The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-03-08

" new but since Tuesday night, when
we first saw it. | never saw q larger
one nor n brighter one nor one that bal
anced itself 50 proudly IN the western
heavens. Not 4 drop Of water would 1t
spill and some say that means we vii!
have q dry month and some say we Will
have !. Wet one. To my unlearned
mind lie moon is the most complicated
and wonderful piece of machinery in the
realms of space 1t makes my head
swim to study its elliptic orbit its lunar
time and Sidereal time, its ibra1l6TS
of latitude and longitude and dlurnai
librat.on; its ascending and descending
nodes and their rctr0grado motion which
takes eighteen years and 219 days 10
complete: its apo@ee and perlgee, the TWO
points of which are movable and move
along the circumference OF the clllpSe
from west To east and complete the cif-
emit in eight years and 800 days. Some
times it comes along q circle ln the hea-
ycnS that is near the zenith and some
times It's course is low down in the south
crn sky Its speed is not uniform rs
Il moves around The earth. for some
times il gets ahead and sometimes Ia@s
behind Its axis is inclined TO its orbit
and seems 10 nod backwards and for
! wards for three degrees. Then There
are he cclipScs, which add 10 the Won
dcrful complications. and yet every
phase and every motion obey Il law and
are intelligblc to men of science. 1t IS
the regularity Of irregularities. but
men Of science ike Otis Ashmore under
stand il all and can make an almanac
and forctoll ,clipseS for thousand
years | have unbOunded respect for
thc>. men--for Greer and AshmOre and
Dr. Means, all Of our own state, and for
The lamented Professor Mitchell, who
WAS the greatest of modern astrono-
morS.
But this heautful new moon provoked
another line OF thought. ] saw it over
my right Shoulder and in Il clear sky
and was satisfied and yet | am not Su-
per>titiOus about it. | had just Il little
rather see it that way and had the
ajority of civilized people. Luna means
The moon. and most people are lunaticS.
Even Blackstone, the great lurlSt, de-
fines :: lunatic to be one who is insane
At times but has lucid intervals during
| certain changes of the moon. And al
| though the medical world has long
| since exploded the superstition "a ~
| Of the moons influence on the mind
the name Of unatic still obtains and IS
applied 10 All insane persons. After
| South Carolina had scccded,a man asked
| Mr.. ppttigrcw which was the road to
| the lunatic asylum. Any road-all the
roads,. he SAID. "the whole State is one
vast lunatic asylum. Almost everybody
has Some superstition abort the moons
influence on vegetation. My good neigh
bor. Mrs Fields, told me laSt week that
she had been right busy all day plant
| ing '.er potatoes for said she. you
know it is the dark Of the moon now"
She is the best gardener i'll the town
| Il.
sef Injustice when she gives the moon
any credit for her success. Many years
ago ] made Il fair test of tho moon the
| DRY, for | planted four rows in my gar
den in the dark of the moon and then
four more right beside them two weeks
later and gave all the same culture. and
| found no difference in the yield The
| best time t, plant pota toes is when the
ground Is ready. and it may he very un-
| ready If we wait for the dark Of the
moon. But l have found that good far
merS differ about how many days are in
! ctG,lctl in the dark of the moon. Some
say one. some say two OF three and
others say all the days Of the moon :
wane, which would ne about thirteen.
| But il 1Acrc is anything in the moon
! theory. why confinc il TO irish potatoes
and peas and cans? Why not apply it
, corn and wheat!
But there are other SupersttionS that
even the most sensible and well educated
people cannot shake off. The roasted
| chicken our table to-day was gar
| niShc'l with parsley ana We have none
| in our garden. | asked my wife where
| il came from Prom Mrs. Postells.'
| she said Il Will get some from her said
and plant ii. | SoWcd the seed last
spring, but II did not come up. No,
| Sald my wife, You won't get it from
| Mrs. poStell unless you 80 in the night
| and steal it. She believes that it is 4
Gift that carries death with the giving
| and she wouldn't give You Il plant for
the world. Why, she declares that it
| always causes 4 death in the family,
and only three years ago Il neighbor
| pulled up some by the roots against her
| protest and took it home and planted
| it, and the woman died within 4 week.
Well, now Mrs rostcll is Il very
smart, cultured and well-balanced wo-
man. but she is Il lunatic on that subject,
and / fear that my wife is showing symp-
toms Of the same malady. Certain II
Is she Will not hear to my getting parsley
plants from anybody as a gift, and Ger,
tain it is that | am not going out al
night to steal any. We'll. maybe that If
Il person has faith in such things what
they believe will happen, for faith
will remove mountains, and il there Is
il faith cure there may be a faith kill.
THESE superStltionS are deep-roOted, for
they come down 10 us through the ages.
There is plant called rue and another
called rosemary. and both Were used III
the days of witchcraft to drive away
evil spirits. They We're called ''herbs Of
grace. and were imbued with saving
qualities, while parsley is of evil omcn
and dangerous, unless it IS stolen by
night.
But my wife insists that 4 little real
sonable superstition is a good thing to
have. for it proves that we are not over
confident in our own merits and feel the