MR. MOSELEy's address. 19 



Mr. Staples, of Turner, in tlie County of Oxlord and State of 

 Maine, in a communication in the New-England Farmer, des- 

 cribes himself as above the age of seventy years, and during the 

 greater part of that time has been a practical farmer. He re- 

 moved to this place at the age of twenty-two, when the country 

 was new, and was among the five first settlers, and has given 

 particular attention to the moon's influence on timber, vegeta- 

 tion, Sic. He says, that it is a truth, that the moon operates 

 upon the earth and every thing which grows upon it, much more 

 powerfully than is generally imagined. It is also true, that the 

 effects of her operation vary regularly, as she passes through 

 her orbit or monthly course. Timber, cut in the wane of the 

 moon, will be much more durable than it would be if cut be- 

 tween the new and the full moon. Her operations are so grea 

 and so different in the various parts of her orbit, that by cut- 

 ting one tree three hours before the new moon, and another 

 of the same kind six hours afterwards, and preserving them 

 one year, a very striking difference in the soundness of them 

 will be discovered. If I had known, says Mr. Staples, as 

 much at the age of twenty-two years, as I now do, relative 

 to this subject, I am satisfied it would have benefited m.e more 

 than a thousand dollars, particularly in clearing hard 

 wood land and in getting durable timber for buildings of all 

 kinds, and for sleds, carts, &c. 



He says, I have found by experience that fruit trees set 

 out in the wane of the moon, and particularly on the last day 

 of the last quarter, are more likely to live and be flourishing, 

 than when set out at any other time. I have proved by ex- 

 periments, for ten years in succession, that an apple tree limb 

 or graft ,cut off in the month of May, about three hours be- 

 fore the moon changes, and carefully set out, will grow and 

 do well. 



Another writer says, that in the months of May, June, and 

 July, oak trees, in the new of the moon, will readily part 

 with the bark, when, in the old of the same moon, the bark 

 will adhere closely. 



Such are some of the opinions and facts to support the af- 



