IT'S AN ILL WIND-

Evening Star, Issue 22458, 1 October 1936, Page 17

IT'S AN ILL WIND-

“ It’s' an ill wind that blows nobody any good ” —a familiar saying, and yet it’s surprising how few of us realise just what we owe to our prevailing winds (says a writer in the ‘ Daily Mail ’). Without the rain-bearing westerlies the agricultural wealth of the nation would disappear, arid desert would replace the fertile plains; not a very consoling thought when rain compels alteration of our holiday plans and when we have, as during the week-end, to stay indoors instead of sunbathing on the beach. To these depressing winds we owe our butter and cheese, our meat, our warm woollen underclothing, even the thick leather soles we wear to keep out the penetrating wet.

These winds are welcomed by umbrella manufacturers, oilskin makers, and wet weather outfitters. The bracing breezes have earned fortunes for Blackpool’s holiday promoters, and have restored many thousands of people to health.

Sheltered from them by the Penuincs, the eastern counties are blessed with a special type of climate which makes them sought after by convalescents, and suited to ihe cultivation of wheat and fruit, early flowers, and vegetables. Other countries have their own winds with equally prouounced characteristics. The monsoons of India and China mean food to millions of people, who hasten to plant their rice in the flooded fields.

No wind means desert, the place where no one lives and nothing grows. We And these arid wastes in Chile and California, wedged in the midst of plenty. California, land of sunshine, is only beautiful where rain-bearing winds bring life to dormant vegetation

Man’s ingenuity can, it is true, overcome even this obstacle. The great Boulder dam on the Colorado River was planned to divert water over thousands of miles of desert iand. America is also tho home of that aid to cultivation which many wheat farmers envy. The warm Chinook descends from the Rockies to the snow-covered plains, and, sweeping over them like a conscientious housewife, leaves not a trace of snow behind. Winds mean wealth because they are necessary to the plant life of any country. They can be harnessed to servo man’s purpose, to turn Dutch mills, or drive a ship. Nor must wo forget their cleansing power to rid us of disease. Tho wind is a very intimate part of our life. It catches us unawares in the spring, it helps us to bear the heat of the summer, while its frosty nip warns us that winter is near. It is at once a weather prophet and a talisman, the symbol—in the i spriug--of another seed time, and, when 1 autumn comes, another harvest.