The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1912. MODERN MIRACLES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 32, 20 January 1912, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1912. MODERN MIRACLES.

r P Jie °f the most marvellous achievements of modern scieheo' ; ’is ‘the application of electricity 'tq It ! is, as yet, more or dess'iiftihe'experimental stage, but nevertheless remarkable results have been obtained. For example, electricians, it is affirmed, havo very nearly succeeded in making it possible to grow two blades ‘ * df K r «6s where only one was grown formerly. They have certainly demopstratcd that, ,by the aid of electr;city< many .crops i.can be. increased l by from "201 to 1 30 pci;; feorit.' V ? Thfe achievements of to-day .^ire posjsibiv the' forerunner :of t>ig tilings in the future. . The commercial value of this discovery Iras "teen demonstrated by Mr Ihomas Clark, at Downham, Essex. Mr Clark has installed an electi ical machine outside a glass-house which measures 200 feet by 24 feet. The cost of the apparatus is £36, and the working expenses are only 3s a week. With this machine the inventor claims that he has increased the yield of strawberries by 36 per cent., the yield .of beets by 30 per cent., and the yield of tomatoes by 20 per cent. Experiments conducted upon a more extensive scale show that the proper use of electricity leads to wheat crops giving 20 per cent, more grain, and barley 0 per cont. more, while the straw of both cereals is considerably increased. The placing of this machine upon the market has given a practical demonstration of the value of theories which scientists' have been interested in for years past. In the use of electricity for increasing agricultural yields, English scientists have toi some time been leading the world. iMr J. E. Newman ,of Evesham, made i scries of experiments last year, being aided in his work by Sir Oliver Lodge and Mr Liond Lodge. He succeeded in demonstrating that the growth of wheat could bo considerably augmented by electrical influence. I liree fields of wheat were exjmriinented upon. One was left uninfluenced, one grown under a limited current of electricity, and the third given the .nil benefit of the plant the experimenters bad installed. Tho result showed that the use of electricity should 1)0 commercially successful. The increased yield more than paid for the electricity, or, ratlior, would have done so had tho scheme been conducted under purely commercial lines. Mi- Newman’s experiments showed that hops could also be beneficially influenced by electricity. It

seems tlmt most crops respond to tin’s treatment. Tlie English method "Inch is used hy Mr Clark at Downham, is really a kind of “wireless” discharge. Wires are run over the crops, and the fact that they arc pouring electricity into the air was demonstrated, as vacuum lamps held three feet below the wires hy the inventor were illuminated. The theory s that the electricity has the effect ;f increasing the nitrogen in the air, md nitrogen is a stimulant upon which ■egetahlo life thrives.

AUSTRALIAN CRICKET.

An Australian cricket authority, who wont to England with tho last Australian eleven, holds the opinion that the captaincy of the present team is its weak point. Writing to a Queensland paper he says:—“There was one

very important point which impressed itsoll' on my mind, and i tiiiuk that most people in Australia will think the same before long. I refer to the captaincy of the team, and with all due respect and deference to Hill, Australia badly needs Noble. 1 said once before in my notes that 1 considered that Hill was not the man to load Australia, for he has not the proper disposition. And now I ropeat that the Australian team would be a do per cent, better combination if Noble was in charge. Had he been captain in Sydney do you think that these fieldsmen of ours would have slacked it, and that they would have been fielding in so many different places? Not for a moment. There is something about Noble as a captain which makes every man playing with him put forth every ounce that is in him. It is simply his personality, and the confidence he inspires in those whom he is leading is one of the greatest factors in the success which attends him on practically every occasion. A tost team is like lots of other bodies—composed of different units with different dispositions—it requires a long-headed and tactful man to got the best results. Some of tho men, I know, take a hit of handling, but Noble could always manage them. If he were only back in tho arena wo coidd view the remaining tests with a much easier mind than at present. Unless something out of the ordinary happens l hp is not likely to take part in any more big cricket, for he told me that he intends to stick closely to business. It is significant that lie spent only part of one afternoon watching the test match.”