ELECTROCULTURE 



3 



was observed in the ion content of the air which drifted from under 

 the network. This effect could be traced to a distance of several 

 hundred feet from the network. 



The principal change in the environment of plants grown under a 

 charged network appears then to consist in a marked increase in the 

 strength of the air-earth current which flows through the plants to 

 the ground. 



If the drifting charge from the experimental plat should pass over 

 the control plat, it would increase the air-earth current to the control 

 plat to some extent, owing to the increase in the number of ions per 

 unit volume. But even under such conditions the current flowing 

 into the control plat would necessarily be small in comparison with 

 that flowing into the experimental plat, since both the ion content 

 and the potential gradient are much higher under the network and 

 the current is proportional to the product of these factors. 



ELECTROCULTURAL EXPERIMENTS WITH MISCELLANEOUS CROPS 



Experiments in 1907. — Electrocultural experiments were first under- 

 taken by the department 3 in 1907, using vegetables for the most 

 part as test crops. The test plat, which was 138 by 106 feet, was 

 divided into three sections 44 by 106 feet, the center section being used 

 as the experimental area and the two outside sections as controls. 

 The crops were planted in continuous rows across the three sections, 

 so that the center third of each row was under treatment. 



A Wagner mica-plate electrostatic machine was used as a high 

 potential source. It was inclosed in a tight case, permitting the use 

 of drying agents to keep the machine in the best condition for opera- 

 tion. The positive pole was connected to an open wire network 

 strung on glass insulators, and the negative pole was grounded. The 

 network covered the experimental plat and was placed high enough 

 to permit the use of a horse cultivator. The applied potential varied 

 somewhat with weather conditions, but usually exceeded 50.000 

 volts. The network was charged throughout the night, from late 

 afternoon until early morning. The plants were subjected to the 

 electrical treatment 656 hours in all, extending from June 20 to 

 September 16. The yields are shown in Table 1. 



Table 1. — Yields following electrocultural treatment of miscellaneous crops under 

 test at Arlington Experiment Farm in 1907 





Yields per plat (pounds) 



Ratio of 



Crop 



Experi- 

 mental 

 plat 



Control 



Average 

 of 



controls 



treated 



to 

 average 





Plat A 



PlatC 



of 



controls 



Tomatoes 



128.25 

 20.60 

 30.9 

 44.0 

 55.0 

 24.0 

 15.0 



106.05 

 20.0 

 8.5 



119. 75 

 19.14 

 40. 14 

 52.0 

 45.0 

 25.0 

 18.0 



106.0 

 25.0 

 10.0 



138.75 

 24. 25 

 43.0 

 39.0 

 64.0 

 25.0 

 17.0 

 80.0 

 23.0 

 11.5 



129.25 

 21. 70 

 41. 57 

 45.5 

 54.5 

 25.0 

 17. 6 

 93.0 

 24.0 

 10. 7B 



0.996 



Cowpeas 



.95 



Cowpea vines 



. 742 



Potatoes 



Turnips 



Beets .. 



.968 

 1.01 

 96 



Carrots 



Cabbage : 



Buckwheat 



Beans 



.856 

 1.14 



790 











'- These experiments were conducted on the Arlington Experiment Farm by the Office of Biophysical 

 Investigations and the Office of Crop Physiology and Breeding Investigations, the held work being handled 

 largely by E. W. Hudson and W. Seifriz. 



