1875J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
431 
affine. I have recently seen directions published tor the 
use of was in the same manner. Of course 
In Making up Leaves thus covered with paraffine, 
you cannot use paste or gum, hut they must be sewed 
on, or as Auut Sue, who has something to say in her 
“Chats” about such matters, suggests they may be put 
on by pins. The making-up part I did not intend to give 
directions about, as that is a matter in which there may 
be great variety, and each one can exercise her or his 
own fancy. Very beautiful wreaths may be made by 
fastening the leaves to a piece of clean white card-board, 
or they may be made up in the form of a bouquet, using 
the whi te card-board as a back-ground. I have seen very 
handsome lamp-shades made with six pieces, each shaped 
like that in the engraving, attached to a wire frame, and 
each piece with a small cluster of the leaves tastefully 
arranged upon it. For this work those-leaves should be 
selected which look best when held so that the light 
shines through them. Delicate dried ferns make up 
very prettily with the colored leaves. I did not try how 
they would look if treated with paraffine, but when you 
are doing the leaves you can experiment. 
As I have said that I was away, I must tell you 
About jit Journey. —I had to go directly west nearly 
1,000 miles, and a long ride it seemed. Every day that I 
go to the city I have two hours of railroad, and that is 
enough, but for three days—almost, that was not desira- 
able. How do you suppose I amused myself while on 
the road ? By looking at my boys and girls. By good 
fortune my Pullman car was the last of the train, and I 
could sit at the end of it and have a grand view of what 
was to be seen. Sometimes the scenery was fine, some¬ 
times dull, but all along the road I saw boys and girls, 
and when they were particularly bright-looking, I said 
to myself, “There are some Agriculturist youngsters.” 
I think that many a boy and girl in Western New York, 
Canada, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, who reads 
this will recollect that they had a bow from “ The Doc¬ 
tor.” When I saw the boys and girls with their kettles 
on the way to school, I bowed and waved my hand, and 
when I saw those little fellows picking up potatoes, or 
whatever they were doing, I found some way of giving 
them a greeting. But the greatest fun was, at a place in 
Southern Michigan, where the railroad ran close along 
side of the country road. There were two of the bright¬ 
est of boys with a white horse in an old-fashioned sulky. 
The train was running very slow, and as we overtook 
them I had a bow from them. I signaled them to come 
on, and they started up the old horse; he made very 
good time, but it was of no use; oats against steam. 
When they found they were beaten, they both waved 
their straw hats and set up such a laugh as could only 
come from light-hearted youngsters. I ain quite sure 
they were two of our boys, and when they see this they 
will remember the laugh, and know who laughed with 
them. As I could not read much in the cars, I made the 
time pass pleasantly by looking out for our boys and 
girls, and if all those I saw and had a hurried greeting 
with, did not belong to our family, why they ought to. 
They made my journey a pleasant one, and I thank them 
all, just for this hurried glimpse of them. 
Now, youngsters, both of you, boys and girls, I wish to 
have a little serious talk with you. I have sometimes 
tried to amuse you, and sometimes to instruct you, about 
natural objects, but this is about neither, but about 
something which ought to be said. Perhaps some 
youngster about 16, (sometimes boys feel older then than 
they ever do after,) will turn up his nose and say, 
“Oh the Doctor is on a Preach.”—Now, you are 
just the boy I wish to have a word with, and if the boys 
and girls will give attention to my “ preach ” this time, 
I will try and have something more to their fancy an¬ 
other month. The subject is 
Slang and Catch-words.— Last month something 
was said to the boys about the use of slang names for 
“father,” now let us have for both boys and girls a little 
talk about slang words in general. Slang is described as 
the language of the “ vile and low,” but I do not mean 
to say that boys and girls are vile and low when they use 
slang words, and yet I do not know exactly what word to 
use in its place. A boy may call a policeman a “ cop,” and 
speak of money as “ dibs,” “blunt,” and “ stamps,” or 
a girl may think ice-cream “ goloptious,” and regard a 
dress as “ tippybob,” and both be very excellent children, 
for they use low language without any thought. They 
have heard others use the words, and they seemed so 
new and odd that they followed the bad example. I 
once knew a very estimable young lady, the daughter of 
a family noted for its refinement, who having heard a 
few slang words, took a great fancy for them, and was 
what may be called slang crazy; all that she saw' in the 
newspapers, and all that she could pick up, she used in 
her conversation, when her parents were not near ; she 
had so great a fancy for such words that she begged all 
the young gentlemen in the large circle of her acquaint¬ 
ance to bring her new ones, and when one brought her a 
new bit of slang, she was as much delighted as other 
girls would be with the present of a bouquet. We are 
sorry to say that some of her aiquaintances taught her 
w'ords not proper to use, and it was very sad to hear this 
young person bring into her conversation words which 
are never used by decent people, but which can only be 
heard among the low and vulgar. It was of course done 
innocently, and without any idea that there was an im¬ 
proper meaning to the words. At last some friend was 
kind enough to tell her of the true character of some of 
the slang, and she had the good sense to drop everything 
of the kind. Not only are slang words entirely useless, 
but they often have a low origin, and are among' low 
people used in a sense which wmuld shock any decent 
boy or girl did they know what it was. The boys and 
girls who read the American Agriculturist, when they 
hear a new word, the meaning of which they do not 
know, had better not use it until they have looked it up. 
