Scientific American Supplement, No. 841, February 13, 1892 — John Shaqi
Scientific American Supplement, No. 841, February 13, 1892Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 841, February 13, 1892
Various
Science -- Periodicals
The influence of electricity upon vegetation has been the subject of
numerous investigations. Some have been made to ascertain the effects
of the electric current through the soil; others to ascertain the
effect of the electric light upon growth through the air. Among the
latter are those of Prof. L.H. Bailey of the Cornell University
Agricultural Experiment Station. In Bulletin No. 30 of the
Horticultural Department is given an account of experiments with the
electric light upon the growth of certain vegetables, like endive,
spinach, and radish; and upon certain flowers like the heliotrope,
petunia, verbena primula, etc. The results are interesting and
somewhat variable. The forcing house where the experiments were
carried on was 20 x 60 ft., and was divided into two portions by a
partition. In one of these the plants received light from the sun by
day and were in darkness at night. In the other they received the
sunlight and in addition had the benefit of an arc light the whole or
a part of the night. The experiment lasted from January until April
during two years, six weeks of the time the first year with a naked
light and the balance of the time with the light protected by an
ordinary white globe. It is not the purpose here to enter into any
great details, but to give the general conclusions.
The effect of the naked light running all night was to hasten
maturity, the nearer the plants being to the light the greater being
the acceleration. The lettuce, spinach, etc., "ran to seed" in the
"light" house long before similar plants in the dark. An examination
of the spinach leaves with the microscope showed the same amount of
starch in each, but in the electric light plants the grains were
larger, had more distinct markings and gave a deeper color with
iodine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account