The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-07-19

moon have on the seasons AnAe 10 :"
long mooted question, and as to how
it will be answered by different people
depends entirely upcn circumstances:
For instance, if mans father be-
.lieved in the moon before him, then
he is pretty apt to believe in it him.
self. If he was raised in ignorance or
disregard Of the traditions respecting
the moon, then he is likely to continue
that way. That is, unless there
should happen, at sometime, some
incident that serves to furnish strong
and convincing evidence one way or
the other.
lam not farmer. | know nothing
about the moon. Until recently, l
did not know that the first two quar-
tiers .of the new moon we're called the
Eight" and the last two quarters
were called the ssdari.S.' All my life
I have heard farmers talking Of
planting in che moon;' but not being
able to- understand how the moon
could exercise influence on crops, I
have been disposed to dismiss matters
relating to the moon as idle supersti-
tion. Recently I have undertaken to
investigate the matter, and while l
have not been able to learn anything
that seems to be Of practical value to
anybody, the result Of some of my in
quiries have been somewhat interest
ing. ] know very little more now,
however, than I did before.
Not having at hand any literature
on the subject, my investigations took
the shape Of series Of inquiries Of
different people who we're supposed to
be more or less versed on the prevail
ing theories. One Of the first men [
happened to speak to was learned
minister Of the gospel. He said,
1Well, ] really do not know much
about the inauenceof the moon on the
seasons; but I suppose it has some!
For instance, if you will read Deute-
ropemy, xxxiii, IA, where Moses was
invoking his last blessings on the
children Of Israel, you will find this:
And for the precious things Of the
fruits Of the sun; anci for the precious
things OF the growth Of the moon
Going on to Psalm '.iv, 10, you will
find this: HE appointed the moon
for seasons. =
Some people believe that every word
81 the Bible is inspired, and that it
means just what it says. I am not
going 20 discuss that now,. but I thank
the good minister for his references.
The quotations at least show that the
belief with regard to the influence Of
the moon on crops is very old one.
It is not confined entirely to the igno-
rant and superstitious. Intelligent
people, even if they are unable to give
satisfactory ''why," seem to have
very good ground for believing as they
do
Next, 1 made inquiry of we'll edu-
Gated man who had been farmer ali
his life; but was not certain as to now
much importance to attach to the ia-
auence Of the moon. ! BE said to mc:
Most of my neighbe'rs believed III the
moon more shan III the seasons, and
were not disposed 60 plant until the
moon was right. wrote to the North
Carolina Experiment station and asked
:. them to give me whatever information
they might have on the subject.
Their reply was to the effect that
While there is no doubt that the moon
has more or less influence on crops, l
had better go ahead and plant when
4 ever I should And it convenient to do
so. for they did not think that the
inAuence Of the moon was great enough
to make much difference.
Several farmers to whom ] talked
were Of opinion that the moon had no
influence whatever on the crops; but
they were unable to give positive proof
or even reasons. Others believed in
the moon wiah exactly the same kind
Of faith. But while there were many
who did not think that the moon in
auenced crops, there were quite a
number who thought it certainly in
fuenced the quality Of timber. Nine
out Of 10 said that timber felled in the
dark Of the moon would continue wet
and sobby, impossible to season, while
tilaber cut in the light of the moon
would season quickly and become light
and dry. Only few gave testimy to
the effect that they had ever gotten
opposite and perfectly satisfactory re-
suits from timber cut in the clark" Of
the moon. One man. however-and
he is intelligent and reliable-said