5U 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



Cucumber Toast. — Select your cucumbers — 

 fresh, crisp, medium size — ^just as you would pre- 

 fer if served up in the usual manner ; pare and 

 slice lengthwise in cuts a quarter of an inch thick ; 

 rinse in cold water ; dip each singly in flour, and 

 hurry them into the dripping pan, using for ma- 

 terial to fry them the gravy in which either beef- 

 steaks, veal-cutlets or mutton-chops were cooked, 

 or butter may be used ; but be sure to fry briskly 

 until the slices are a light brown on both sides, 

 have your bread toasted, buttered or dipped, as 

 you prefer, and close at hand ; slip the slices of 

 cucumber hot from the pan between slices of 

 toast and serve at once. Any one following these 

 directions implicitly, will find cucumber toast 

 really good to eat. — American Farmer. 



It must be somewhere written that the virtues 

 of mothers shall occasionally be visited upon the 

 children, as well as the sins of the father. 



YOUTH'S DEPARTMENT. 



OUK PAKENTS. 



Not long since, as I took my seat in the cars 

 for a day's ride, I observed, seated opposite me, 

 an elderly lady and middle-aged gentleman, who, 

 I inferred from some casual remark, had been 

 travelling a day or two. It was a very early hour 

 in the morning, and the lady apparently was 

 sleeping. 



We rode in silence for some time, when the 

 lady awoke, and I heard the gentleman address 

 her as mother. His dignified, unobtrusive man- 

 ner, and the tender, deferential tone of his voice, 

 at once drew my attention to them, and having no 

 company, my eyes and my thoughts were my own. 



All the tender cave which a mother could be- 

 stow on an infant child, were given by that son 

 to his mother. The slightest movement on her 

 part to adjust her furs, or cloak, or over-shoes, or 

 any change of position, called forth his ready 

 hand in assistance, and the inquiries, "Are you 

 comfortable, mother ? Do you feel tired ? Lay 

 your head on my shoulder, and rest yourself." 



At noon the cars stopped for the passengers to 

 obtain refreshments. It was snowing too fast 

 for the mother to go out of the cars, and the son 

 brought her a cup of coffee. 



"Is it just right, mother?" he inquired as she 

 tasted it. 



"A little more cream would make it better ; it 

 is, however, very good as it is," was her reply. 



"Let me get you some more." 



"No, my son, it will make you too much trou- 

 ble ; it is very good as it is." 



lie went out and soon returned with the cream, 

 and poured a little into the coffee, and then a lit- 

 tle more, until it was "just right." He then sat 

 down by her side, and I heard him say, in the 

 same low tone of voice that at first attracted my 

 attention, "I am glad, mother, that I can do any- 

 thing to make you comfortable, it is such a pleas- 

 ure to me." 



"I thank you, my son," she replied in the same 

 spirit and tone of voice as that of her son. 



Beautiful, thought I, as I quietly watched them, 

 and saw manifested their mutual love and confi- 

 dence. Mv mind went back to the time when 



this son, now in manhood's strength, was a little 

 helpless infant, and I pictured that mother watch- 

 ing over him, caring for him with a solicitude 

 such as mothers only can feel. And through all 

 the years of childhood and youth, up to manhood, 

 the watchful eye was ever over him, the guiding 

 hand ever ready to lead, and a mother's love ever 

 ready to restrain him from doing wrong. Now 

 it is his turn, when life's meridian with her is 

 past, and the infirmities of age are creeping on, 

 to repay, in some degree, for all the labor be- 

 stowed on him, and faithfully and affectionately 

 did he seem fulfilling his duty. 



How many grown up sons there are who seem 

 to feel it beneath them to show any tenderness 

 for their mothers. It is feminine, they say. They 

 will perform acts of kindness, but in a business 

 kind of a way, or because it is their duty, little 

 dreaming that they are crushing the maternal 

 spirit by such cold, heartless acts. 



Acts of kindness, done in the spirit manifested 

 in the incident above mentioned, have an untold 

 influence. The pathway down to the grave would 

 be cheered, made even joyful, and old age would 

 be exempt from much of the gloom that is often 

 experienced. 



The reflex influence is also great. A young 

 man who is habitually tender of his mother, and 

 deferential to her, will make a good citizen, a 

 true friend, and will be faithful in all the walks 

 of life. — The Witness. 



A BOY'S POCKET. 



About the greatest curiosity to be met with in 

 this common-place, every-day, hum-drum world 

 of ours, we unhesitatingly pronounce the contents 

 of a boy's pocket. Peep into that pocket when 

 you will — whether at night as he goes to his bed!, 

 or in the morning as he goes to his play ; or 

 whether at home or abroad, at school or in church, 

 any where and every where, and you will find his 

 pocket a perfect curiosity-shop, a very omnium 

 gatherum, into which is ruthlessly crammed every 

 article that comes into his hands, without its ever 

 being too full to hold the last object upon which 

 he lays fingers. A little urchin of some ten sum- 

 mers' growth invited his mamma the other day, 

 in our presence, to repair a slight accident to a 

 pantaloons-pocket, and to do this, it became ne- 

 cessary to upset the contents of master Willie's 

 pocket upon the floor, an exact inventory of which 

 we proceeded to note down as follows : An Indi- 

 an rubber, a bottle-cork, an old gas-burner, one 

 nine-pin, a part of an exploded fire-cracker, an 

 old spool of cotton, a small block, part of an old 

 match-box, one old envelope, a bag of marbles, 

 one hickory-nut, piece of silk cord, several pieces 

 of twine and strings, the lid of an old pill-box, 

 pieces of chestnut hull, a piece of ginger-cake, a 

 piece of tin, a rabbit's tail, pieces of fancy-colored 

 paper, two old nails, a small picture-book, a slate- 

 pencil, a broken jew's-harp, the remains of a 

 pocket-handkerchief, a penny v/histle, a piece oi 

 shoe-string, two grains of corn, a pocket knife- 

 handle, half a peach-stone, two spotted chicken- 

 feathers, a piece of brick-bat, a spinning-top, a 

 dead mouse, an assortment of buttons, with 

 crumbs of bread, candy, and a mixture of sand, 

 pebbles and dirt generally. 



