Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-12

cold February: warm January. cold May;
and 50 on Indefinitely. These sayings are
go numerous that practically every POS
7lLle pair of months in the ycar IS con
nectcd by pr0verb, and in sOfne ca=cs the
IDEAS clash. 90 that i you are - !elicve
N any, you rnust choOse
The Weather Bureau states that this
combination az two months nr 8eaSons
grew from the belief that weather Occurs
~ regular cycles This is q haH 'r-Ith
Weather i ordinarily distributed IN short
cycles % three days II takes high, or
dry wave, about three days to pass over
gwen plarp. and stormy periods are u
approximately the Same duration. From
this basis We get 'he adnge. "Thrre irosts
and then a rain which Il as likely 70
come tr7Ie AZ not.
Gurergttions about the moon, almost
without exception, have no foundation
This u rather unfortunate, a. the moon
supervtitionr are the most numerous and
ne deareat 10 the farmers heart. PlIny-
Cato and other writer's assured the an
cient Romans that oak trees should ~
felled when the moon l. On the wane, and
gave them other advice relative 70 the
proper use of the moon in agriculture.
Ever since then, moon farming has been
popular Hens must BE- sct and potatoes
planted in the dark Of the moon; sherp
must ~ sbeared when the moon Is bright.
" hen the Young moon II tilted 50 that one
horn points upward, this q slgn 10
as July, 40 next January. warm October,
some sections that the moon Is ready 10
pour out rain. In other localities they say
that the moon Is holding be ram and
drought should be expected. he tuuiIry
Of either Interpretation is apparent from
the fact that the moon appear practically
the same ali OVER the country, and u g
sure to RAIN IN some places and be dry In
Others during the succeeding days.
Scientists explode the moon theories by
saving conciIgIveiy that the moon moves
IN regular cycles and has no effect on the
weather. "Tf the moon was responsible
for the weather, FoTeCastlng would oe
picnic. said one weather expert Taen
questioned as 10 the moons influence %
weather and crops. As the moon follows
the same course year after year, we would
have the same weather in cycles without
variation. If 1t controlled atmospheric con
dItions
THE moon controls tides, OF course,
said the same expert, but i Z has any IN
fUence whatever on the weather, i IS 80
slight hat it Z swallowed up by tie other
influences.
EXPORTS TRAGIC
SUPERSTITION pursues the farmer from
he moonlIt cornheld 70 the ba ruvarft.
Here the effects are often trszlc. >o-caled
cures Tor diseases of stock and rolutry are
often such as 2 ShAkespeartan witch might
prescribe, and the result y torture 70 the
animals and weakened grsde d stock.
Ii q cow X sick, and stops chewing rs
- syrr rstlrar
tn, old custom u putting .lao oauEel cosn
is throat tail first, TO pull Up the ,'id. The
Department Of Agriculture say JhaL many
a COW has heen strangied 70 death by
3ishclotb being put down ts throat toF
the sstmc purpose.
An equally sensible procedure s to
burn I'VE chick n il there : disease IN
the goultrv flock. This ceremony Is sup
uoscd 10 improve the health pi The docN,
though how making one chicken SuIeE can
help the rest il Is hard to understand.
-fhe Bureau Of Animal Industry of the
Department Of Agriculture grows lndlg-
nent over these AND similar crUrltstS.
There i All abundance of literature on
animal ,i.se4slS which can oe had from tnc
3epartmcrt for thc asking said An
ofhciaI oi the bureau ''Sucn medieval
methods. when thev DO not kill the victim.
can only result II slower growth and
stunuag.
The hold that old customs havc on the
proplt OF community Is due 20 The act
thst tbey are old and ingralned. Some
~ the. s,iI,trstitloue practices in regard 70
care of cattle can be traced hacs 70
ancient umeo-
You may remenher the Bible story
over hve thousand wears old, oi Lahan
and Jacob and their fiockS The two
natriarchs agreed TO divide their flock Of
sheep. Jacob WAS 10 have the variegated
offspring. and Laban those Of solid color
In order to increase his share, Jacob took
poplar wands and partly peeled them and
placed them ID the pastures. The idea
vas that the sight Of the spotted sticks
would influence the ewes, and their lambs
would he yariegated
This idea hes long been pronounced IN
sound bv scientists, set It is not unconl~
mon IL and modern farmer who paints
the fpnoe of Iii, baInyard enclosure black
- keep up the black STRAIN in his :attle