Show m i MW A t I 1 17 I 1 t f 4 f L itts ON PLANT PLAIT LIPS LIM BEING STUDIED IN COLLEGE I 1 j current cleft ant son soil it ft Is if proved rr ed that it promote the speed of growth anil ax vigor of many Product a of the field the relation of electricity to life Is L puzzle that I 1 lias interested many minds in the subtle nature of that tore orce which used to oe be known as the electric fluid there la is unquestionably something which suggests the yet subtler uto life principle though quacks abuse the analogy to cheat the sick their frauds do not make the truth any less true and the truth Is that alf life e Is force and electricity Is form force ale they must be in some way related ut t Is hard to study the finer effect of electricity upon animal lite life animals may be killed by the fluid or in somo some cases seemingly helped by M it but the result of any long series of experiments Is spoiled by the difficulty of measuring any change it is possible that the way to approach this subject Is not so direct as some would make it but must start with plant life and so 80 work up to man the lite life of a plant Is not altogether different from that of an 10 1 but it is simple and the results of experiments upon it can be much more easily measured it is possible fehst the experiments in elect electrical farming which are being made at the massachusetts agricultural college at amhurst may be the beginning of discoveries co that will aill not stop with plants the workers there under the direction of henry IL I L goodell LL D are proceeding in a perfectly scientific manner fully measuring every step before they take the next one thus tar far they have proved that certain kinds of electric currents applied in accurately measured amounts produce brodu ce definitely meas measurable umble effects on an plant life electricity properly applied stimulates tah jhb growth of a plant the experiments of the past year upon white mustard red clover barley and other products of the field prove that a rightly regulated electric current increases growth from 13 to 40 per cent the subject has been studied for years but never at any other time and place has the work been so accurately scientific or nearly so conclusive the method is to take seeds of the same kind and separate them into eight groups of twenty five seeds each these groups are placed in exactly similar germinating pans pan I 1 and every condition to which they are exposed is rigidly equal except that some are treated with electricity while others are not the results prove the efficacy of electricity in promoting the speed of growth and the vigor of the plant they are so definite as to be of use to the farmer and already on many extensive farms the knowledge gained at the massachusetts college la is being put to practical use the current Is passed through the s soil oil I 1 in la which the plants grow and the methods are such that mat large areas may be treated without excessive expense no scientist can doubt that the time is U near ear at hand when electric energy can be developed incomparably me more re cheaply than power of any kind kina has ever been had by artificial mea means it will be only a little more expensive than sunlight and in that day the farm lands of the earth contracting as the population increases will yet by their marvelous productivity supply abundant food to the race I 1 |