A WEATHER-TELLER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21537, 8 January 1932, Page 11

A WEATHER-TELLER

You can make a very curious weatherteller from a pine cone. Get a cone of good size and shape. Put the cone in some warm place to get it thoroughly dry. It is a good plan to place the cone in a warm oven until the scales open widely. After this drying the cone is extremely sensitive to changes in the amount of moisture in the atmospheric. _ The scales open widely when the air is dry and fine weather likely. They close when the atmosphere is damp and rain is coming. The cone is need to form the body of the weather-teller. The head and neck of the bird is cut from stout card, the eyes, beak, etc., being marked in. The legs are made of wire, each being formed of three pieces twisted together. The neck of the bird is pushed into a slit made at the thick end of the cone. The upper parts of the legs are attached to the body of the bird with spots of sealing-wax. If desired the feet can be attached to a card stand with gum. The scales of the cone then show what the weather is going to be. If right open, expect fine conditions; if half open, the weather will be unsettled; whilst, when shut, rain is certain. Charming little trees, which are attractive for room decoration, can also be made with pine cones and lawn grass seed. Get a quantity of the seed and mix this with an equal amount of fine, dry soil. Take a large cone, in which the scales are well open, and stand this in a canister lid. Then scatter the seed and soil over it. Keep moist, and soon the grass grows and a pretty little tree is the result. Another kind of tree is made with a forked branch. Make a hole in a canister lid and push the base of a twig in it. Now bore holes in the bottom of the cones and fit them on to the tips of the twig.