BUD WATCH 1994-95 PARTICPANTS: Isls Brook, Uray, 6 miles east of Lancaster, Laurence Edwards, Strontian, West Highlands, Volfaang Held, Oornach, North Suitzerland, Karin Meya, Humble. 1 miles SE of Edinburah. THE AGGREGATE GRAPH ‘The aggregate graph has become an important tool in discussing this work. Full detalla of the technique are given in Volume 2 of the Supplement and Sequel, and the reader 1s refered to this, but In case he does not possess thie, @ short outline {9 given here. In the case of, say Saturn, the period of time between one alignment and the next Ip called ore Saturn ‘cycle, tre fleat day being Oay-1, and the last, In general, being Cay-14 of that cycle. The following day will then’ be Eay-1 again of that cyste, and working ike this one con ageresate one's results, over a considerable perics, to find the mean Value which the tud had’on each Day of the cycle: ond we then say that ve have aggregated over the Saturn cycle, or, for short, over Satuen. Having dene this we con then be confident ‘that cur aggregate graph gives us the best picture we can have of the AVERAGE behaviour Of thal species during that cycle. An example of an A-graph shoving a true astronomical correlation, vith its very definite form, raised in {tg middle part and with a pronounced dip round about Day-1/Day~14 would be seen on page 7, uhila below It, we see an Amgraph which lunbers anocprously across the page without any very definite form, While aggregating in this way, random elements of change tend more and more to cancel ne onotier out, while truly cyclic elements re- Inforce ane another. In as fac ag the results are all of random ori- ain, Ue graph approaches more and more to a level straight tine, It is rather lke putting one's results through a sieve. Great care has to be exercised in making such a graph, specially dus to the fect thot no planetary cycle Is of an exact Whole number of days, and also to the need for dealing vith the changing phase— Shift if one i aggregating over a long period. But detalis such ax, this are dealt with in Volume 2.MEASUREMENT ‘The vhole value and integrity of this work depends on finding the correct method of measuring the photos, and here we cone up against @ considerable difficulty. ‘The top pole of the bud 1s almost alvays Precisely apparent, the tip, bul tre exact positicn of the lover ole is usually in doubt, and this Is sonething which affects the final result considerably. In fact there is doubt whether there IS an exact 'tlaht" position for this pole. Ve have to realise thet ve Gre lave Interested in finding the ‘sight’ absolute Value for \ than in finding how it varies, from day to day. The vital thing 1s that We treat every photo exactly the sane ag all the others. And for this Pucpose the folloving method has bean developed. Qn being given a series of photos to measure, the first task Is to go through the whole lot, marking into each one, according to one's best judgement. the probable ‘right! position of the lover pole. One can then measure the bud-length- the distance from the lower pale to the tip. on each photo. If all has gone veil, this distance will be found ‘to be largely Invariant for the whole ‘set. The mean of all these distances 's then accepted as the ‘risht’ bud-lengtn for this set. A template {s then prepared showing this distance divided into eight equal parts. Thereafter, all measurements for deternining the levels at which dlameter measurements will subsequently be made, are measured In, using this same tenplate, all_measurenents being made Sovnwards from the tp, this belng the one point on the bud vhich can almost alvays be fixed (narblaususly. A smal) change In the accepted bud-lenatn vill be found to alter ail the J-vatues. subsequently fourd, tut the conpacisen fran ‘ne Gy to another ill be lersely unchonged. and thie"Ie the matter In hic ve are really interested This method ts valid assuming that all photes in any one set are taken using the same camera. preferably by the same worker, and are developed and printed identically, and that the bud-length renains Unchanged throughout the season, These cenditions can be found to obtain with the tree leafouds through the vinter. NB. This method cannot be used for the flower buds. nor at any tine ven the multi bud method ts in use.GENERAL ‘The general aspect of the heavens during the winter of 1994-95 was fairly normal except for the remarkable configuration taken Up by Mers and Saturn in the later pert of this period. During the winter, Saturn vas moving quietly end normally through the-eerly fart of Pisces, but during Decetoer Mors vas moving vith decreasing Speed through Leo, and by’ the end of the year had cone to a point Ghiy about five deyrees away from opposition to Satur. Past exper~ fence has srown, over many years, that of all the planets these two Inhibit ‘one another most seriously. Our knowledke of the Inhibitory effects In such a case is still seriously insufficient Sut past cb- servation makes It clear that while such an alignment 1s complete within. five cr even slightly more degrees, we cannot expect to