An Obituary for Farmers’ Almanac

 

 

It is possible to stop a wound from hemorrhaging by applying a mixture of water and the oil that collects in a tobacco pipe stem. The highest peak in “Indian Territory” is Sugarloaf Mountain, at 2,600 feet. A cupful of strong coffee will remove the odor of onions from the breath. When the temperature falls suddenly, there is a storm forming south of you. 

Did you know any of these critical facts about the world and how to survive it? No, you wouldn’t, not without consulting Farmers’ Almanac from 1908, as I have done, thus becoming a dilettante of largely obsolete items of information whose original accuracy or use case is not always clear.

Farmers’ Almanac has published annually since 1818 — through the Civil War, the Great Depression, the invasion of Iraq, the launch of OpenAI, and everything else that’s happened with this country in 208 years. It is your “Your #1 Guide to the Good Life.” In addition to kooky aphorisms and allegories, the publication traffics in long-range weather predictions (though some researchers have cast doubt on their accuracy), gardening tips, and other practical knowledge. It, along with its rival the *Old* Farmer’s Almanac, carried the almanac tradition in North America into the 21st century. But the long run has come to an end.