68 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[February, 
he should not be put to a heavy expense for presents. 
At length the custom changed, and young ladies wrote 
pretty little verses, and sent them with no other signa¬ 
ture than “ Your Valentine,” to the young men, who, if 
they were lucky enough to find out the writer, would 
send a present. Then the letters were ornamented with 
of the day, to make sport of the infirmities or in any 
way wound the feelings of others. Rather than this 
should be done to one sensitive person, the day had 
better be as dead as the “ saint ” whose name it keeps 
alive. Before ending this valentine talk, already too 
long, we must tell you of one of the superstitions of the 
little things could find no food, and were in great dis¬ 
tress ; the chickadees, which look as if they had on their 
winter-furs, and were quite comfortable, seemed to care 
less about it than the snow-birds, who perched upon the 
tree close by, and plainly showed that they were hungry. 
When the window was opened to give them food, the 
VALENTINE’S MORNING — THE POSTMAN 
VISIT. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
drawings of hearts, cnpids, and all such designs, and 
this ornamentation increased to gilt and other papers 
cnt in very handsome manner. When this was the work 
of the young lady who sent it, it was all very pretty and 
proper, but after a while valentine making became a 
trade, the pretty verses, and the flowers and cupids were 
printed, and the handsome ornaments were cut by 
m; ;Mnery, to such a length was this carried, that some 
ol valentines cost $20 or more, and did not show the 
taste and skill so much as the length of the purse, of the 
sender. At length young men as well as girls sent valen¬ 
tines, and at last very coarse things were made and sold 
for valentines, with which a low-minded person could 
convey an insult to another without being known. So, 
like many another innocent and pleasing thing, the send¬ 
ing of valentines was put to wrong uses, and many good 
WHAT NET.LT SAW ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. 
persons thought-it would be better to give up the custom, 
and now comparatively few valentines are sent. It, is 
one of those very old customs that we would not like to 
see die out, any more than we would that of the visits of 
St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus as we call him, and if treat¬ 
ed in a proper and innocent spirit, is capable of affording 
a great deal of amusement, and giving pleasure to others. 
But no right minded boy or girl will ever take advantage 
time when they had the valentine drawing in Rome. 
They thought that on the 14th of February, the birds all 
met to choose their mates, and it was thought nothing 
strange if those who were brought together by the lot¬ 
tery, should continue to be valentines through life. The 
Puritan-fathers had a very different view of the day, for 
they regarded it as the middle of the long New England 
winter, and had the couplet, 
February fourteenth day, 
Half your corn and half your hay. 
Not much poetry, nor valentining about that, is there ? 
foolish things were frightened, and flew away. A friend 
told us of a little contrivance, which we shall try: he 
takes a long, slender pole with a string, much like a 
fishing-rod and line, and at the end of the string ties a 
piece of coarse meat ; all the insect-eating birds like 
meat, and he says it is great fun to see the birds fly about, 
and peck at the meat so hung up for them. Arranged in 
this way, the meat will not be covered with snow, and 
!\ellj r, » Christinas Morning. — Of 
course, Nelly having been a good girl, was not forgotten 
by Santa Claus ; she called him Santa Claus, but of course 
she knew all the while, it was mother who provided the 
presents for her and her larger brother, Tom. Nelly had 
candies, a new comforter, a book, and, of all the things 
she had wished for, a doll. Tom had several things, but 
there were the skates, and he did not at first notice any¬ 
thing else, as he was quite as much taken up with his 
skates, as Nelly was with her doll. At last he saw a little 
square box, and called to Nelly to see it; he opened the 
box, and—well, the picture tells the rest of the story. 
- -—— • - —m. - 
Tlie Winter Birds. 
now dull winter would be, at least to those of us who 
live in the country, if it were not for the winter birds. 
All the gayer birds leave us when cold weather comes on, 
and take wing for a warmer country, but the snow-birds, 
the tit-mice, or chickadees, the winter wood-pecker, and 
some others stay in the Northern States all winter. How¬ 
ever they may behave the rest of the year, when we see 
little of them, they keep on quite friendly terms during 
the cold weather, and often there will be two or three l 
different kinds of these winter birds hopping about. ^ 
Then how tame they get! They come around the house, A 
and even to the very door-step, in search of crumbs and ’ V 
other food. Right under our chamber-window is the 
roof of a verandah or porch, and by throwing seeds and 
other food there, the birds make themselves quite at 
home, and come regularly for their rations. But that deep 
snow-storm, which came the Sunday before Christmas, 
covered up not only the food upon the roof, but all that 
they might find around the do»r or elsewhere. The poor 
FEEDING THE WINTER BIRDS. 
for those birds who prefer other food, a little box of 
bread-crumbs, cracked grain, or seeds, could be put in 
place of the meat. It is so pleasant to see the birds 
about the house that it is worth while to take a little 
trouble to make them come. 
