1875 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
471 
Double Acrostic.— D— ori —G Defoe’s Crusoe. 
E—ndeavo—It 
F—lambea—U 
O— ti — S 
E— mbry —O 
S— pok —E 
Names op Rivers Enigmatically Expressed.— 1. Ca¬ 
tawba. 2. Leaf. 3. Black Warrior, 4. Savannah. 5. James. 
6. Cowpasture. 7. Pamunkey. 
Diamond Puzzle.— 
A 
PUT 
PANIC 
A U N T S U E 
ISSUE 
CUE 
E 
Characteristic Initials.— 1. John G. 'Whittier. 2. Wil¬ 
liam Cullen Bryant. 3. Schuyler Colfax. 4. Michael Angelo. 
5. Daniel O’Connel. 6. Bayard Taylor. 7. Abi ahum Lincoln. 
8. T. S. Arthur. 9. Grace Greenwood. 10. E. D. E. N. 
Sonthworth. 
Cross Word.— Cheerfulness. 
Pr.—One of the most important rules of the science of 
manners, is an almost absolute silence in regard to yourself. 
Then, for “ the baby,” you can make a worsted ball. It 
takes a good deal of worsted, but you can use all the 
scraps left from other things. Make a little one first, j ust 
to learn how, and you can easily increase the size. About 
had never seen before. It was very small, very soft, very- 
white, it made no noise, and it had scarcely any weight. 
Where had it come from ? Not from the ground, surely. 
Out of the sky then. 
“ So this is snow,” she said to herself, “ it seems beau¬ 
tiful, but it’s very cold.” 
“Don’t be afraid ! ” called young Kalmia cheerily, “ it 
won’t hurt, it will keep you warm. I’m only afraid there 
won’t be enough of it.” 
“Enough to give Santa Claus easy riding, I hope,” said 
J. V. Cedar, “ the good man lias much to do, and iar to 
travel with his little steeds to-night.” 
“Bless me,” cried Kalmia Laurel, “I really had for¬ 
gotten that this is the night before Christmas. That 
accounts for the snow. Who ever heard of Christmas 
without snow ? I must be getting old, if I’m losing my 
memory, hut it’s a green old age, at any rate,” and Mr. 
Laurel shook himself in laughing at his own joke. 
Send communications intended far Aunt Sue, to Box 111, 
P. 0., Brooklyn , N. Y., and not to 245 Broadway. 
Aim 4 Sue’s Oiuts* 
Ellen F. G.— A very*“cheap, simple, and pretty de¬ 
sign for a statuette-stand for mantel-piece” may be 
made with a little of the cloth known as “Turkey- 
red,” and a piece of hoard three-eights of an inch 
thick. Cut the hoard into three pieces: one, six 
inches by seven ; one, ten inches by eight, and one, ten 
by thirteen. Round off the 
corners of one end of the latter, 
like fig. 1. Fasten on to this 
some “turkey-red,” in three 
box-plaits, like fig. 2, by small 
tacks on the hack, driven in to 
the head. Then fasten a plain 
piece of turkey-red on the hack 
(cover the tacks) by turning down 
tiie edge of the cloth a little distance from the edge of 
the wood, and basting it round with a needle and thread. 
Cover the two square 
pieces with cloth. Place 
the smaller on the larger, 
and fasten them together 
with three small tacks— 
one in the center, and one 
at each back corner, as in 
fig. 3. This makes the 
base. Place the largest 
piece (with the box-plaits) 
behind the base, and 
fasten them together by 
tacks ; although they may 
be left separate, if you 
prefer it, as the wall will 
support the back; and the 
thing is complete, and 
makes a very effective stand for a statuette. Of conrse 
you can use any other color or material to cover the 
wood that may best 
harmonize with the color 
of your furniture. 
Effie.— If yon “can 
sew,” you can make 
“ Uncle Edward ” a very 
acceptable “ Christmas 
present ” in the shape of 
a vest pin-cushion. I think one in the shape of fig. 5 the 
most serviceable, as it fits the vest-pocket comfortably, 
and long pins may he put in 
one way, and short ones the 
other. Cat your two pieces 
of card exactly the same 
shape; cut two pieces of silk 
(or merino) a little larger 
than the cards. Take a very 
fine needle and thread and 
baste the silk all round the 
cards, turning the edges 
over, then over-hand them 
together. Of course your 
mother conld tell you just how to do it, hut if you read 
this carefully and follow the instructions, yon can do it 
all by yourself and need not trouble her. 
