WAX AND WANE

Entries

• #1114

  Set out cabbages in the new of the moon to make them head up well, and gather apples in the new of the moon to make them keep well. Plant potatoes in the old of the moon.

  Mitchell Co., N. C.
• #1115

  Plant flowers in the increase of the moon.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1116

  Be careful as to the phase of the moon when felling timber.

  General in the United States.
• #1117

  If brush and thistles are cut down in the full moon in August when the sign is in the heart, they will never grow again.

  Copied from an agricultural paper.
• #1118

  Grass cut when the moon is waning will not “spend well.”

  New England.
• #1119

  If cut when it is waxing, the hay weighs and spends well.

  New England.
• #1120

  Plant peas and potatoes in the increase of the moon.

  Miramichi, N. B.
• #1121

  Seeds should be sown when the moon is new. This custom is still more or less observed. Corn should be planted at this time.

  Boston, Mass.
• #1122

  Plant seed the first three days after the moon changes.

  Alabama.
• #1123

  Plant potatoes “in the dark of the moon,” so the potatoes will root and yield well.

  Mansfield, O.
• #1124

  The full moon is the time to cut alders, spruce, or other undergrowth, because the roots then die quickly without sprouting.

  Nova Scotia.
• #1125

  Shingle the roof in the decrease of the moon, so the shingles will lie flat (“go down”). Else they may warp and rise up.

  Mansfield, O.
• #1126

  If a farmer lays a rail fence by the light of the moon, it will be stronger and last longer than if it was laid in the daytime.

  Western New York and parts of Massachusetts.
• #1127

  Kill any animal for meat on the increase of the moon, and it will increase in the pot. Kill it on the wane of the moon, and it will shrink in the pot.

  General in the United States.
• #1128

  If hogs are butchered on a rising tide, the pork will not shrink in the pan.

  Massachusetts.
• #1129

  You must never kill cattle or pigs, or even wild game, by the “dark of the moon;” it is most unlucky, and the meat will come to no good.

  Clover Bend, Ark.
• #1130

  If you wean a calf at the time of the full moon, it will make less fuss. You mustn’t wean it when the sign is in the belly, or it will never grow fat. Pursue the same course with a pig, or it will squeal.

  Western Massachusetts.
• #1131

  To make hair grow, cut it in the new of the moon.

  N. F., N. B., N. S., Me., Mass., and Talladega, Ala.
• #1132

  Cut hair the first Friday in the new moon, if you wish it to grow.

  General in the United States.
• #1133

  It is the custom for girls to cut their bangs on the forehead when the moon is new. It is supposed to make them grow. This custom is observed by many intelligent young people.

  Boston, Mass.
• #1134

  Cut hair in the new moon, bury it in earth near a running brook, and it will make the new hair grow long and abundant.

  Maine.
• #1135

  Clean the spring or well during the increase of the moon, so the water will run in and fill the spring after it is emptied.

  Mansfield, O.
• #1136

  Make soap in the new of the moon.

  Talladega, Ala.
• #1137

  Make soap in the full of the moon.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #1138

  Do not marry or move during the wane (decrease) of the moon.

  Mansfield, O.
• #1139

  To take away warts, steal a dish-rag out of the house, without anybody’s knowledge, and go out of doors in the first of the moon, rub the dish-rag on the wart, and say: “Here, new moon! take away my new wart.” Then throw the dish-rag away where no one can find it, and tell nobody.

  Talladega, Ala.
• #1140

  To cure warts, go out of doors when the moon is new, take up a handful of mud, looking at the moon all the time, and rub on the wart.

  Holderness, N. H.