see Mythns in the plants conscnant with lunar alignments either to Mars or Saturn. Just how long such inhibition lasts after the alisn~ ent Is Gnished IS not easy to say, but In many cages It lasts Until the tuo planets are at least ten degrees separated. But the matter vas complicated by the fact that Nars became Stat~ fonary on January 3rd, and then Retrograde. Tereafter the alignment widened until Mars* motion became Direct again, in March, and was exactly consummated only in the folowing July. So in a geners! way ve Can consider thla opposition to have lasted alll the time from January to July, but remembering that Qucing a large part of this tne {twas considerably more than five degrees inexact. When Mars becomes apparently stationary in the sky it 1s a sign that the relative movement of Mars and Earth in that monent les ex- actly along the straight live connecting them and in this case it Is true to say that for a short moment Mars was ‘coming straight at Us". Whether this fact would enhance the inhibitory effect is hard tb ‘say. Such a configuration (Mars becoming stationary when cpposed to Saturn) happens out rarely, and ve have no observations from past experience to guide Us. It will 'be more fruitful to describe what, In effect, actually happened than to continue with further speci When examining the graphs It ts important to remenber that every thing in the graph is purely empirical Le. taken fran the actual bud photos EXCEPT the dovnvarde~pointing arrows. These arrovs are pul in later from the epheseris. They nark the monents, consonant. with the current phase-shift, found from the generality of the work, ‘of the relevant astronanical ‘alignments. We are thus able to see at a glance with what accuracy of time-keeping a bud had responded. If, for instance, we see a dip in the curve evactly underneath an arrow, this 13a sian that the bud responded accurately to the alignment: tut if the dip 1s misplaced one, or maybe even occasionally tvo days to one side or the other of an arrow, then the bud vas responding with this much inaccuracy of tine-keeping. If an arrow 1s unaccom Fanted vith a dip, then the bud was not reaponding. The graphs ace Grawn so that this vital information 1s obvious at a cursory glance.SATURN HORNBEAM Since this species was used for the Saturn pillar in the first Gostheonun It hee alvaye seemed to me to represent a classic case of Saturn comeciions ard | have fer years regretted that | could Coe find a sufficient grovth of them in the nelshbourhood of Stron~ Tian to be able to make a study of then. So I was spectaly pleased when Wolfgang Held said he vould undertake this task for me. He chose tho buds, Hornbeam 1 and Hocnbeam 2, and sent in excellent series of Protos for each. The sranhe for these, uhen measured and analyoed, Gre shown Here. Ve see that Hornbeam | has a higher ) than Hornbeam Be n0 io more ‘ively’ In ite Variation. But apart from this the two Graphs follow a remarkably similar pattern, Fron the start. for each Gt the ob consecutive silgnmente of 1994, both buds folloy the ast~ Ftnomical ehythms closely and accurately, but from the davn of the few yeor aH Unis changes; all the astrononical rhythms are lacking rd as fer as the cbservations continue they are not restituted. Be~ BMlee the Lenavious of the bude vos eo different before and after the nev year it was decided to make separate A-graphs for the two feriode, These are printed here. The 1994 graph Is absolutely typ- fal for a Saturn chythm, with 9 well-marked dip at Day 14/1. can pare It with the various’ Beech A-graphs which have been published in Fecent years- but the 1995 graph {s formless and without significant Variation, So we see bere o preliminary answer to our question de for as these Hornbeam buds were concerned, the planetary chy thns Gre shown perfectly Until the ume when Maro cones near to alignment Gith Saturn, but they then cease, and are not apparently restituted for as. long a coservations continued | @ further ob weeko). But, as we shall see later, In other bude restitution started consider ly earlier:HORNBEAM 1 Dornach e ] 8 3 y y y i x | 2q 4 Oct 24 3 13, Nov 23 3 3 Dec 23 +3 +3 7 if A ' 24 I a 2 2 Jan 22 1 1 Feb 2 3HORNBEAM 2 / Dornach oeHORNBEAM bee ee bd DORNACHBEECH ‘Tre graph for the Dornach Beech bud 1s shown on page 9 . Bach of the first six alignments of Moon and Saturn 13 accompanied by a noticeable dip in the curve, and although with the first and fourth Of these the tining Is not as exact as with the Hornbeam, we can say that. this bud was tn fact following the astronomical rhythms with considerable accuracy. As vith the Hornbeam this changes with the caning of the new year, the alignment of January 7th having no acy Eanpanying dip at all. However the fact that the next aligrment, of Sanuscy 21st, coincides with a snall dip gives some evidence that, how tre gap in the opposition {9 beginning to widen, the rhytnn ts just beginning to be restituted. To complete things we show an aaa~ Fegate graph for these figures which, with a marked dlp on Day-14, clearly shows that the planetary correlation