The Princeton union., 1904-01-14
MOON-EYED FARMERS.
Hopeful Harry Says Moon-P Planting Farm
ers Are Way OFF.

Hopeful Harry Says on-Planting Farm
ers Are Way OFF.
Some writer's tell US that the age of
superstition is past. I have no doubt
that this is true to a certain extent.
I am convinced by reading ancient
history that superstition is on the
wane, yet there are many people at the
present time who are influenced by
foolish, ,superstitious, notions or ideas.
These superstitious notions are too
foolish to mention here, but I will
speak of a few of the most common
that frequently come to our notice.
There are a large number of people
who have great faith in the moon.
They say that if the horns of the new
moon are perpendicular it will not
hold water and we will have wet
moon or month, but if the horns are
vice versa, that is horizontal, we will
have a dry moon, not much storm for
q month. Now there is nothing in
science that will support such foolish
notions. So far as man has been able
to learn the moon, SO to speak, is a
dead planet. 1t is without light, life
or heat. [ often meet people who be-
lieve in planting seed at a certain time,
as they call it., of the moon, and l am
often asked what time of the moon I
plant certain seed. My invariable
answer is that I have never been able
to get to the moon to plant seed there.
I always plant seed in the ground and
I sometimes offend people by my un-
belief in moon-planting signs, and l
will here ask those who believe in the
so-called signs of the moon to tell
what influence any planet that is with
out light, life or heat, and which is
like the moon, 235, 545 miles from the
earth, can have upon the rain that
comes upon the earth, Or the vegeta-
tion growing thereon. In reply to
this I am told that reason teaches US
that those vegetables that grow in the
ground like onions and potatoes,
grow in the dark, hence ought to be
planted in the dark of the moon. and
peas and vines that grow above the
ground ought to be planted in the
new of the moon.
Now have tested this theory many
times and it has proved to be wholly
false. There is not any foundation
for any such belief. I have planted
all kinds of seeds the same day, the
potato that grows in the dark and the
peas, lettuce and cucumbers that grow
in the light. I have planted seeds of
all kinds in all of the so-called times
of the moon with success.
While it has proved that the moon
causes the tidal waves, it still remains
to be proved that it has any effect on
gowing crops. This idea of looking
to the moon for rain and the time to
plant seed is an old whim handed
down to us by tradition and is not
supported by science. But it is hard
to eradicate from the superstitious
human mind. Now, brother farmers
and gardeners, follow my advice:
Prepare your ground, have it in the
best condition possible, SOW your seed,
not in the moon, but in the soil, and
all other things being equal you will
reap generous harvest. And remem-
ber, it is the sun that the scientists say
gives us light and heat. It is the sun
that warns the earth and causes the
moisture to evaporate in a vapor and
rise to an altitude where it cools and
cOndenses and returns to the earth in
the shape of rain. It is the sun that
shines upon the earth and causes all
vegetation to grow in it's season,
both night and day whether under the
ground or above it.
HOPEFUL HARRY.