The English language is a very rich one, and there is a 
great abundance of words that properly belong to it, 
without going into the slums to find new ones. Many 
of the slang phrases have a wretchedly low origin, and 
some of the words are only concealed profanity. 
Besides slang, or unusual words, there are “ catch¬ 
words.” I call them so for want of a better name. I 
mean those words which persons habitually use, almost 
without knowing it. Some persons cannot tell the sim¬ 
plest story, or give an account of what has happened, 
without putting in “ you know,” every five or ten words; 
others in the same manner say “ and-er,” “ an-der-er,” 
at the same time taking a long breath, while others use 
“ W ell-er,” or “ But-er,” in the same way, all seeming to 
think it necessary to keep up a sound while they are 
getting ready to say something else. If you are in the 
habit of using words like these, get some good friend to 
correct you, for there is nothing that makes a person’s 
conversation more tedious than these tricks of speech. 
One of the amusing things in the use of language is 
the way in which many express surprise. We know 
several whom we can tell beforehand what they will say 
when told of any piece of nows. One will be sure to tell 
you, “ You don’t say so! ” Another, “ I want to know! ” 
and another, “how yon talk.” Now these are really 
very impolite, for you have said so, and they really don’t 
“want to know,” as you have just told them, and you 
probably “ talk ” in a very sensible manner. Still more 
unmeaning are the very common, “Well I never!” 
“Now I shall give up!” “For the land’s sake,’ and 
others. “ Luddy massy on us ” is sometimes heard, but 
would not be did those who use it know that it is a cor¬ 
ruption of the very solemn “The Lord have mercy on 
us.” It is very natural to express surprise when told 
any astonishing piece of news, but it is not necessary to 
have always the same way of doing it. “Astonishing ! ” 
“ 5 'ou surprise me ! ” “ I never suspected that,” are good 
English, and just as useful as any of the set phrases, 
some of which we have quoted. If these catch-words 
and set phrases are avoided while you are young, you 
will not be likely to fall into the use of them when older. 
“ Would you have youngsters talk like school-masters ?” 
some of you may ask. No ; I would have children be 
children, and there is not the least difficulty in having 
children talk with proper freedom without falling into 
the use of slang or any of the tricks of speech hero noted. 
Every one of you, no matter what your present lot in 
life, or what your future occupation may be, hopes, or 
should hope, to be a useful, cultured, and respected man 
or woman, capable of filling any place in the community 
in which you may live. By place, we do not mean 
merely office, for the least worthy often get that, but 
what is more important, that of a good citizen and a 
good neighbor. Perhaps you do not now think that be¬ 
fore long you will be in the places now occupied by your 
fathers and mothers ; it isonly the matter of afew years. 
Of course there are things more important than matters 
of speech, and many men and women are respected and 
beloved in spite of their unpleasant ways, because they 
are warm-hearted, kind, and helpful; but these very 
persons would be more useful and more welcome in the 
families of their friends, did they use a simple language. 
If these unpleasant ways have been learned, break them 
up at once. In a family it will be a good plan to estab¬ 
lish a small fine, to be paid by whoever uses a word that 
is not good English, or any of the needless catch-words 
or phrases, the fines to go to the Sunday-school or some 
neighborhood charity. Now, boys and girls, let us all 
try to stop by some means this use of slang. 
- « em - 
Aunt Sue’s Cliats. 