was working. It 15 quite characteristic. However ve Wnow fron pact years’ work that the Beech is a rather complicated case, Apart fram the fact that. other minor planetary in— ences appear to work here, this species seens to be very sensitive to Its environment and to local conditions brought to bear upon it, The results ace not alvays as unequivocal as those described above. On page. 11 ve show the graph for a Beech tud at Humble. Hovever we study this ve cannot say that {t shows any signs of folloving the astrenomical rhythms. For reasons which ve shall probably never know this bud was Just rot responding. As a confirmation of this we show, cn page 12, tis A~eraph. Except for @ slight dip on Day-9, (the wrong tine anyway) {t Js focmiess and quite uncharacteristic. Such negative result can be disappointing. but the fact that fron tine to tine such a result can coms ts importamt in that {t re-assures us as to the objectivity cf cur methods If these rhythms are in fact Rot Working they will show ft to us immediately. In the winter of 1993-94 a Beech bud growing near Lancaster save rather anomolous and unsure results, leading to speculation that this species might be specially lfsble to environnental or other rancem influences. To test tis, the folloving year, Isis Brook Undertook te follow the fortunes of two separate Beech buds, and the resulting graph is printed on pages 13 and 14, both of tre bude being put on the same page. Ve have the interesting case of tho separate organiame giving very parallel results. The alignment of Decenber 26th vas not very significantly acknowledged by elther of them, but ‘thie uas close to the conjunction of Nara with Saturn and we could hardly expect it. But from the beginning of February on— Wards no fover than four ctneecutive alignments are clearly marked. ‘This gives us the assurance that these two buds vere really follow Ing the Moor—Saturn rhythne, This ts confirmed by the A~snaph-of these tyo buds for the observations GP 1995, printed on page 15.1804 BEECH A-GRAPH over SATURN, T Dornach Ts onHumbie. een BEECH 5 oy DeBEECH GRAPH ove SATURN Humbie Petri i aaot i , Pp | 1+" a m | B — zi an * a 3 >acacia oy tht iA-GRAPH over SATURN 1994-95 Lancaster SL16 At the same time a fifth Beech bud, ‘this time at Strontian, was selected for study, and the graph for this 19 shown on page 17. Here Ne see all alignments slaificantly snd accurately shown except for tfose of Decerber 25th near the Mars/Saturn opposition, which case sore days early, ard the folloving one which was missed by camera fallure. in late January and early Fetruary the amplitude of ths dips was cather reduced but by the start of March almost complete Festltuticn had bean achieved. Confirmation of Us 19 shown on pase 16, by the A-gcaph for the Strontian results. To sum up, we can say that of the five Beech buds studied this winter, four follawed the Satuen chythm very satlefactorily en the Whole, ‘although a little falteringly, both as regards timing and the Dice of the eo-action Just about the time in vhich Mars vas close to the opposition to Saturn, The rhythn was vell re-established by the end of January: On page 19 we see the graphs of three Saturn buds, two Hornbeam tn Dornach and @ Beach, sone 1400 kilometres distant in Strontian, put on the same page. It illustrates to what extent these rhythns Gan transcend considerations of space and even species.oc onlSTRONTIAN 8h19 32} 1994 3 D * f= ORNACH | ; Hornbeam | a4 29 2 [ ah po [~ srrowtian 2a Beech }—| a 20| 2324 ar eT a)20 ELECTRO-MAGNET FIELDS BEECH (cont.) It 19 many years since | discovered two buds, @ Beech and an Oak, which were not folloving these rhythms while others around thet, Gere: and this, together with the general circumstances of these, Genes, convinced me at the tine thet such rhythms are destroyed by the presence of an articifial electro-magnetic field. | did not pursue the matter at the time, for two reasons. Firstly, ve are com Boratively free from this kind of polluiiion In the Highlands: such pylons 99 we have ore few and small, and being siiall tne electricity Eimpany takes care that no considerable vegetation grows under them {tls not easy to find good exanples to work Upon. Secondly, it seemed a poct use of tine to spend so much of It proving that some~ thing does not happen which no ordinay person believes happens _any~ tay: it seemed more important thorcughly to investigate the normal course of things before going a) to abnormal cases. But in view of the environmental and heath hazards involved I think this vas @ mistake. However, In Novenber of 1994 | received a letter from my friend, Alan Hall, of the Live Water Trust, near Stroud. We have worked to~ gether In the past, and he told me of his Increasing concern about thie matter. And he enclosed same devices which, he sald, could help to cure ft. To make things clearer, and maybe more credible, it will ba helpful to consider Chapier 14 of my book "The Vortex of Life’. There, written many years ago, the idea is put’ forward that this eas Iie path curve form man be seen not sinply as the result of the