Most Experts Do Not Agree on Moon-planting

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 40, 25 May 1965, Page 16

Most Experts Do Not Agree on Moon-planting

Most agriculturists dismiss the concept of planting by the moon

as pure superstition.

Some double talk around j the subject to avoid direct commitment. Few scientists have tried experimenting objectively to give the theory a fair test. One who did was Camille Flammarion, a noted French astronomer, who decided around 1910 that "There is no material difference to be attributed to the moon." But more recently, a number of curious researchers have started looking at the question from slightly different angles — and Teaching different conclusions. l>r Harold S. Burr, of

the Yale School of medicine, for example, poked at the possibility of atmospheric electricity being involved. Placing two electricai contacts under the bark of a tree, fie kept a record of the current potential between them. Once every month he found there a small but §harp increase in electricai voltage. Dr Burr gave the moon a somewhat qualified endorsement, noting that while no casual relationship could be shown, the jump in electricai potential could be predicted within 48 hours by the moon.

Dr William A. Albrecht, world known and respected soil scientist, makes several perceptive observations. The word "moon," he points out, was the origin of our calendar division "month" but we are apt to .forget. that the seasons were not always tabulated to such a fine degree of accuracy as the}' are now: "To man as a primitive the moon in its cycles may have been the only calendar

and in speaking of planting according to the season he was planting according to the moons." That idea may have held on, he says, so that some people still think they are planting by the stage of the moon as we outline it by quarters as waning or waxing. More scientifically, Dr Albrecht reports research at the University of Missouri which considered the reflected light of the moon

as it might affect starting seeds. "Many years ago some studies were carried on here which showed that tobacco seeds must be exposed to light if they are to germinate. "Should they be harvested without having exposure to light thev would not germinate. "But by exposure to light as small as that refleeted by the moon they will germinate and go forward. That work was done in the Department of Botany by R. R. Kincaid." Besides the influence of atmospheric electricity and light there is the tidal factor. Karl Manahan, an astrology buff over most of his lively 75 years, explained this to me. "The pull of the moon affects not only the tides of large bodies of water, but all fluid life on the globe. 44 It tends to draw moisture from below the

soil towards the surface and thereby helps tx> start plants or seeds piit in while this f orce is at work." Other • experts concur that if there is anything in moon planting at all, it probably stems from the ti lal powers. Tides oecur on dry land* and in the atmosphere, as well as on the sea, they state. In north 'central parts of the country, land tides bulged the earth up as mueh as four inches. Natural fact or mystic banter? The controversy will likely go on for many a" moon. Meanwhile you might give planting by the moon, a test yourself next season.