The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1907-02-07
PREDICTS WEATHER
BY DATA OF YEARS.
Missouri Prophet Has Unusual
Success in .ForeteIIing Ma.
ture OF Each Season.

ust, 1906, he made this statement,
and files Of the local papers verify IL:
"This will be q fine year to SOW
wheat. But il must be In before the
goth OF September; It will be useless
to do any planting after that. We
are going to have u mild winter, and
that means q big wheat yield"
This weather soothsayer's name Is
August T. Claim. He Is about 55,
and operates q 200 acre farm east
OF Macon. Such confidence have the
farmers Of Macon and Shelby coun-
ties In Mr.. Claims forecasts that
they planted many thousands OF
acres OF wheat in excess OF the nor
NAL acreage.
And 80 far the weather has borne
out Mr.. Claims predictions to the
letter. The winter in those parts
has been one OF unusual mildness,
with frequent springlike rains. The
thermometer has rarely gone lower
than twenty. five above zero, and
has more often hovered about fifty.
Mr.. Claim uses no wizards wand,
no crystal globes, and no occult aid
OF any sort TO tell u year in advance
what Uncle Sans weather observer
will report. He carries with him a
little book, wellthunbed with the
passing years, and Iull uf interesting
data compiled from sixty'siX years
back on down to date.
Mr.. Claims father was the first
historian He took notian that
the weather came in cycles. and his
object wus 10 lnara the extent OF
those cycles. After eleven years OF
close observation of his weather
diary, he came to the conclusion
that the Seasons repeated themselves
every decade; that each year In de-
cade had u brand OF weather peculiar
to itself
Now and then, in a long while,
there was break-a cog slipped
somewhere Ia the universe. But such
things were rare. The harmony OF
the years was as the assurance OF
the salvation to the just. What
happened in 1916 was bound to hap
pen In 1856. There was no getting
around 1t. The dairy was continued
on until the Twentieth Century, the
son taking up the work when the
'ather passed into land where the
storms OF lie do not trouble. Now,
The younger historian, getting well
along In years, has, he claims, dem
onstrated his fathers theory beyond
any sort of doubt, and he is giving
his farmer friends the benefit n it.
"The harvest Of this year will be
]ry," said Mr.. Claim. "The sevens
have been almost uniformly dry since
1910, and are fine years for small
grain. This year will be good for
peaches, and also the year following
Including 1906, this will give US
three good peach years In succession.
The sevens and eights are always
1ne for this fruit.
"But there Is one ominous fight
or us this year. There will be a visi.
-ation Of loeusts, which will last
about six weeks. The locusts come
,very thirteen years without fall.
The record shows that they were
here In 1S42, 1856, 1868, 1881 and
1894. That puts them due In 1907. |
Being forewarned, however, the
armer can turn his hogs and chick
Ills into bis orchards, and they will
'at up the pests nearly as fast a.
'hey germinate. The locusts have
never done near as much damage in |
ibis section as the grasshopper and
are not to be dreaded as much.
Unless in usually large numbers
hey will not eat small grain. They
levour the slender stalks OF wheat,
out don't touch the stronger stalks. |
They will appear in the latter part
,l May and disappear about the LIST
,i August. The hogs should be
,urned into the orchards during
April. The locusts make fine iced
or hogs and chickens. They like
;hem and thrive wonderfully on the
Insects.
"Corn viii do fairly well, but may