working of life forces, Dut also as something which actively encour dace then, Because a certain Form is present, apart fron any 9ub- Stance from which it might be made, certain forces could be invited to participate. Ve could think of FORM as a real VEHICLE for force. No Compelling evidence was adduced for this, | had not got it but the idee woe seen a3 a possible one to Fold. And maybe something of thig sort’ was at the back of Alan's thinking. His device consisted of a number of sill stone eggs, ground carefully to form. He maintained that If a tree vas groving under the high tension cables, under the particular restrictions thus. in- posed upon It, ond three of these eggs were to be buried under Its Eranches, their mace presence in the soll would protect. the tree from the worst of those restricting conditions. This 1s an idea not easily acceptable for cur present day conscicusness, but what inter ests us io that It ls TESTABLE,21 Aut there were difficulties. | vent imediately to the tree | had been using ‘sone ten years previously. It was directly under the cables Just where they cane into a small electricity sub-station, 8rd very close indeed to the transformer. Evidently, in the mean~ tine It had Brown too tall for safety. and {t had been chopped down! But another tree growing very close to It, and in my Judgement still utthin the E-M field, had been spared, and I chose one of. the buds on It for study. In view of the paucity of work which had then been dene on this matter {t vas necessary first to convince myself that this new tree was Indeed feeling the restrictive effects of these cables. It vas necessary to study It for at least two months, and preferably moce, under Its present conditions of grovth. Then’ to Bury the eggs under It, and to continue the study under othervise exactly the same conditions. Meanwhile a further Beech tree, nearby Hut grouing in the coen. must be used as a control, The Strontian Beach described on page 15, groving on the other side of the river fa feu hundred yards away. and fully in the open, wag used for this. ‘The work continued as projected until early March: then one day, when | went to take my dally photograph, | found that the branch on~ Unleh thie bud grou had been sawn off and was lying on the sround. It had been ratrer overshadowing the path which passed the trans— Foomer shed and I suppove had been deemed a nuisance. So ins meant, that an investigation unich was already too short had to be further truncated, although only to a small degree. Houaver the resulting graph {s well vorth careful study. It 1s shown on page 22. The tall arrow (February Ist) marks the date cn on which the stone eags were buried under the tree. All the curve before this date gives evidence of what cne could only consider ran~ dom Variation. There ts no glen of a regular rhythm, and indaed the Gounward polnting arrows seem to come more frequently on 3 high Father than a low point of the curve, although on such a short se fes this nay vell be simply 2 co-incidental effect. But in February and early March we see tuo maior dipe in the curve separated by a cenaiderable maximum. Looking at ths graph I find myself asking, ‘Is the second part of thie graph fundanentally different in quality tcom the first, or fan | being tempted by fanciful and wishful thinking?’ with so fev ebservations to work with, | find myeelf unable to give a definite answer. Obviously the investigation 1s vorth continuing and it 1s hoped to be able todo thie ina bigger way during the winter of 1995-96,BEECH (E) = se 523 JUPITER Last year sew Jupiter ouffer @ collision by the frasnents of a comet July 1994), Preliminary observations on this were published St the time and as us year’s work is In some sense a sequel to {hls ve print here the Inst two pages of the Supplement and Sequel Knapweed 1994 The Kmapveed har been under observation since 1985 anc ducing that tine hag shown a quite characteristic pattern of development year. At the beginning of the budding season (end of June to start Of July) the Aof the buds Is lov, around 13 , and then ducing the succesding veeks It undergoes a progressive cise until at the end of the budding seagon, In mid August, it bas reached a value of about 17 This rise Is accomplished In a series of fortnightly leaps, the maximum points of which correlate vith the rhythm of the Jupiter al- Ignments, The evidence for this is shown in the Supplement and Se— quel, Volune 1, paues ol to oS and in tne graph for Knapweed, 1993, Deinted earlier In thi volume. Vien It vag predicted that this sum ner Juplier vould be benbarsed by the relics of a conet It bacame of Special’ Interest to inew how these buds would behave. For the purpose of comparing this with past experience we need to have a rellabie A-gcaph of tne way these buds have cheracteristic— ally developed during the period 1995 to 1993. Because the normal level of A 1s so different at. the end of the season fron the start the erdinary method of preparing an A-graph is hardly valid here. ‘The follouing method has therefore been used. Looking at our graph we