St. Tammany farmer., 1901-08-03
BOMBARDING TIE CLOUDS.
Methods Employed In France and
Italy to Protect Vegetation
Deprecated Here.

Italy to Protect Vegetation
Deprecated Here. !
The extensive reports of United
States Consul Covert, at Lyons,
France, relative to the success of cam
non-fring in France as means Of
protecting orchards and vineyards
from hailstorms, and also for the pur-
pose of mitigating or nullifying the
effects of frosts upon vegetation, have
prompted numerous inquiries by horti-
culturists in this country as to when.
if at all, this government would adopt
similar methods of protection. Prof.
Willis L. Moore, the chief of the wealth
er bureau, acting under the directions
of Secretary Wilson, has, therefore.
issued to the press the following state-
ment:
'The use of explosives to destroy
hailstorms and to minimize the effects
of frosts has spread throughout Italy,
southern Austria and southern France.
In many places it is supported by both
federal and municipal appropriations.
and it is also maintained and practiced
on a large scale by the owners of vine-
yards. It is especially exploited by
certain manufacturers of cannon and
explosives, located at Gratz, Austria.
I believe that the method in use is,
based upon popular delusion, and
that American horticulturists should
not waste their time or money in the
Fol- ~ Sc fat
"The inventor of the apparatus is
Mr.. Stiger, and the method is ordinar-
lily spoken of as the Stiger method. 1t
consists essentially in sending vortex
rings of smoke and air upward toward
the clouds; but unfortunately for the
claims of our European experimenter
the most powerful Stiger cannon that
has yet been employed cannot send
these rings higher than 1000 feet
above the ground, and, therefore, ut
terly fail to reach the clouds. On this
account the distinguished Austrian
meteorologist, J. NJ. Pertner, has
maintained that if there is any virtue
whatever in the idea of the experi-
menters they must use more powerful
apparatus.
"But there is no satisfactory evi-
dence that the cannonading or the
vortices had any influence whatever
on the hail. Both theory and practice
agree in this conclusion. Theoretical
ly it was imagined by Mr.. Stiger that
hail was formed in quiet spots in the
atmosphere, where the atmospheric
moisture could crystalline out in large
crystals in manner analogous to the
formation of large crystals of salt in
liquid solution. But this is very fool
ish notion. Prof. Abbe says that there
are no such quiet spots in the atmos-
phere and hailstones are not crystals,
but masses of ice with only feeble
or partial crystalline structure that
even the perfect crystals of the snow
flakes are formed in the midst of rap
idly moving air, so that the whole the
oretical basis for hailstorm cannon
aiding falls to the ground.
practically, it is difficult to prove
that specific fall of hail has been
especially influenced by the cannonad-
ing. Hailstorms are generally very
local and erratic. Some have MAIN
tanned that they are controlled by tho
hills and the contour of the country
or by the presence of forests and
lakes, but practically the whole ques-
ton is one of ascending and descend
ing currents of air that characterize
whirlwinds and thunderstorms. If in
the midst of these complex motions,
with the resulting rain, there occur
here and there patches Of hail, it would
seem absurd to say that we can put
our finger upon the precise influences
that caused or prevented hail. If in
the midst of hailstorm, / fire of
cannon and the hail ceases to fall on
nv land and continues to fall on my
neighbours, it would be folly to main
tain that this is due to the firing OF
my gun. Nothing but the continued
repetition of this phenomenon under
variety of circumstances would JUS
tify this conclusion.
snow, the fact is that In the various
reports relative to hail shooting there
has not been fair presentation of the
statistics upon the results. Nothing
is told us as to where the hailstorms
come from or go to, nor even if there
were any hailstorms; but in most
cases the record simply states that .
threatening cloud was seen approach
ing, the cannonading began and con-
tinued until the cloud went away, and
no hail fell on the region supposed to
be protected by the cannon. But this
is not all. The last congress on the
bombardment of hail utterly refused
to entertain reports from those who
testified that the hail fell in spite of the
cannonading. In fact, therefore, re-
ports showing that In no case was the
cannonading Of any avail had to be
published independently.
"After an examination Of all that
has been published during the past
two years my conviction is that we
have here to do with popular delu-
sion as remarkable as is the belief in
the effect Of the moon on the weather.
The uneducated peasantry of Europe
seem to be looking for something