WEATHER SIGNS.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20268, 10 August 1937, Page 9

WEATHER SIGNS.

(To the Editor.) gjr,—Could an .old resident of the Waikato tell me, - through your columns, what indication, if any, of the coming season is given by the profuse flowering of wattle? Personally I have not noted anything exceptional this year, but several friends have informed me that the flowering Is much heavier than usual, and some think It is a little earlier. But they differ when It comes to the indication of the spring and summer than may be given. I do not see how any reliable Indication oan be given, and think the idea that trees afford a guide as to the coming season is just one of the many things that the white people have picked up from the Maoris. They, I know, regarded certain trees as good Indicators, but usually It was the way they bloomed, not the profusion. If a pohutukawa tree bloomed first on the lower branches it meant, say, a hot summer. If It bloomed first on the upper branches then tt Indicated a wet season. And I never had a ohanee of testing the theory. There used to be a tree near the little wharf at the far end of Lake Rotoltl that was used as an Indicator by the people there.— [ am, etc., DOUBTFUL. Hamilton, August 8.