"Malcolm" wrote in a message:

In article Bill Brewer writes,

"If the ash before the oak, we're in
for a soak, if the oak before the ash, we're in for a splash". Works more
often than not in foretelling the weather for the coming summer.
-----------------------
Malcolm, check the saying out for a few years and you might be surprised to
find that it has some validity. I did say that it, "works more often than
not". Don't ask me why.

With regard to humans suffering rheumatism, " from an early age". Many young
people DO. I have had much experience of school children having the often
crippling disease.

I had charge of 40 Guernsey cows and 2 bulls that would always sit down in
the fields before the onset of rain, it happened more often than not to be
sheer coincidence. As you no doubt know, rheumatism is a disease of the
joints brought on by wear, an accident or some other unrelated disease.
Overweight people are prone to rheumatics as are overweight cows. The
highest milk yield is the first milking of the day making the average cow a
heavy beast. The added weight of a full udder only adds to the animal's
discomfort and stress on the joints. Of course cows will sit down during the
day, but not all at the same time. Cows "cat nap" more often in the
afternoon than the morning as they don't sleep right through the night as we
humans do.

Hey, isn't this supposed to be a gardening newsgroup?

Bill Brewer




As every dairy farmer knows, most cows from an early age, like many
humans,
suffer from rheumatism.

With respect, humans rarely suffer from rheumatism "from an early age".
I'm interested that you say that cows do. Why is that, do you think?

That is why they sit down in grassland before the
onset of rain. We have been able to produce cows that give very heavy
milk
yields, but not alas eradicate their rheumatics. That unfortunately for
the
cow is of secondary importance.

Hmm. How long before the rain do they sit down? How often do they sit
down and no rain appears? How much rain is needed to make them sit down?
Are you saying that they never sit down in periods of drought, such as
we have just been experiencing? Where I live, we haven't had any rain
since last Sunday night and none is forecast until next Monday, yet I
can see some cows sitting down right now! And I don't believe that they
haven't sat down at anytime this week.

--
Malcolm (Skeptics 'R Us)