The Folk-lore of Plants 245 



the moon (or was it in the light?) were sure to rot in 

 the ground. I remember that my father once, in defi- 

 ance of advice, planted, and in the cold rains that fol- 

 lowed for some weeks, lost his labor, to the great satis- 

 faction of his more weather-wise neighbors. 



Even intelligent men are still under this spell, par- 

 ticularly in reference to beans,, which as we all know, 

 refuse always to stay planted, but must needs rise forth- 

 with in order to further vegetative attainment. A min- 

 ister said to me not long since : "Do you not think the 

 moon has something to do with it? Think how it pulls 

 the waters of the ocean ; don 't you believe it might help 

 the beans and potatoes some?" It has even been sug- 

 gested that the Agricultural Department at Washington 

 undertake experiment along these lines to ascertain 

 whether or not there be any grain of truth in a popular 

 belief so firmly rooted. Of course, in traditional medi- 

 cine, all kinds of herbs vary in curative properties ac- 

 cording to the phase of the moon under which the mate- 

 rial is assembled. ' ' Canst thou bind the sweet influence 

 of the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion?" What 

 means that ancient shining distich? 



It is perhaps hardly necessary to refer now to the 

 abundant plant-lore revealed in the Greek and Latin 

 classics. Much of it, as already suggested, is the same 

 as that of the northern nations; either the same because 

 both derive from the same prehistoric source, or in a few 

 instances, perchance, because our fathers have adopted 

 classic traditions. We shall, of course, always bear in 

 mind that the lore in any case was long established before 



