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THE EFFECT OF ELECTRICITY UPON PLANTS. 
Some twenty acres of this ground were beneath the discharge field, 
and as it was necessary for practical purposes to have the discharge wires 
at a considerable height, the very high tension current required was 
obtained by means of an induction coil and valve rectifiers upon 
the system devised and patented by Sir Oliver Lodge, who very kindly 
lent. the necessary apparatus. 
It was very largely owing to the generosity of Sir Oliver Lodge, and 
the advice and help of Mr Lionel Lodge, that Mr. Newman was able 
to successfully complete the necessary installation and to carry out the 
experiments. 
As it was, owing to the late delivery of some of the apparatus, the 
work had to be carried on with a somewhat improvised generating 
station at the commencement on March 16th ; by the end of May, 
however, the installation was completed, and worked fairly continuously 
during the rest of the season, the current being applied intermittently 
until July lOth, by which date the wheat had been in ear about a 
fortnight. 
The complete arrangements for generation of the high tension 
currents, are as follows : — 
Direct current, about 3 amperes at 220 volts is generated by a 
dynamo, driven by an oil engine of about 2 h.-p. The current passes 
from the dynamo through the primary of a large induction coil with 
a make and a break contact interposed in the circuit. From the 
secondary of the coil the high tension current was passed through the 
rectifiers, and then the one pole connected to the system of overhead 
wires, the other pole being earthed. 
The overhead system of wires covered about 19 J acres of ground. 
The wires were mounted on insulators placed upon larch poles some 15 
feet high, which were placed in rows, the rows being separated by a 
distance of 102 yards, and the poles in a row being 71 yards apart. 
Stout telegraph wire carried the current down each row ; while thin 
galvanized iron wires, placed some 12 yards apart, were stretched 
between the rows and acted as the discharge wires. In this way 
22 poles were sufficient to support the wire over the 19 acres. 
This acreage was spread over two diJfferent fields ; in one field of 
which some 12 acres of wheat were under ti-eatment, in the other 61- 
acres of barley and a |-acre plot planted with potatoes, mangolds, &c. 
The wheat field was of 19 acres extent, the remaining 7 acres were 
sown with English (White Queen) wheat, 1|- acres, and Canadian (Red 
Fife) on 5|-. In the electrified part Canadian wheat occupied 3 acres, 
English wheat 9 acres. 
The results on the barley field, including the small plot, had to be 
neglected owing to the great local variations produced by the very 
irregular manuring the field had previously undergone ; the wheat 
field, however, as far as one could judge, had been very uniformly 
treated previously. 
In the w’heat, difference was noticeable at an early stage, — the young 
blades on the electrified part being, in the opinion of many observers 
of a darker green. 
