ELECTRIC GARDENS.

Mataura Ensign, 2 November 1911, Page 7

ELECTRIC GARDENS.

FOR INDUCING RAPID GROWTH. Experiments are now being conducted in London to test the capacity of a miracle-working machine recently invented by a Swiss scientist. It is claimed—first, that seeds can be electrified so that they germinate in a few hours; secondly, that all sorts of diseases can be destroyed in a number of farm plants; and thirdly, that seemingly dead seeds can be revived. Especially successful efforts have been made, it is alleged, with cotton seeds and with the destruction of phylloxera in the French vineyards. The machine, which weighs nearly a ton, has been brought oviv from France and has been deposited in a London laboratory. It is curious and interesting to examine, and consists largely of a combination of devices for turning on at will both high and low tension electrical currents. These currents are directed on to the seeds, which are placed on flannel between two plates, the under one copper, the upper zinc. There are also poles, some sft in height, which are used for imparting the electricity to the soil. A cardinal secret which the inventor will not disclose is the watering of the soil with a life-giving fluid named "regenerator," one constituent of which is forced into the plant by the electricity, and which is of such double potency that it stimulates the plant to rapid growth and destroys all fungus and other pests. Experiments in London. Independent work in a London laboratory during the past few weeks has given strong indication that plants can be stimulated to lusty and rapid growth by electricity, and some men of science believe that we are on the edge of important discoveries; but for these we must wait. So far the German-Swiss machine, when tested before some Englishmen of science, failed to do with the more obstinate English farm seeds what was done with cotton. At the same time the experiments have been very interesting, and yesterday morning some partial success was obtained with barley seeds. Previously a number of seeds had produced a radicle, or rootlet, after a few hours; but it has yet to be proved whether this was not merely the mechanical effect of heat and * moisture. Further experiments with the machine are to be made at once in France, where any promise to arrest the vine-pests is hailed with eagerness.