ELECTRO-HORTICULTURE. 



PROFESSOR BAILEY S EXPERIMENTS WITH ELECTRIC LIGHT ON PLANT GROWTH PROMISING RESULTS. 







1 







THE WINTER of 1889-90 we 

 undertook experiments at the 

 Cornell Experiment Station, 

 Ithaca, New York, to determine 

 what influence the ordinary street 

 electric light exerts upon plants 

 in greenhouses. Much has been said concerning 

 supposed retarding or accelerating influences of 

 street lamps upon plants. Many have supposed 

 that the electric light can be introduced profitably 

 into greenhouses for the purpose of hastening 



thirds span and a very flat roof (22.',°), and is ventilated 

 entirely from small windows hinged at the ridge. It is 

 heated by steam. This house was divided into two 

 nearly equal portions by a tight board partition. One 

 compartment was treated to ordinary conditions — sun- 

 light by day and darkness by night — and the other had 

 sunlight during the day and electric light during part or 

 whole of the night. In all the experiments the lamp 

 was suspended from the peak of the house, the arc 

 being 2] feet above the soil of the bench over which it 

 was placed. In the first winter (January to April, 1890) 

 we used a 10 ampere, 45 volt, Brush arc lamp of 2,000 



Fig. I. Bench of Lettuce in the Dark or Ordinary Greenhouse. 



growth. Still others have supposed the electric 

 lights at exhibition halls to be injurious to plants, 

 and have said that flowers fade quickly when placed 

 near them. 



For the purpose of our experiment, a forcing house 

 20x60 feet was set aside. The house is low, with a two- 



nominal candle power. This was run all night — from 

 dusk until daylight — from January 23 to April 12. 

 experiments with naked light running 

 ALL night — (i8go). 

 The general effect of the light was to greatly hasten 

 maturity, and the nearer the plants grew to the light the 



Fig. 2. Bench of Lettuce in the Electric-Light House. 