follow the curve marked mean’, and at Day-i we find the mean of all observations made on the day of the Jupiter alignment falling Rearest to July 1Sth in each year. At Day-I5 we find the mean of all cbservations made at the tine of the Jupiter alignment succeeding thia, and olmilarly at Day-29 for the Jupiter allgnment following that one. Uhen the flgures calculated like this were put on to the graph they pave a curve 90 closely consonant with all that one has experienced ‘through the years that I am satisfied that it gives a true and rellable picture of the normol development. of these buds. ‘Above and below the mean curve are dotted curves showing the outer Units of what individual buds did during that period. This means that of all the hundreds of observations made between 1985 and 1993 none wil be represented by a polnt lying outside the spece betveen these curves. Oy the game graph ve show the Individual observations: made in 1994, plotted In the seme way. Fight fron the start we see that they are quite different, No single observation has a colnt lying vithin the dotted curves, and from the first days of observation 4 was hisherthan [t had ever teen befcce at such a season: although to a super ficlal viev the buds appeared much ag normal, they were in fact dis~ playing a much greater degree of tension In their form than in any previously observed years, and in the days innediately following the monenta of Impact with the cometary particies < raughly about Day 1 to Day-4), rose higher still. The behaviour of these buds vag at that time quite unprecedented, not only in the height to which | \ had risen, but also in the fact that the fourteen cay rhythm which wes_seen so Clearly In all the earlier years was completely lacking. Nevartheless one would judge that this Is hardly evidence for the kind of cosmic catastrophy which some of the more, sensational papers had been predicting. From about Day-13 onwards \ started to decline and by the end of the budding season it was spparently returning to the general level of its normal value. Knapweed A-graph 19 + 1994 ae 17 - | | la IY *6 ; 5 | rT AT 1985-93 |// | | |'| Ly LT YP W113 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29H ol a] x a25 Seeing what was uritten @ year ago | vas Nopeful that the new werk, for the Autumn and Winter of 1994-85, would show a good re~ covery in the Jupiter chytims, and | was pleased when Wolfgang Held Undertook to make a study of the Sycamore for that period. After the first few veeks shen a small loose scale fell off one side of tre bud it proved to be one that was particularly adapted to exact and Fellable measurenent, We were therefore very disappointed wien week After week passed by with very little significant vartation to be Seen. Gn pate 26 we see the graph for this bud. It ts one of the smoothest we have seen for years, vith a consistent gradual fall feom about 1.7 to appeaximately 14 One Can see no slr of con sistent thythm elther In Line with the Jupiter alignments or in any Giner way. Wen these cbservations are put on to an A-gcaph this te Confirmed (page 27) Almost. all variation, such as it was, has been ‘Sneotned auay. Any anxiety about this vas tempered by 9 news item whlen came on the television fust befere Christmas, to the effect that astronomers Were then saying that It appeared thot Jupiter had been more deeply Bffected by the collision than had been realised, and that at this tine, some five months after the criginal Impact, tte cloudy surface was still obviously scarred. This, in combination with the observa— tions described here, could lead te the conclusion that as far as these subtle rhytima are concerned this event temporarily put Jupit~ er cut of the field of action. This being so ve turn with apectol Interest to the photeraphs taken in Hunble by Corinne Meys: and on page 28 we see the graph of the ycanpre bud studied there, This, bud Is considerably more ively than {te Dornach counterpart, but It’ shows the same consistent fall Ie A over te nontho, this Une fom about 1.9 to LS and during Bil the early part at any rate, displays the same obstinate refusal to follow any consistent rhythm. However ane cannot help noticing: that the last four downward-pointing arrovs are all coincident with low points en Ue curve, These minima are amall but on the whole, definite, and this leads one to ask whether at this time the rhythm was just being restituted. We have therefore made aut two A-graphs, before, and after, the middle of Januery, page 29, The first one Shows 3 small although on the whole consistent form, but tt fs not fat all vhst one would expect from a normal Juptter Influence, having: high rather than’ low values about Day 1/2. On the cther hand, the second graph, having only a slightly greater degree of variation, fo quite characteristic of Jupiter influence, having a well-worked dip about Dey-1. This graph is too short In’ duration and too mdest in variation for us to deey eny hard and fest conclusiens from it, But ft can certainly suggest to us that In the Spring of 1995 Ju~ plter may well have been epproaching