Mr. Howard, in his work on the weather, is of opinion, that farmers and
others, who are particularly interested in being acquainted with the
variations in the weather, derive considerable aid from the use of the
barometer. He says, “in fact, much less of valuable fodder is spoiled by
wet now than in the days of our forefathers. But there is yet room for
improvement in the knowledge of our farmers on the subject of the
atmosphere. It must be a subject of great satisfaction and confidence to
the husbandman, to know, at the beginning of a summer, by the certain
evidence of meteorological results on record, that the season, in the
ordinary course of things, may be expected to be a dry and warm one; or
to find, in a certain period of it, that the average quantity of rain to
be expected for the month has already fallen. On the other hand, when
there is reason, from the same source of information, to expect much
rain, the man who has courage to begin his operations under an
unfavourable sky, but with good ground to conclude, from the state of
his instruments and his collateral knowledge, that a fair interval is
approaching, may often be profiting by his observations; while his
cautious neighbour, who waited for the weather to ‘settle,’ may find
that he has let the opportunity go by. This superiority, however, is
attainable by a very moderate share of application to the subject; and
by the keeping of a plain diary of the barometer and raingauge with the
hygrometer and the vane under his daily notice.”
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