fruitful, so as in the full moone they are in best strength, decaying in
the wane, and in the conjunction do entirely wither and fade."
Similarly the growth of mushrooms is said to be affected by the weather,
and in Devonshire apples "shrump up" if picked during a waning moon.[2]

One reason, perhaps, for the attention so universally paid to the moon's
changes in agricultural pursuits is, writes Mr. Farrer, "that they are
far more remarkable than any of the sun's, and more calculated to
inspire dread by the nocturnal darkness they contend with, and hence are
held in popular fancy nearly everywhere, to cause, portend, or accord
with changes in the lot of mortals, and all things terrestrial."[3]

On this assumption may be explained the idea that the, "moon's wane
makes things on earth to wane; when it is new or full it is everywhere
the proper season for new crops to be sown." In the Hervey Islands
cocoa-nuts are generally planted in the full of the moon, the size of
the latter being regarded as symbolical of the ultimate fulness of the
fruit.

In the same way the weather of certain seasons of the year is supposed
to influence the vegetable world, and in Rutlandshire we are told that
"a green Christmas brings a heavy harvest;" but a full moon about
Christmas Day is unlucky, hence the adage:

"Light Christmas, light wheatsheaf,
Dark Christmas, heavy wheatsheaf."

If the weather be clear on Candlemas Day "corn and fruits will then be
dear," and "whoever doth plant or sow on Shrove Tuesday, it will always
remain green." According to a piece of weather-lore in Sweden, there is