Rural School Leaflet 779 



begin to grow in the spring. After the buds have grown one year, 

 choose the strongest branch and cut off all the others. From this 

 branch allow the main branches of the tree to grow. 



SUNRISE AND SUNSET COLORS 



WiLFORD M. Wilson 



We have seen the beautiful sunrise and sunset colors many times, and 

 perhaps have wondered what makes the sky so much more brilliant at 

 evening or in the morning than during the middle of the day. Of course 

 we all know that it is the sunlight falling on the clouds which makes them 

 so beautiful at evening, but is not the sunlight brighter and are not the 

 clouds just as beautiful in the middle of the day? It must take some- 

 thing besides sunlight and clouds to make a brilliant sunset. How can 

 we find out what it is? 



During the latter part of the year 1883, all of 1884, and a part of 1885, 

 the sunset colors all over the world were remarkably brilliant. They 

 were of such unusual beauty that almost every one spoke of it. 



In the Strait of Sunda between Java and Sumatra is a little island called 

 Krakatoa. On this island was a volcano. On August 27 and 28, 1883, 

 there was an eruption of this volcano so violent that it destroyed more 

 than one half of the island and left water a thousand feet deep where the moun- 

 tain once stood. The ashes and the dust thrown up by the eruption fell 

 for hundreds of miles around. The finer dust reached great heights in 

 the atmosphere, and the winds carried it all around the world. As the dust 

 spread out over the world the sunsets became so remarkably brilliant 

 that almost every one noticed it. 



Many times before and since this incident it has been noticed that 

 the sunset colors were much more brilliant after the eruption of volcanoes 

 that threw much dust up into the air, than at other times ; but in no case 

 have they been so beautiful or continued so long as after the eruption of 

 Krakatoa. We feel almost certain that the dust in the air has something 

 to do with the sunset colors. Let us see whether we can find out just 

 what happens to sunlight when it shines through air that has a large 

 amount of dust in it. 



What colors do you see the most in the sunset sky? Red, orange, and 

 yellow, of course. Did you ever see any blue or violet? Not often, I 

 think. You remember that sunlight has in it the seven rainbow colors, 

 violet, blue, peacock, green, yellow, orange, and red. We sorted them 

 out by letting a little beam of light pass through a piece of glass called a 

 prism. We found that the finest light waves were violet and the coarsest 



