The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1908-02-13
WEATHER SIGN STUDY.
A WORK OF NECESSITY IN ALL
FARMING COMMUNITIES.

erations and Generations-Dogs
Manifest Uneasiness on the APP
preach of Storm-Hens, Too, Are
Sure Prognostieators.
Among class of people the prosecu-
lion of whose supporting industry is
almost wholly contingent upon meteor
illogical conditions it is virtually i'm
peratiye that weather indications
should be critically and intelligently
observed. Hence it is in farming COM
munfties that many individuals are to
be found in whom personal observa-
tons and traditional lore have COM
bined to produce surprisingly accurate
weather prognosticators.
Coming events cast their shadows
before" is trite and oft quoted say
ing that is emphatically applicable in
the realm of meteorology. Indications
are abundant in natures domain-the
country which need but to be rightly
interpreted to. constitute an unerring
weather chart In the language of the
rural savant, Mature does nothing
unheralded." A city man whose atten-
ton was directed to the subject while
In the country says ON this subject;
On a perfect July day, when the
sky was deep blue and cloudless, with
a gentle breeze from the west, barely
sufficient to rustic the foliage, | sat in
the shadow of a wide spreading maple,
with farmer and his band of hay
makers, who were eating their mid
forenoon luncheon. OF a sudden the
former jumped up, seized a fork and
shouted to his men:
We'll quit moving and work like
beavers to take care Of the hay already
down, and We'll have to pitch in lively,
or the hay'll get wet
The men obeyed with alacrity. none
questioning his employers Judgment.
/ was loath to accept this summary
representation; judging from condi-
lions as they appeared to me- there
was no likelihood of rain for the next
II hours at least, and | ventured to in
innate as much to my agricultural
frined.
the signs of the weather." he good ma
turedly responded. "If l were a bet
ting man, I'd not hesitate to risk an
* that we'll have smart shower
fore ha' past this afternoon"
And I'd not hesitate to win it from
you," l confidently retorted. Then |
questioned him as to what the signs
were upon which he relied so implicitly.
He said:
i Wen, they're plenty enough all
around. In the first place, while we
were eating luncheon, | noticed that
when l threw cut little water on the
ground it evaporated in minute Then
| took notice that the leaves on the
maple turned their wrong sides to the
wind; but what made me jump up so
sudden and set the men hustling was
a green snake that | saw running over
the swath. That is a sign that never
fails, even in drouth, when all signs
are said to fail; those snakes never
show themselves but just before rain.
There are plenty of other signs, if I
needed anything more, to convince me
that it's going to rain. Want to know
'em? Well, just tame a look at that
dog. You notice he doesn't lie still in
one spot more'n half a minute at a
time; now see him get UP and sniff,
and now he lies down, gets up and
turns around and tries a new spot,
can't get comfortable. Now just cast
ont hoy
bubbles all over the water? Well, that
of itself is sure sign of rain. Take
look at the sky see those mares tails?"
looked as enjoined, and, sure
enough, the hitherto fair expanse of
blue was streaked with long fuzzy
streamers of cloud or vapor, so light
as to be almost indistinguishable, save
as the cobalt blue furnished dark
background. | was much impressed
with what my ffiend had told me; still
l was sceptical and could not bring
myself to believe that the fair day
would be marred by rain l said as
much and was assured that I'd be con-
WINGED ere night
Meanwhile the men were literally
carrying out their employers injunc-
ton to work like beavers The
slight breeze of the early day had died
away, and the heat was terrific. The
heavy swaths Of hay seemed fairly to
shrivel in the quivering atmosphere as
soon as they were spread over the
stubble, while there rose in lavish
waste that most subtle and fragrant Of
all perfumes, the odor of new mown
hay | think it operated as sopori-
fic upon me, for, in my comfortable re-
treat beneath the naples foliage, |
soon lapsed into state of somnolency
from which | was suddenly aroused by
a deep. shuddering roar, which seemed
to cause the very earth to tremble.
silhouetted against the far western no.
rison were masses of blue-black clouds,
resembling distant mountain peaks AS
these pushed their jagged pinnacles
higher and higher wonderfully busy
scene was enacted in the hay field. 1t
seemed as though even the horses on