convalescence. Ve need a fur ther careful watch on species such aa this.SYCAMORE 1994-95 Dornach 9%1994-35 +7 SYCAMORE SUFITER Cer KI ZeSYCAMORE 1994-95 HUMBIE 5 Jan 25 4 1 Feb 26 6 Mar 6 ezNov 16-Jan 15 SYCAMORE AAarsphy erst: HUMBIE Jupiter30 MAPLE ‘The Maple 13 another species which Is traditionally associated vith Jupiter bot owing Uo the rare growth of this tree in the Stron— Yen relgtbournood Ihave not so fer made a study of it. Hovever ferentiy’ the Forestry Conmigaicn have planted sone 'exctics’ on the Ail Just above ur house and this has put me into 9 better posit~ for to study the Mopie. The bud chosen proved to be very easy to protograph ond measure with exactitude and its graph, on page 31, eee hon as very reliable, ite general form follous that of the Docnach and Humble sycanores remarkably closely. It 1g one of the Snoothest graphs we Nave had for many years, shoving just a gentle Gecline from about 1.65 to 155 over the months, and, at any rate at first glance It fe hard to see any sign of a consistent chythm. It looks very mich again as though Jupiter has been quite inactive in tha reepact. And on the A-graph, page 32. ve see that almst all significant variation has been avereged avay. But not quite all, There 1s a very small residue remaining, and the strange fact fe that this residue shovs a certain consistency. On the lover part of page 32 , {3 printed this A-graph with its Vertical ccale multiplied x5, and it then shows itself as very Gforactertetic indeed of the many A-graphs which, throush the years fave bespoken typical planetary connactions. with a marked dip in the carve about Day-1. Ig It just possible to conclude that Jupiter was indaed ‘trying Mis best’ this season tut vith a sort of weakness: was able to achieve so very little In the way of actual result? If the Sod had not been so smooth and reguior, making exact photography and measuremant so precise, | do not think it @ thought which could be entertained, but things Seirg as they were it Is something to bear in mind when going on to further investigations.1994-95 Strontian | -| | |e i WS Bee t i 7 \ te S|MAPLE ACGRAPH over JUPITER 1 aoe | | | | | | \ web tt a 4 Ha NNT LY | LI | HEEL ze33 ‘The altuation being ag {t vas, !t vas Inevitable that we shuld approach the cbservaticn of the Knapveed in summer 1995 with very Special Interest, and we print hore the graph which was so obtained. This graph was made by the multibud method, using twenty buds per day and measuring these in two groups of ten each. The close similarity of the reults fron these tvo groups each day shoved a high level of Consistency, and | think the grach can be considered ae 9 good dapen~ Gable one, The upvard-pointing errovs fave been put in with a phase~ Shift of 12 day. vnich Im whet we would expect fron lest winter's ork, and these seem to fit the graph as satisfacterily as might be. Ye mean Ue belueen the peoks of the curve was thirtesn and a half days: and | think we can accept this as a fairly typical Knapweed curve. The fortnishtly rythm, which wos totally lacking last yeer, Seems to have been re-established, and Jupiter seems to be nearly Eock to normal. However the genoral lovel of Ais still rather hisber than usual and this mayte denotes sone residual tension from the events of last year, KNAPWEED 4995 q—_| 1 a 4 4 i | TM old poses “| 1 6 16 July 27 26 a 534 MARS OAK The Oak proves Itself to be a species which con be very frutt— ful for the researcher using these methods but it can also present fim witn very special difficuluies. There are many Varieties of Oak ‘and mary of these produce buds which are so snall they are beyond the possibility of accurate masuretent, at any rate vith the tech flgue which 13 avaliable to us al the monent. Such buds are also frequenuy to be found Nigh up on the tee, and therefore difficult to reach, ‘These buds alo often have a rounded, ‘dumey’ form, wlth low ‘Thc mekes Ulen very Giffieult to meazure vith thé desree of reliab- Ility which this werk demands, especially in the upper part of the bus, where tne messurements ore at thelr moot sensitive. The very silahtest error In setting the helght at which the measurements are being nage maxes a quite disproportionate chenge in the meaoured di- ameter, and sometines one alnos: despalrs of getting results with & Gus degcee of reliability, But wren ve find 3 bud of longer and thinner form, combined with a decent size, the results can be quite impressive. ‘These difficulties have been enhanced this year by the fect that during the middle vinter Mars was moving more, or je9s, In oppoett- fon to Saturn, and We would have to expect, nis inrluence to be more, or less, inhibited. ‘The Autumn werk at Oocnach suffered particularly trom these aiff tculties ond several buds had to be abandoned or charged. The most rellable-lockina set of measurements was for the bud vhich we called Oak 2, and we show Tis graph on page 36. It is a clear example of the kind of thing which we encounter when the difficulties of mea Urement are such as to Introduce quite @ large randon element into cur work. We notice that