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Show M00N INFLUENCE IS ABSURD Uc j Phases of the Great Night Illuminator Have Nothing to Do With Crops, Say Scientists. In the farmers' almanacs you will find tables of dales proper for plant-1 ins crops, kllling'liogs and so on based j upon the phases of the moon. And the Rural New Yorker is authority for I the statement that many farmers still adhere faithfully to this ancient sys- tern. To show them how absurd this B Is, It prints the following statement 1 by C. F. Marvin, chief of the United States weather bureau : "It is the genernl belief of scientists that the moon has no appreciable Influence In-fluence on temperature, rainfall, or any other weuther element, or on plant growth. "I'lant growth depends upon temperature, temper-ature, light, humidity and pluntfood (both in the Boll and in the air), and its availability. Obviously the moon neither mellows the ground nor fertilizes fer-tilizes It, neither does it alter the com-1 position of the atmosphere; hence it affects neither the mechanical condition condi-tion of the soli nor the kind or quantity quan-tity of avalluble pluntfood. , I "If the moon has any Influence on plant growth it would seem that It j must exert this Influence through its j light. Experiment, however, shows thut when a plant Is so shadowed that j It gets only one one-hundredth of nor-. mnl daylight, It grows but little better than It does in absolute darkness. Full ! daylight is about CW.000 times bright- er than full moonlight; hence one one- hundredth of daylight, already too te& I ble to stimulate appreciably plant ac- tlvlty, Is still 0,000 times brighter than I full moonlight. The conclusion Is thut, even in respect to light stimulus, the moon's influence on plunt growth Is wholly negligible." |