CHAPTER IX 



SOME WEATHER LORE 

 " Weather-wise, foolish otherwise." 



What gave rise to this curious old couplet, and is 

 there any truth in it? If so, it is rather unfor- 

 tunate for the gardener, for no man is asked for an 

 opinion on the weather quite so much. Indeed, 

 it would seem almost as though the public had given 

 him a certain professorship in the matter, and his 

 statement on the subject, when once pronounced, 

 is taken to be as unalterable as the laws of the 

 Medes and Persians. And certainly close contact 

 with Nature in the outdoor conditions of everyday 

 life, should develop the faculties of observation for 

 signs of " rain " and " fair." Doubtless in many 

 cases it is these men of the soil who have given rise 

 to, and even invented, the rhymes and superstitions 

 in connection with weather portents. 



For instance, signs of bad weather to come: 

 That the pimpernel closes her eye; that the down 

 will fly off the dandeHon, though there be no wind; 

 heliotrope and marigold flowers close their petals. 

 That, so they say, the cat will sit by the fire and 

 clean her whiskers. 



" Evening red and morning grey, 

 Send the traveller on his way, 

 But evening grey and morning red, 

 Send the traveller wet to bed." 



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