Monday, Mar. 26, 1928
Super Wheat
For 13 weeks the chosen wheat of California saw the light of twelve argon-filled lamps, 300-candlepower each. Touched by no sun's ray, rooted in no soil, the wheat grew and flourished, drawing sustenance from jars of water in which the necessary chemical elements were dissolved. Although sun was excluded from the green house, the sun rays which contribute to plant growth were present in the electric light rays.
Last week Professor Alva Raymond Davis of the division of agricultural chemistry and Professor Dennis Robert Hoagland of the division of plant nutrition, University of California, pronounced the wheat mature. Not only mature, but superior in every way to its more conservative cousins which had spent five months growing in the old-fashioned way. Many have been the experiments in speeding up the growth of wheat, but never has the crop been of such quality, the time so short. The professors give the credit to the length of the light period. The lights were turned on for the most part for 16 hours a day, but when the light exposure was doubled, the plant development proceeded four times as fast, and when the light was applied for 24 hours the growth was "astounding." The heat*rays of the lamps made these long exposures impractical in the past. Even filtering them through a water screen was unsuccessful, but Dr. Davis hit upon the idea of cooling the air in the chamber with an electric fan. This work so well that a 24-hour exposure can now be tolerated.
*Heat rays--infra red rays.