Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-07-19
MOON INFLUENCES
BY H. Addington Bruce

THERE still are people, it appears, who
attribute to the moon all sorts of occult
influences human, ANIMAL and plant
life. The most fantastic of old-time moon
SuperstitionS find their believers even today.
Some will not sleep with moonlight shining
on them, lest it cause them to become insane.
Others, in the odd notion that somehow good
will thereby be brought to them, always
deavor to catch their first glimpse of new
moon over their left shoulder. Or perhaps they
feel uneasy if they do not have some coins in
their pocket when first they see new moon.
"Moon farmers" as Professor L. H. Bailey
apty called them, continue to look to the
moon for guidance in their activities as stock
raiserS and cultivators of the ground.
If they have to plant potatoes, beets, turnips,
carrots, or other root vegetables, they delay
the planting time till the old of the moon in
order to give such vegetables the best chance
to develop. But they prefer to plant corn
beans, peas, and other above-g ground vegeta-
bles in the new of the moon.
Planted in the old of the MOON every moon
farmer" knows, the seeds of corn, beans, peas,
and the like will in all probability rot Or, if
they do develop, the harvest will be lighter
than it ought to be.
So, too, it is unwise to shear sheep when the
moon is On the wane. Fleeces will tend to
be lighter than if taken during the waxing
moon.
kill pigs in the old Of the moon. For pork
from pigs then killed will shrivel abnormally
when cooked Also it is fact, according to
these same devotees of the moon, that animals
born when the moon is new are exceptionally
likely to thrive.
1t is important, moreover, to keep the moon
in mind when forecaSting the weather. At
least, so say moon farmers"
Every change in the moon will bring a
weather change. Thunderstorms are more
likely to occur during the first half rather
than the second half of the lunar months. And
when the moon is tilted so that it will not
hold water you may expect wet month.
Oddly enough, while many "moo1 farmers"
firmly believe this, just as many hold to the
opposite. Which suggests, of course, that after
all the shape OF the new moon has no partc-
ular effect on the weather. 1t is Just as we'll,
too, to keep in mind the astronomers explana-
ton as to variation in the new moons shape:
"The line joining the moons horns is always
perpendicular to the direction of the sun, and
therefore depends merely On the place of the
sun in its orbit"
No doubt "moon farmers" can adduce numer-
Gus condolences to support their faith in oc-
cult Influences of the moon. But coincidence
by itself is not proof of cause and effect.
For example, there is always change in the
moon every seven and half days. 1t is inev-
table that there will be many coincdental
NA"hs geo III TIC "eataeI. AIu likewise one may
expect many coincidental successes or failures
IN agricultural operations, dependent in the last
analysis not on moon conditions, but on con-
dito1S of seed, SOIL and climate.
Happily, more people appreciate this than
used to be the case. So that today there are
fewer "moon farmers" than of old and more
farmers who make an intensive study, as all
should, of the findings of modern practical
science as applied to farming.
Copyright, 1921, by The Associated Newspa-
perS.)