/Nexus - 0219 - New Times Magazine/pages/0043/image.png)
Page Content (OCR)
APRIL -MAY 1994 MAGNETISM The late Albert Roy Davis, a Florida physiologist and researcher on biomag netism, received US Patent #4,020,590 (3 May 1977) for his system of gar dening with magneti_sm. Davis recommended treating the seeds of plants that grow above ground in water with the south pole of a 1,500 to 2,500 gauss mag neL. "We found after many years of research 'that treating above-ground seeds with the south pole of a magnet increases the germination and growth, and the leaves of these vegetables arc larger." "If you plan to treat seeds that result in plants with their edible portions under ground, such as beets, potatoes, carrots or turnips, then you will produce a beLler result by using the north pole of the magnet," Davis said in an interview given to Natural Foods and Farming magazine in April 1981. The effects achieved are due to the magnetic inOuence of softening thc surface tension of water, which is more readdy absorbed by the seeds and plants. According to U. 1. Pillman of the Canadian Agricultural Research Station in Lethbridge, Alberta, "Earth's magnetism can affect the direction of root growth of some plants, and also the growth rate of some seedlings. "The roots of some plants normally align themselves in a north-south plane approximately parallel to the horizontal force of Earth's magnetic field." Such plants include winter wheat, wild oats, spring wheat and some weeds. "Winter wheat seeded in rows _running at right angles to the magnetic north often outyield wheat seeded lin other directions by 3 to 4 bushels/acre because the roots grow in a north-south direction and utilise nutricnts and moisture in the inter-row areas morc ex tensively. "Seeds of some varieties of wheat, barley, flax and rye were found to germinate faster and grow more during their seedling stages, when their long axes and embryo ends are pointed toward the north magnetic pole, than when they are pointed in any other direction. "Many seeds germinate and grow about two times faster if they are exposed to the north pole of an artificial magnet,ic field before they are planted, than if they are not so treated-wheat seed in particular grows about five times as much in the first 48 hours as unexposed seed. "In some species Ithe enhanced growth rate persists through to maturity. Grecn snap beans thus mature more uniformly and yield more than those from untreated seed plantcd randomly. "The effects of magnetic treatment before gcrmination appear to remain active within some seeds for at least 18 months after application. The magnetic intensity required to givc maximum response appears to be betwecn 0.5 and 100 oersteds when applied for 240 hours. For some unknown reason, a greater growth response occurs if the seeds are subjected to magnetism for 48, 144,240 or 336 hours than if exposcd for intermediate periods. An exposure for 240 hours produces maximum responses in most seeds tested." (Ref.: U. J. Pittman, Canadian J. Plant Sci. 43:513-8 (1963); ibid., 52_:727-33 (September 1972).) The sexual determination of monoecious plants such as com and cucumbers also is affected by the geomagnetic field: "If the embryo radical of such plants is or,ient NEXUS·43