"FARADISATION."

Press, Volume L, Issue 14889, 31 January 1914, Page 14

"FARADISATION."

ELECTRIC BATH FOR WHEAT

TO INCREASE ITS VITALITY

Some interesting experiments in the initiation of a process which may prove of immense value to the wheatgrowing industry havo been carried out during the past year on Mr J. T. Noblo's Sunnyside property at Eugowr.*. (says tho "Sydney Daily Telegraph"). The experimenter is Mr \V. &. F. •Simmons, late of tho Electric Telegraph Department, and his object- is, by •Faradisation." as he aptly terms Inprocess, to solve the germination problem iti connexion with wheat that has i been subjected to bluestone treatment lor the prevention of smut, as woll «s ] to strengthen the vitality of the grain, : and thus increase its productivity. 1 he j past season was a very severe one— i the worst spring, old settlers say, ex- ■ peri .need in the district for 40 year*—* but tho results, in spite of tins handi-, cap have been so far successful M to load -Mr Simmons to believe that his efforts will be crowned with complete success. , - ~ • v As the name, "Faradisation. ' indicates, the process is olectncaL In fact, it Ls an adaptation of the electric lath, and the cost is trifling, the outfit itself being inexpensive, and the Year's upkeep amounting to the cost of lib of sal-ammoniac—say Bd—for a battery of four Leclanche cells. These cells costing about ls 4d each, have a nominal newer of 1. volts, but the actual voltage is li, making five volts from the four cells. This Mr Simmons increases to 16 volts, or four volts per cell, by drawing upon the earth s electric storage by means of an arrangement of induction coils. "Hitherto, says he, "the earth circuit has been « ro-ber of current. This appliance of mine has turned the tables on the earth, and inst.*ad of robbing my batteries it adds to their power. That is the whole secret." For electrodes ho uses the ends oi pitchforks, and he maikes his earth connexion by means of a ploiiehshnrt* buried in the foil. The initial v-xpensc i*. there-lore, limited to the cost of the battery, switch, coils, and a lew yards ot insulated wire. "My aim," Mr-Simmons says, "is to got a cheap process that will bo wit Inn the means of- every farmer." rho plant will be moro complete by providing an insulated table or platform for the bag 'of wheat to he "Famdised," but this is not absolutely necessary, and the whole treatment is to plunge tho two electrodes (pitchforks) one into each end of the bag, or "butt." of wheat, turn on the switch, and subject tho grain to the electric current for four minutes, this treatment being in lieu of the limewater immersion alter taking** the wheat from tho bluestone tub. About half a bag was treated at a time, various strengths of current being used, from four volte xip to sixteen volts, for fear the stronger current might damage the vitality of the germ. Events proved this fear to havo been groundless, for the wheat treated with the sixteen volts current gavo the best results. Tho crops were, as might be expected, patchy, but nono produced less than three bags to the acre, which wa.s tho yield from the seed given tho weakest current, while some patches gave from twelve to fifteen bags to the acre, and*-h. paddock of fifty acres, in which the yield was interfered, with by trees, averaged seven bags. Another paddock of new ground, roughly cultivated, stripped hve bags to the acre, while on the other side of tho wire fence a neighbouring farmer harvested less than two bags to the acre, and, owing to the practically rainless spring, many crops in the district failed to.return even one bag to the acre, sonic, as a mattor of fact, being ploughed under in November in order to.put the haddocks under fallow for the summer. - Ono farmer—and a good farmer, too—strips ped 29 bags of wheat'from "an area of about 240 acres of new land which ho had put under a ]at'e-_owh Crop. In these circumstances the results achieved from the "Faradised" 6eed on Mr Noble's farm are, at any rate, significant. And it may be added that there was no trace of smut in any of the paddocks. But the germination tests were the most conclusive. The varieties treated were Federation, Bunyip, and Hudson's Purple Straw. Nine plots were marked out, 500 grains of •'Faradised" wheat being sown in a drill in each plot alongside 500 grains of untreated wheat. 'The highest percentage of germination of the- untreated grain wfciri 74 per cent., while some of the plots went as low as 60 per cent. The •'Faradised" seed, in contrast, averaged 96 per cent. Tho Purnle Straw germinated 94 per cent.. Federation 96 per cent., and Bunyip 98 per cent. The wheat showed above ground 28 hours after planting, and made quick growth, showing a broad leaf of a rich green colour, the plants being 15 to 18 inches high when those in the companion drills of untreated «eed were, about six inches hi*»h, and spindled and weak by comparison. Tho experiments will be continued on. a larger scale during the coming season, and by next harvest Mr Simmons hones to have achieved -results that will startle the Commonwealth.