DRESS SUITED TO THE OCCUPATION. 177 



of the Swiss woman, or the English beaver hat, coat and waist- 

 coat of the equestrienne, or the much derided Bloomer costume, 

 is uncertain, but it is absolutely requisite that the gardener should 

 have shoes which will not melt like salt with the least drop of 

 rain or dew, skirts which are not ruined by contact with mother 

 earth, and will not tear with the first touch of a bramble, waists 

 which are loose enough to allow free use of the arms, an arrange- 

 ment of the hair which will bear both wind and moisture, and 

 a hat which will stay on the head under all disadvantages. 



Since we admire the Greek Diana, " the chaste huntress with 

 the silver bow," we can certainly imagine a costume which will 

 admit of all this and yet be both classical and becoming. 



I once received a visit from two ladies from the country. 

 As I had lately had a bride for a visitor with trunks which, like 

 the Yicar of Wakefield's family picture, could not be got up- 

 stairs or into any room in the house, I was as much pleased as 

 the hackman, with the very modest size of "their trunk. I said, 

 " Is this all the baggage you have brought ? " " Oh ! yes," 

 they replied. The next morning one of the ladies brought me 

 down a fine large Hubbard squash of her own raising, which 

 had also come in the trunk ! It filled up the measure of my 

 amazement, and set me to thinking whether, when ladies prided 

 themselves on taking choice specimens of squashes and pumpkins 

 to the city, they would not economize in the size of their hoops 

 and the number of their flounces. A gourmand who was very 

 fond of pork, had tried every means of giving it additional flavor 

 and relish. He had eaten it broiled, and boiled, roasted and 

 fried, in brawn and in sausages, and every other •imaginable 

 way. At last he said, " I wish I had been born a Jew, for that 

 sense of a forbidden luxury is the only thing which I can 

 imagine would impart a new relish to pork." 



Now as the season of Thanksgiving approaches, all the arts of 

 the housewife are exhausted to give new zest and flavor to the 

 " Thanksgiving dinner." Would it not, devoted husband 

 and father, add a charm to this long cherished festival, to know 

 that the pumpkins and squashes were of your wife's raising, or 

 that the ruddy glow on the apple reflected the blooming cheek 

 of your daughter, made healthy by the summer spent in the 

 orchard or garden ? Would it not indeed make a new day of 

 thanksgiving and praise for us all, if the hours now given by 

 23 



