488 



WED 



WEE 



The setting of the sun behind a 

 black, water} cloud, betokens ap- 

 proaching ram. 



The wading of the sun, as it is 

 called is a pretty sure sign that foul 

 weather is very near. 



When the disc of the sun, either 

 at rising or setting, appears very 

 broad and dim, the atmosphere is 

 charged with plenty of vapour, 

 which will soon condense and fall 

 upon the earth. The contrary 

 happens when the stm appears 

 brilliant, small and dazzling, at ris- 

 ing and setting, as these ap[)eaian- 

 ces indicate a dry state of the air. 

 The copious evaporation of boiling 

 water is a pretty sure sign of fal- 

 ling weather. For I suppose this 

 arises from the same cause* (whate- 

 ver it be) as the increased ascent of 

 vapours in general. 



The wind commonly blows from 

 the point from whence meteors 

 are seen to shoot in the night pre- 

 ceding. 



When swine are busy in collect- 

 ing sticks and straws, foul weather 

 is approaching. 



Many more signs* of changes in 

 the weather might have been men- 

 tioned : But I study brevity. 



WEDGE. One of the mechani- 

 cal powers, the force of which is 

 extremely great. 



The wedge is a triangular prism, 

 whose basis are acute angled trian- 

 gles. 



The wedge is a needful imple- 

 ment among farmers, for the cleav- 

 ing of their wood and timber. It 

 should be made of a soft kind of 

 iron, that it may not be broken 

 near tiie point, by driving it in fros- 

 ty weather, or by forcing it into 



hard knots. The head should be 

 about two inches thick, and the 

 length of the wedge from eight to 

 nine inches. 



WEEDING. The operation of 

 destroying weeds among useful 

 plants, or of freeing from v/eeds. 



There are several methods of 

 doing it. Where plants in beds, 

 whether sown broad cast or in 

 rows, are young and small, and 

 are infested with weeds, the weeds 

 must be pulled up with the thumb 

 and finger; or else cut out with the 

 weeding hook. When weeding is 

 done by hand, care should be ta- 

 ken that the roots be not left in the 

 ground. Therefore the fingers of 

 the weeder should go into the soil 

 more or less, according to the 

 strength of the roots. The weeds 

 may be saved in baskets, and thrown 

 to the swine. Where the plants 

 are larger, the weeds may be kil- 

 led by a hoe with a sharp edge, 

 which should be wider or narrow- 

 er, according to the distance at 

 which the plants ought to stand 

 from each other after hoeing. But 

 it is necessary that the hoeing be 

 performed in dry weather; other- 

 wise many of the weeds will re- 

 vive, and grow : And the forenoon 

 is better than the afternoon for this 

 work, because a dewy night com- 

 ing on before they are withered, 

 some of them will get rooted be- 

 fore the next morning. Weeders 

 should be careful that they tread 

 upon weeds that they hoe or pull 

 up, as little as possible ; because 

 doing this will close the earth 

 about them and prevent their dy- 

 ing. 



When small plants stand in rows 



