Sowing.--There are still many people who are very particular to sow their seeds in their gardens and their fields during the first quarter of the moon, owing to the idea that the seed will then germinate quicker, and grow stronger than when the moon is on the wane. I knew a farmer--a native of Llanfynydd, in Carmarthenshire--who was always very careful to sow his wheat during the first quarter or the waxing of the moon, and it is a well-known fact that he had always a good crop at harvest time. There are also people who are very particular about having their hair cut just before or about full moon so that it might grow better afterwards. When a child, I was told that the dark object which is to be seen in the moon is a man who was taken up there as a punishment for gathering firewood on the Sabbath Day. WEATHER SIGNS, SEASONS. The cat sitting with her back to the fire is considered to be a sign of snow. The cock crowing on rainy weather is a sign of fair weather for the rest of the day. Sea-gulls flying seaward betoken fair weather; when they fly landward, a storm is coming. When the crane flies against the stream, that is, up the river towards its source, it is considered a sign of rain; but the same bird going down the river, is a sign of fair weather. The same is said of the heron. To see ducks and geese flap their wings and dive wildly about is a sign of rain. Crows flying low portend rain; but if they fly high in the air it is a sign of fair weather. The same is said of swallows. Other rain signs are the woodpecker's screech; and the cows running wildly about. If the mountain ponies leave the low and sheltered valleys and return to the mountains during hard weather, it is a sign of a change in the weather. The sheep flocking together is a sign of rough weather. According to the old Welsh saying the rainbow appearing in the sky in the morning portends rain; and in the afternoon fair weather:-- "Bwa'r arch y bore, Aml a hir gawode; Bwa'r arch prydnawn, Tywydd teg a gawn." Rainbow in the morning, Frequent and long showers; Rainbow in the afternoon, Fair weather we shall have. Ceredigion, in "Bye-Gones," August 2nd, 1905, says: "All along the Merioneth and Cardiganshire Coasts farmers watch the sea carefully in harvest time. If there be not a cloud in the sky; if the wind be in a dry quarter; and if the sea be of cerulean blue, if the margin be discoloured and muddy, the farmers know that rain is approaching and will probably be on them before nightfall." If distant mountains are clearly seen, rain may be expected; but if the mountains appear as if they were far off, it is a sign of fine weather. When the smoke from the chimney falls down toward the ground, instead of rising upward, it is a sign that rainy weather will soon follow; but if the smoke goes upward straight, it is a sign of fair weather.