18G3. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



389 



■WEATHEK SIGNS. 



Sudden changes of weather are the immediate 

 cause of the sickness and death of multitudes, 

 hence all persons owe it to themselves to study to 

 some extent the portenta of the heavens, from 

 their own observation, as to the localities in Vliich 

 they live, paying hut little attention, and relying 

 not at all, on the signs of the weather as read in 

 books, or detailed by others. Rules for farming 

 and weather signs are proverbially uncertain and 

 conflicting, arising from the one cause of applying 

 observations of one locality to those of another. 

 A wind blowing from the East brings rain to the 

 Atlantic States, K-cause it comes from the sea ; 

 but a wind from the West brings rain to San 

 Francisco, because it comes from the sea. The 

 dates for planting in Minnesota would not answer 

 in Louisiana. There are, however, some general 

 signs which are applicable to all lands. Parents 

 should begin early to draw the attention of their 

 children to the weather signs of their individual 

 localities ; this habit of observation will be largely 

 valuable in other directions, in practical life. — 

 HaIVs Journal of Health. 



The following lines are attributed to Dr. Jenner, 

 written on declining an invitation to an excursion ; 

 these signs can be readily explained on strictly 

 scientific principles : 



"The hollow winds begin to blow, 



The clouds look black, the glass is low, 



The soot fulls down, the spaniels sleep. 



And spiders fiom their cobwebs creep. 



Last night the sun went pale to bed, 



The moon in halos hid her head ; 



The boding shepherd heaves a sigh. 



For see ! a rainbow spans the sky. 



The walls are damp, the ditches smell, 



Closed is the pink-eyed ])impernel. 



Hark ! how the chairs and tables crack ; 



Old Betty's joints are on the rack ; 



Her corns with shooting pains tortoent her. 



And to her bed untimely send her. 



The smoke from chimneys right ascends, 



The wind unsteady veers around. 



Or settling in the south is found. 



The tender colts on back ilo lie, 



Xor heeil the traveler i>assing by. 



In fiery revl the sun doth rise, 



Then wades through clouds to mount the skies. 



Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry, 



The distant hills are looking nigh. 



How restless an; the snoring swiue ! 



The busy flies disturb the kine. 



Low o'er the grass the swallow wings ; 



The cricket, too, how loud it sings ; 



Puss, on the hearth, with velvet paws, 



Sits smoothing o'er her whiskered jaws. 



Through the clear s'.ream the fishes rise, 



And nimbly catch the incautious flies. 



The sheep were seen, at earlj' light. 



Cropping the meads with eager I'ite. 



Though .June, the air is cold and chill ; 



The mellow blackbinl's voice is still ; 



The glow-worms numerous and bright. 



Illumed the dewy dell last night. 



At dusk the squalid toad was seen, 



Hoppii.e, crawling o'er the green. 



The frog has lost l.is yellow vest. 



And in a dingy suit is ilresscd. 



The leech, di3lurl>ed is newly risen, 



Quite to ihe summit of his prison. 



The whirliug wind the dust obeys, 



And in the rapid eddy plays. 



My dog, so altered in his taste. 



Quits mutton-bones, on grass to feast. 



And see yon rooks ! how odd their flight ! 



They imitate 'he gliding kite ; 



Or seem precipitate to lull. 



As if they felt the piercing ball. 



'Twill surely rain. I see with sorrow, 



Our jaunt must be put off to- morrow." 



Cup Cake. — Three eggs, one cup butter, ore 

 cup and a half sugar, half clip molassiis, one cup 

 milk, four cups flour, one teaspoonful saleratus ; 

 spice to taste. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 KETROSPECTIVE NOTES. 



Salting Hay. — In your issue of Oct. 3d, "A 

 New llanij)shiie Farmer" exj)resses very decided- 

 ly his dissent from those who consider the appli- 

 cation of salt to hay as a practice that is absurd 

 and often injurious. In a previous issue, — that of 

 Sept. 12th, — the opinion of two men had been 

 quoted who considered the practice of applying 

 salt to hay a very absurd one, positively injurious, 

 and one that should be discountenanced and 

 abandoned. In opposition to this opinion the 

 Xcw Uampsliire Farmer says tiiat he is satisfied, 

 from practical experience, that salt may be used 

 witli great advantage on hay, in a catching season, 

 antl is of opinion that it will prevent heating or 

 mow-burning, souring, and masting. Another 

 advantage, in his opinion, is, that, seeing that cat- 

 tle require the constant use of salt, the practice of 

 applying it to litiy will preserve it in a palatable 

 condition, if judiciously- used. 



Such are the opinions of your New Hampshire 

 CO! lespondi nt, and his practice, accordingly, is to 

 use al)out six quarts of salt to a ton of hay when it 

 is drawn in very moist, and a less quantity if less 

 wet, and on well-dried, none, liy this application 

 of salt he thinks he saves, not only much time, but 

 also mudi value in the hay, in a showery season. 



In the statements above given and referred to 

 we have a s])ecimen of the very diverse and oppo- 

 site opinions which |)revail among farmers as to 

 the influence or efi'eet of applying salt to hay. 

 Meeting, not unfrequently, with persons holding 

 these opposite opinions, and amused not a little 

 at the j)i>.siiiv€iieifs with wliich some of them main- 

 tained the correctness of their own views on a 

 question which does not admit of any positive set- 

 tlenlent for want of accurate observations or tacts, 

 we have felt cimewhat of a curiosity to account 

 for the fact of this surprising opposition of opinion, 

 and of the corresponding contrariety of jjractice. 

 Perhaps a brief sketch of some of the thoughts to 

 which we have been led by this cuiiosity or desire 

 to account for a noteworthy diversity of opinion 

 and ])rs>ctice may interest some of the readers of 

 this journal, as also serve to throw some light on 

 the causes of diversity of opinion u|)iMt other ques- 

 tions and topics, while incidentally, also, some of 

 these thoughts may serve to assist those who are 

 not yet decided or positive in their views as to this 

 disputed point, in deternnning what opinion and 

 what practice are l>est entitled to their adoption. 



The chief cause for the existence of a diversity 

 of o;)iiiion as to the expediency of applying salt to 

 hay, consists in the want of accurate observations 

 and reliable facts, such as would, if to be had, 

 settle all the point in disjiute. No one who has 

 ever given us his o])inion, either ))rivately in con- 

 versation, or jiul)licly through the press, has ever 

 pretended that he knew, on any well-ascertained 

 iact or accurate t)bservation which could be de- 

 pended upon as a positive and unquestionable 

 proof of any proposition or belief on the subject. 

 If any one had ever been at the j)ains to apply 

 salt to one half of a stack or mow, leaving the 

 oth.er half, containing hay, in exactly the same 

 condition as to moisture, without any salt, and 

 then have taken several accurate observations as 

 to condition of the two halves when the hay came 

 to be pitched ofi' for being fed, especially as to the 

 comparative presence or absence of mould, or 