Mary J. Y.—I couldn’t possibly tell you whether it is 
a fact “ that hunters are killing all the buffaloes 1 ” with¬ 
out knowing how many buffaloes there are. I can tell 
you how many it is "estimated are killed yearly, and you 
may draw your own conclusions. The “ hide-hunters ” 
of Texas, Kansas, southern Nebraska and Colorado, kill 
50,000 each year for their skins alone. The Indians are 
said to kill three times that number, and sportsmen and 
pioneers, who depend on buffalo meat for their food, kill 
perhaps 10,000 more. That is about 210,000 a year ; and 
it certainly can’t take long to kill them “all” at that rate ! 
F. G. M. says, “Please tell me why people say ‘ he has 
cut stick’ when a person has run away.” Advertise¬ 
ments lor fugitive slaves were marked by a wood-cut 
representing a negro running, with a stick and bundle 
across his shoulders. Even now you will see that cut 
heading advertisements for negroes who have run away 
from contract labor. They cut their sticks preparatory 
to running off. 
George H. F.—Thanks for your letter. The cross¬ 
word is very nicely printed. 
Ned.—Y our questions are not of sufficient general in¬ 
terest to warrant my taking up the space necessary for 
replies. 
Patsy. —Enigmas made upon the names of the writers, 
or of their own personal friends, or upon the title of our 
paper, its editors or publishers, are the least likely of 
any to get into print. 
Kate M. enumerates many articles made of, or rather 
ornamented with, fall leaves, and wants to know if I will 
tell her of something else. Yes, Katie ; if you have the 
time and patience, you can make very beautiful cornices 
for the tops of your windows with ferns, leaves, berries, 
vines, etc. Take a strip of muslin or calico, starched 
pretty stiff, about live inches wide, and as long as the 
width of your window. Spread it out upon your bed, or 
sofa, and pin each end of it down tight. Now group 
your ferns and leaves into a graceful bunch on the center 
of the strip ; slip, your hand underneath, and fasten them 
to the muslin with small pins; be careful that all the 
pins are hidden by the leaves. Pins are better than 
needle and thread, as the thread is liable to catch on the 
leaves and break them. The engraving may assist yon in 
arranging the leaves and ferns. Of course they must be 
pressed and dried before using. With care they will last 
a year or more. When the strip is finished, it may be 
pinned to the curtain. The effect is very pleasing. 
Aunt Sue’s Puzzle-Box. 
numerical enigma. 
I am composed of 11 letters : 
My 10, 2, 3, may preserve fruit, but it hurts fingers. 
My 0, 4, 2, 11, is a most unpleasant emotion. 
My 9, 7, 5, 8, is often delicious, sometimes flat and un¬ 
profitable. 
My 1, 7, 3, is a boy’s nickname. 
My whole is the name of a man who became rather 
suddenly famous. Yau. 
CROSS WORD. 
My first is in John but not in Mark, 
My next is in branch but not in limb, 
My third is in finch but not in lark, 
My fourth is in freak but not in whim, 
My fifth is in dark but not in light, 
My sixth is in talk but not in word. 
My seventh is in wrong but not in right, 
My whole you will find is the name of a bird. 
Herbert J. K. 
decapitation. 
I only boast of letters five, 
And for brief moments only live, 
Beheaded, a life-sustaining food, 
In tropic climes accounted good, 
Behead again and in me see 
What gives their drink its luxury. Tempt, 
anagrams. 
Names of noted persons. 
1. Mail train. 3. Rich sell. 
2. Turn the rail, M. 4. Faint, alone. Barbara. 
puzzle. 
(Make sense of the following letters.) 
N A S E D E 
DOKCAN 
M F J A R O 
A A L L T N 
S T E R O F Herbert J. K. 
DOUBLE ACROSTIC. 
The initials and finals give the names of two flowers. 
1. A young animal. 2. A plant used in soup. 3. Some¬ 
thing used by sportsmen. 4. Pathetic. 5. Once a year. 
Geo. M. Clark. 
EQUIVOCAL WORDS. 
1. A tool—an insect. 2. Part of a bird—Papa’s dread— 
a sort of hook. 3. A fragment—a tool—part of harness. 
4. Part of a tool—a spear of grass—a jolly fellow. 5. A 
gust—a hit—to puff—to blossom—a great grief. 6. A 
melody—our inhalations. Bessie. 
DROP LETTER PUZZLE. 
(A proverb.) 
T m a d i e a t,o n m n. Vau- 
