north plat, 2,499 pounds; 

 ratio of south plat to north plat 0.98. 



Experiments in 1914. — A network 16 feet high was erected over the 

 south plat, having cross wires at intervals of 15 feet. (Fig. 1.) 

 Winter wheat was sown on both plats the following October, and the 

 treatment was given by means of the Lodge-Newman apparatus, 

 which furnished a positive charge to the network at a potential 

 ranging from 30,000 to 60,000 volts. The treatment was given in 

 the fall and spring from 3 to 7 p. m., a total of 336 hours. The grain 

 was harvested in June, 1914, giving yields which were substantially 

 the same for both plats, as shown in Table 2. 



