278 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



In this vicinity we are more interested 

 in the cause of drouths, not having had 

 a good crop-year since 1879, nor a good 

 honey-year since 1883, from the reason 

 of need of rain at seasonable times. We 

 know how indispensable that factor is to 

 the industries of farming and bee-keep- 

 ing, and that tliey are consequently lot- 

 teries as now run, that are aboat to ruin 

 us or any connti-y where it is so uncer- 

 tain as here. 



Would it not be well for us mortals to 

 have this part of the "whole business'" 

 under our control. 1 maintain that our 

 Creator has nothing to do with the details 

 of this important factor to success in the 

 industries mentioned, but that it is left 

 to us to control it if we would, like any 

 other part of our labor. It is so in 

 Dakota, where irrigation makes it as 

 certain as any other employment. 



Now the question is, what is the best 

 way for the different locations to arrive 

 at this much-desired result. I do not 

 believe that a fervent prayer will come 

 at it generally, for that has been tried so 

 many times and failed, that we are 

 "left" to some other alternative herea- 

 bouts. 



It may be that there are local causes 

 that make the drouth worse in some 

 places than in others, and I think that 

 we are free to investigate this matter. 

 We have noticed that the sun draws 

 water from small or large bodies of water 

 by evaporation, and that soon after the 

 clouds gather and follow the water 

 courses, and sometimes the wind carries 

 them over and beyond these influences 

 to be operated on by other influences. 

 We know how apt it is to rain about the 

 4tli of July in large cities, and in the 

 vicinity of battle-fields during or shortly 

 after an action. I believe, as Mr. Hill 

 says in his article alluded to, that where 

 the water was dammed up in ponds and 

 lakes, more generally in farming coun- 

 tries, then when the sun was seen to 

 have the effect of drawing water and 

 collecting it in clouds, and at a near time 

 to set off some explosive high in the air, 

 that places accustomed to having the 

 rains go around would be benefited by 

 a good shower of rain. 



We know that at certain phases of the 

 moon we are more apt to get rain when 

 the indications are favorable as before 

 stated. I notice that a weather prophet 

 predicts rain at a certain time in the 

 vicinity of Quincy, Ills., near where there 

 is a large area of bottom land in Missouri 

 for evaporation, and his predictions are 

 very often verified for his location. 



When, by investigation, the causes of 

 drouths in some places can be ascer- 



tained, then the remedy may be sure 

 to follow. 

 Hunnewell, Mo. 



[The idea that the effect of heavy dis- 

 charges of explosives is to produce rain- 

 fall, is not a new one. And it is a 

 curious fact that the .belief that battles 

 occasion rain antedates the invention of 

 gunpowder. 



Arago, in "Thunderstorms,'-' pages 

 164, 165, relates that as late as 1810, 

 it was the practice in the communities 

 of Southern France to fire off batteries, 

 especially kept for the purpose, in order 

 to dispel violent rain and hail storms 

 which were undesirable. 



Napoleon has been credited with 

 making use of the experience, that 

 battles produce rain, in the disposal and 

 manoeuvering of his troops, and the 

 belief has since become quite current 

 that cannonade and rainfall are cause 

 and effect. 



The most extensive effort to collect 

 evidence bearing on this point, is that 

 made by Mr. Edward Powers, in his book 

 entitled, "War and the Weather, or the 

 Artificial Productibn of Rain," published 

 in 1871, when the extraordinary amount 

 of rainfall, co-incident with the war in 

 France, gave the subject prominence. 



The belief that greatr fires cause rain 

 is also a very old one, but Espy first, In 

 1839, proposed experiments "to see 

 whether rain may be produced in time of 

 drouth, making a large body of air 

 ascend in column, by heating it." He 

 also brought forward evidence that the 

 eruptions of volcanos, and large fires 

 were followed l)y rainfall. 



The reports from the Morris ranch, 

 24- miles from Midland, Texas, where* 

 the experiments are being conducted, are 

 of a cheering nature, as already the 

 parched earth has been pretty thoroughly 

 saturated with rain, following in some 

 instances in the footsteps of the explo- 

 sions, and at other times within 4S 

 hours thereafter. 



Secretary Rusk is reported as having 

 said that he has considerable faith in 

 the experiment, and although the press 



