ELECTRO HOR TICUL TURE. 



735 



ments, on bench 2. A month later, after 160 hours of 

 light had been expended upon them, the beets in the light 

 compartment were at least one-third larger than those in 

 the dark house. Five months after sowing the beets 

 were removed, when it was found that 57 per cent, of the 

 plants in the light house gave marketable tubers, against 

 only 33 per cent, of those in the dark house ; and the 

 lolal average weight of the plants in the light was about 

 hai'" an ounce greater than in the dark house. It must 

 be said however, that the test with beets was hardly a 

 tair one, from the fact that the plants in the dark house 

 received more bottom heat than the others. But as the 

 results corroborate those obtained from radishes, the 

 figures may be of '. alue. 



Splnagf, — When the light was started, spinage was 

 transplanted into bench 2 m both compartments. This 



in the dark house were noticeably stouter and more 

 stocky than those in the light house, and two of the 

 plants were forming heads, while those in the other 

 house showed no sign of heading. A week later four 

 good heads were growing in the dark house, one of them 

 reaching a diameter of 3I2 inches, while none were visi- 

 ble in the light house. It was a week later that heads 

 began to appear in the light house, or two weeks after 

 they had been observed in the other plants ; and at this 

 time it was plain that the lighted plants were running to 

 length, while the others were stocky. 



Decidedly better results were obtained in the dark 

 house, and it should also be said that more heads were 

 obtained in that house. These results are unequivocal, 

 but the plants under experiment were so few that general 

 conclusions cannot be drawn. It is expected that this 



Cross-section of Electric-Light Houses. 



spinage was Round Dutch. A month after the light 

 started, there having been an average of about five hours 

 a night of electric light, all the spinage in the light house 

 was from 10 to 15 per cent larger than in the dark house, 

 and there was no greater disposition to run to seed ; the 

 advantage was maintained, if not augmented, throughout 

 the experiment. This result was unexpected, for in our 

 first experiment spinage was very much injured by the 

 light ; but in that experiment the light was naked and 

 was inside the house, and the results are, therefore, not 

 comparable with the present ones. 



Cauliflower. — January 8, 1892, two dozen good cauli- 

 flower-plants, four inches high and bearing four or five 

 leaves, were placed in 6-inch pots and divided between 

 the two houses, on bench 2. The plants in the light 

 house were ten feet from the lamp, and almost under it, 

 so that they received the full glare of light A month 

 later, 93 hours of light having been expended, the plants 



experiment will be repeated upon a much larger scale 

 the coming winter. 



Flowers. — Violets and daisies were grown upon bench 

 2. In both instances, strong plants were set in the beds 

 a few days before the light started. The violets (Marie 

 Louise) were all set in the light house near the partition- 

 12 to 16 feet from the lamp, and they received the full 

 benefit of the light. Half of the bed of 100 plants was 

 covered each night with a black enamel-cloth box, pro- 

 vision being made for ventilation, and the other half re- 

 ceived the light. Three weeks after the light started the 

 exposed plants began to bloom, while no buds could be 

 found in the darkened portion. It was not until five 

 weeks after the starting of the light that a flower ap- 

 peared in the darkened plants, while the others had con- 

 tinued to bloom. At this point the obscure violet-blight 

 appeared, and the experiment with the light ceased. 



Fifty strong plants of the low daisy {Hcllis fere 11 71 is) 



