Nikola Tesla Books
PLANT CULTURE 145 Fig. 1. Showing span of wires to carry the high tension current over a plot of ground in which plants are to be cultivated 10 feet wide by 20 feet long. This was situated across a yard and 50 feet from the companion bed used for purposes of comparison. The two beds were boxed in with lumber and topsoil was taken from the same load for each; in fact, the conditions were as nearly identical as it was possible to make them. Four posts were set up at the electrical bed, in the corners of the plot as shown in Fig. 1. At a distance of 5 feet from the ground, ten wires were spanned from crossarms attached to the poles. The wires were carefully insulated with two porcelain cleats in series at the end of each wire and a common lead connected the span of wires at one end as shown in the illustration. A ground connection is made by means of strips of galvanized iron "chicken wire" buried in the earth beneath the bed. The aerial conductor is brought to a small shed or other shelter arranged near the bed under cultivation and in this shed the high-tension transformer is placed. The power wires from the electric lighting circuit are carried to the trans
