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long ways.</F --Boundary_(ID_rR6Dtu9m/EzS3hJgLiF2DA) Content-type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; format=flowed; delsp=yes Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Roland, Oddly enough, I have worked in agriculture (a long time ago). Though =20= I don't claim to be really good at growing things, I once won a first =20= prize in a county fair for a vegetable! I also have watched tides in Fundy, and many other places in the =20 world. I know pretty well what makes the tides work, and that the =20 causes would not be anything competent to influence (for example) time =20= of frost. I suspect that the folklore about moon phases and frost-damage can be =20= explained by two factors. If someone asserts that planting should be =20= done after the full moon in May, that means that they are probably =20 delaying planting, waiting for the full moon; and delaying planting =20 (on any pretext) is a pretty sure way of avoiding frost. It doesn't =20 much matter what delays your planting: it could be waiting for a full =20= moon, or it could be waiting for your favorite sports team to win a =20 game. Waiting for any "sign" would work just as well, just so you =20 delay. Also, the full moon in May would average about the middle of the =20 month, which is not such a bad time, anyway. Second, there is a well known psychological factor, which is that =20 people mark and remember positive results more than negative results. =20= If we think that something is true, we tend to shove aside contrary =20 evidence. I have observed this in gamblers: they remember clearly =20 their successes, and get confidence from them; but they suppress =20 recollections of all the times they have lost. =97 Paul On Jun 8, 2008, at 10:15 AM, Roland McCormick wrote: > Iy would seem Paul that you not only have not had any experience =20 > working in agriculture, but that you have never watched the fundy =20 > tides. Someone remarked that they visited Bear River when the tides =20= > were out and they knew why it was called Bare River. When the tide =20 > was in the water would rise to make a good lake for boating and =20 > swimming. I believe in some areas the tide will rise on the full =20 > moon to as much as forty feet - at the new moon it is much less than =20= > that, but slowly increases in distance as the moon increases. > What I have seen happen has to be believed, even if some =20 > can't believe it. > > Roland. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Paul S. Boyer > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 10:39 PM > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] when to plant > > Folks, this is magic and superstition. The moon doesn't effect =20 > plants in the way described. > > As for the effect of the moon on human behavior, it sounds so =20 > plausible. The trouble is that people who actually keep the =20 > statistics report no significant correlation between phase of the =20 > moon and crime. It's another urban myth: a modern superstition. =20 > Day of the week makes more difference by far, because when people =20 > are off work, they tend to get into trouble. > > The National Geographic is just wrong about this. You can't believe =20= > all that they publish. The prevalence of websites promoting such =20 > ideas just shows that modern people are just a gullible as people of =20= > the past. > > The tidal effect of the moon is so miniscule that until recent years =20= > it was undetectable in the laboratory. On land, the tides raise the =20= > surface of the earth about one meter from high to low tide. You can =20= > detect the change in gravitational attraction caused by this =20 > deformation, which moves you about one meter farther from the center =20= > of the Earth (that is one meter out of a radius of about 6,370,000 =20 > meters!) using a gravimeter; but the actual tidal force is so tiny =20 > that you cannot so measure it. > > The attempt to use phase of moon as an explanation for things such =20 > as plant growth is pure superstition. It is at attempt to give a =20 > scientific-sounding basis to ancient astrological ideas. > > On Jun 7, 2008, at 11:15 AM, Joan Czapalay wrote: > >> >> My grandparents ( both the maternal- Puritan ones and the paternal =20= >> Irish ones and Lunenburg German ones) planted by the moon. The =20 >> plants growing up above the ground were best planted as the moon =20 >> waxed in late May/early June, and the ones growing below the ground =20= >> were best planted as the moon waned. >> Bartenders, schoolteachers, emergency room workers and the police =20 >> know that the moon influences a lot of things, including human =20 >> behavior. National Geographic News had an article on moon gardening =20= >> July10th, 2003. This quote may be helpful: >>> >>> Harris gives the example that the best time to turn over a garden =20= >>> is during the last quarter of the moon because that is when the =20 >>> water table has dropped to its lowest point. "It means less =20 >>> moisture is within the soil. It is far easier to turn soil over =20 >>> when there is less moisture in it," he said. >>> >>> *Moon Boom* >>> >>> Seeking to preserve knowledge about moon-gardening techniques =20 >>> before they were eclipsed entirely by modern gardening practices, =20= >>> Harris wrote /RJ Harris' Moon Gardening/ with the help of =20 >>> journalist Will Summers. >>> >>> But since the book's September 2002 publication, Harris said he =20 >>> learned he need not have worried. >>> >>> Harris says he has heard from people in New Zealand, Austria, =20 >>> Germany, and the United States who use the lunar cycle as a guide =20= >>> for their gardening chores. And the Internet is sprouting with Web =20= >>> sites dedicated to the practice. >>> >>> On her Web site Gardening by the Moon.com = (www.gardeningbythemoon.com=20 >>> ), Caren Catterall writes, "Plants respond to the same =20 >>> gravitational pull of tides that affect the oceans, which =20 >>> alternately stimulates root and leaf growth. Seeds sprout more =20 >>> quickly, plants grow vigorously and at an optimum rate, harvests =20 >>> are larger and they don't go to seed as fast." >>> >> PS: Many questions asked on naturens can be answered by using great =20= >> search engines like Google and YouTube. However, it is fun to share =20= >> personal observations and experiences. Cheers, Joan >> >> David&Jane Schlosberg wrote: >>> One more thought about planting times: I feel that later =20 >>> plantings tend to catch up with earlier ones, even if the earlier =20= >>> ones are not harmed by extre