most, tut not all, the alignments are mark- ed with a considerable dip. tut that there are @ number of such dips coming at times hen they are not due according to the typothesis. Ve ‘row on pase 37 the A-graph fer these observations. There ts a def Inite dip at Day-1 but the values in between are not enough higher to make 8 convincing desonstration, We would have to conclude that thia rasuit Is CONSISTENT with the idea that the Mars rhythm 1s at Werk here but, It Ig not sufficiently strong to put forward just on {te oun. Two other oaks studied at the same tine gave broadly sin Mlar results.35 In the middie of Decenber it vas decided in Domach to seek fur tne abe lorother Gok buds were found with a shape. rather longer eT uinner, which would be amenable to exact measurement, Oak 6 80d NE cauha fer these tuo are shown on pages 38» and 99 Brea cursory. glance will aesure us that the graphs show the tue Even Savinm end on pose 40, we see a combined Avgragh for the two, Meee Guite characteristic and recognisable form. 1 believe shat Ue ee te Geuween thie A-araph and the previous one 1s die not eee eee io a alfference in the behaviour of the buds as to ine foci 90 much tO ood vere just more accurately measureable, but It is Girficult. i find hard evidence to support this. on page 41, Ip © graph for an Gak bud In Strontion, Apart fron sone oe pose timekeeping round about, the New Year, when Mars So peecing Saturn, and an Unexpected disturbance in early Pens” ee are e quite unexplained. this shows the Mars. crythn clearly SEY this is confirmed by the A-graph shown on page 42 On page 43 We show a combined Avgraph for all the Oek bose ot eee this “Season. This 19 quite characteriste of what ve might WU? ora ‘thus gives ‘clear Indcation of the Mars, relatinshie, te ee tence lies in the fect that, because It is made from go many Mee itions.the standard deviation, computed for these figures 18 eee eerdingly low. We have put in, not only the two-standand de— {Sloe himits of confidence. but also those for three standard d= sete enithe fine dotted lines above and below the others) ad ve YeMeS the din at Osy-14/Day-d reaches just fully to the letters [auth a prebablitty of significance of 99.9% ‘on pages 44 and 45 we show sone sraphs for Oak burs in Strontian and Sultserland shoving the Kind of correspondence which can be seen fn bade growing some 1500 km apart.1994 OAK 2 A-GRAPH over MARS. Dornach ad [TTT | [| | “we1994-05 jornac!2 OAKS AcGRAPH ove! MARS Dornach ovq A | Strontianwe5 OAKS A-GRAPH over MARS: 1994-957 T | ak | - + STRONTIAN | 2 foak 2 2af—-|— — fi — 2st-—}— aa —}— aah j—} Hf} -— a ==. vl DORNACH [oak 2 as | A L Lat iL 2% NOV 27 1994 3045 verhach Joan. | aS Dorrach OAK 5 $—T Strontian OA zo dan 42 % 2546 CHERRY HUMBIE Only @ comparatively small amount of work has so far been done cn the worden or ornamental Cherry, chiefly because the trees near Strontian are mostly too small to be able to supply enough buds for Study by the multi-bud method. During the winter of 1982-63 a long Series vas carried out, by the single-buc method, and this gave @ Glear indicotion that” A was riging to 2 madmum'valie at each al- Ygnment of Moon and Scn (few moon and full moon). Thereafter this Soules waa not studied for a considerable period because the general Nock turned over ta the multi-bud method for many years. When the Nock was resumed on this species, In 1992. a very short spell of ob- Servations seened to confirm the original work, But it vas sald there that with so fou cbaarvations, these results ‘could not be considered 8 nore than preliminary evidence’, Supplement and Se~ Quel, Vol 2, page 29. The next year, 1999-94, Karin Mays. of Humble. contributed a use~ ful set Of photos of a bud from such @ tree, Commenting on these, Supplement ‘and Sequel, Vol. 2. page 46, 1t was pointed out how difti- cult these buds are to work vith, being ‘small, hard, woody and * fough! and that {t vas to be expected ' that the graph should exhib~ fea sonewhat erratic appearance. And so it did! Nevertheless the grech seemed to confirm falrly well the original findings. But now, 1985, things do not seem so clear. The latest photos give, on pawe 47, 'a graph in which, however hopefully ve look, no hint of a | 15— day rhythm is seen. The Upward-polnting arrows are here marked in ror the times when, according to past experience, we ought to expect Hees in the curve; andl thirk it has to be admitted that we do not. Ve show here also the corresponding A~graph, page 48, which confirms this. It is formless, and rota bit like almost all the others we have bean considering. They are printed here because in the nidst of So many positive examples, 1 15 useful to examine the occasional Regative ones when they arise, by way of contrast if for no other reason. There are two possible reasons for this apparent contradiction — a. ve mist remenber that our ideas of how this bud ought normally to Fe-act are based on very fey psat observations. These might, Just possibly, have occured co-incidentally, in which case we would have to revise cur ‘deas as to how these buds react, or even whether they do In fact re-act, to the heavenly movements. Or, b. when us Ing the single-tud method we must alvays remenber that tt 1s poss sible that, by some mischance, ve have chosen a bud, which, for_ some Season, maybe connected with the whole manner of its growin, 1s not re-acting, hile Its fellows continue to do 50 normally. Only further careful research and observation can enable us to distinguish between these two.Humbie CHERRY 199495 no} To | 4 ae 4 a Be T 23] /\ | =5 4 —F oa A 68 arto oe a ly199, 4-95 |A Graph over SUN HumbieBIRD CHERRY STRONTIAN ‘The Spring of 1994 vas the first ume we have studied this plent and the resulting graph printed on page S3 of Yolume 2 of the Supplement and Sequel, gave fairly good evidence of @ 14715 day Ehyern of dips in the curve, co-inciding with lunar oltynnents with Gither Sun, Hercury, Venus or Mars, and the difficulty in those Eiconstances of distinguishing clearly Detween these ore stresead. Fovewer, on page S2 of that volume, reasons are given for the view that tne balonee of probability lay with Venus. On poses 50 and St Sre the graphs for this year's results. Again we see clearly 6 15~ Gy chythn. Apart tcom the failure of 2 dip to show tteslf during the maddie part of December, when {t might have been expected, each Of the other alfanments is accompanied, more or less stronsly by by tts. dlp. Consulting the ephemeris we find that Mars this year is clearly ruled out asa possible contender for the rulership, and prubebly Meccury also, althoush not quite so clearly and obviously. Ve sre left with Sun and Venus as prime possibilities. Ve nave therefore mmacked in wlth large counward-polnting arrows the dates of the Ve- fue alignments, consonent of course, vith the current phasevshift of Dbout 2 days, and with small arrows the dates of the Sun allanments. Eramining these we see that during all the early part of the season there seems little to choose between these two, but during the lest Weeks, particularly the alignments of February 12th and 2etn, Venus fos a very distinct advantage over the Sun, Although this still can— fot be considered conclusive, It consiitutes a satisfactory confirm Gtion of the pravicia year’s work, In this connection it is worth Fepeating that In some herbalist traditions an infusion from the bork of thie tree is used as a diuretic, Le. sonething to stimulate the working of Une kydheys. ch page S2 ve shov the A-greph for these observations. Apart from 2 omall oeevmetry, Une lovest point. of the dip being nearer to Day-3 than Day-1, It Is strongly formed and characteristic.PAN wi Nt, —e 1) Lj}. - 4 fo | Sy | = | 8 Jae i = ——— y if fT P| | Al La |BIRD CHERRY GRAPH one VENUS STRONTIAN 7 erry | * T TT | 20) gq“ es a TT es53 ASH LANCASTER In addition 10 hee other work Isis Brook again selected an Ash for atudy this yoor: The bud turned aut to be small, but a good path curve form, and Une serles of photographs tacen of it was fruitful Gnd interesting. The grapn fe shown on page S4. Out of seven align~ ents, all of them are accanpanted by significant dips in the curve, aithough that of February dth Is some two days late, and that of March 18th is rather snall. Otherwise it 1s all very. satisfactory. As one might expect, the A-graoh, shown on psge 55, has a strongly characteristic ferm, sawing @ clear dip round about Day 1-2.Lancaster Yo 4-9. MN \ 4 rh : | ASH1994-95 AGRAPH OVER SUN LANCASTER THT ARETE EN +? TEER56 SOME PHOTOGRAPHS ‘the day to day and veek to week changes in the bud measurements: recorded here are for the most part small when considered as straight forward measurements, but vhen seen as ratios 9s compared with the top ard bottom diameters of the bud they ere significant and make 0 Considerable difference to the whole “feel’ vhich the bud form makes Gpon che, One can think of this as the breathing in, and cut, of the Gosence of the organism All the changes are definite, and derinite- ly measurable, but in sone cases they are such as to be obvious to 3 Cursery giana: and we illustrate one or two of these, by putting the Photos throush’ the photo-copter. Page 57. The top three photos take one from a low point of the curve. throug an intervening maxinum (Nov Lith) to a succeeding 1o¥ point: the lover cow takes one fron a high point. through a dip, to 8 following high point. Pages SB and 59, These photographs are of alternate nigh and low pointe on the curve. It is generally the cage with the Beech that the Beater fart of the variation takes place at, the lover end of the bud Gra {t is barder to see this at first glance. It is good to check at the botton level but one, with 8 ruler. Page 60, Again we have alternate high and lov levels of ) . The Oak usually varies chiefly near the Uo, and this is more obvious at a first glance than In the preceding exenples.HORNBEAM Dornach {__ =| a Ll 2 Nove 26 Novit 340 Nov 18 285 i = on sesh I Nov 18 saa Nov 29 288 Dec 5 352 2gFeb 10 6s09PHASE-SHIFT CHART ToT 3 © [Bee a9 es | ie 1 ag P., =, , oT = ma TA, | “| Oh j T | i om race | wen | soe | gas | ase | ser | see | 060 | sone | "el seo2 | ages | see | seat