Fig. 5. 
Fig. 4. 
r 
Fig. 3. 
two and a half inches in diameter is the proper size. Cut 
two pieces of card as large as a an old-fashioned copper- 
penny. Place your thimble on the center of each piece, 
draw a pencil-mark around 
it, then cut it out, leaving 
holes in the centers of the 
cards, as in fig. 6. Thread 
your worsted-needle, or 
bodkin, with doubled 
worsted, two or three 
yards long, and wind it 
over and over the two 
cards, as in fig. 7, first one 
color, then another, until 
the hole is filled up, and 
you cannot push the needle 
through any more (fig. 8). 
Now push the point of a 
pen-knife into the edge 
between the cards, and com¬ 
mence to cut around, as in fig. 9. Be very sure that the knife 
is between the two cards, then cut all the way round, as in 
fig. 10. Tie a string tightly around the center between the 
cards (after winding it two or three times), then tear ont 
the cards, and the worsted will come together. Now 
Fig. 10. Fig. 11. 
take yonr scissors and cut off the uneven ends, so as to 
have the ball smooth and velvety, and yon will he de¬ 
lighted with the effect (fig. 11). 
—-- 
The ftfg-ht Before Christmas. 
BY “ LADY-FERN.” 
The evening was cold, for the north wind was blowing. 
It had been chasing the little grey clouds all day, and 
now the whole sky was full of them. The sun went 
down, but the clouds were so thick that nobody would 
have known it, if the wind had not grown colder, and 
the sky darker. 
“ It feels like snow,” said Madame Rnbrnm Maple, and 
she shivered from top to root. 
“ Let it snow, I say 1 ” cried Sir Quercus A. Oak, shak¬ 
ing ail his brown leaves in defiance, “ it’s time it did.” 
“ I feel scarcely prepared for cold weather,” remarked 
Madame timidly, “ my limbs are shaky, and they have 
become so stiff that it is with difficulty I can bend them. 
“ Madame,” said Sir Quercns, severely, “ excuse me if 
I tell you the truth, I was brought up to speak it. Your 
limbs are not well proportioned. One of them is at 
least fifteen feet longer than the other, while the lower 
ones are almost too small to be mentioned. You need 
proper training, my friend. No wonder yon are shaky.” 
“Hear him talk,” whispered young Kalmia Laurel 
to little Miss Polypody Fern, who was reclining on a rock 
near by, “ the less these great folks know, the more they 
say abont it. If he were to speak the whole truth, he 
would have mentioned that he gives Madame so little 
room that she has to grow np high to find the light.” 
“ But, Mr. Laurel,” asked Polly, “ what docs Madame 
Maple mean by snow ? I never heard of it before, is it 
pleasant ? and what is cold weather ? ” 
“Delightful 1 delightful!” cried Jnniperus V. Cedar, 
Esq., who was standing near, “ I have hardly been able 
to grow for the heat all summer, but this cool breeze puts 
new life into my veins. Why, this is cold weather, and 
as for snow, look on your left-hand frond, my dear.” 
Miss Polly looked, and truly there was something she 
“ But, Mr. Laurel,” whispered Miss Polypody in sur¬ 
prise, “who is this good Santa Claus with his steeds,, 
and what do you mean by the night before Christmas? ” 
“ Why, don’t you know ? but then these Ferns are- 
always too stylish to know what everyone else knows,” 
said Mitchelia Partridge-berry, nodding her little red 
head in scorn. 
At this sharp answer Miss Polypody wished she could 
crawl into the cleft of the rock beside her, but all she- 
could get in was her roots, so she was forced to stand, 
covered with confusion. 
“ Come, come,” cried the kindhearted Kalmia Laurel, 
“you know Polly was only born last spring, she’ll know 
as much as you in another year, Miss Mitchelia. Listen, 
my clear, I’ll tell you what you want to know. Some 
people, like Madame Rubrum Maple, don’t like cold 
weather and snow. Almost all of your very genteel fam¬ 
ily have gone to sleep under the leaves, hut you, my dear, 
and I, keep awake all winter, to see what’s going on. 
Polly, did you ever see a man, a queer creature, with four 
branches, and a great many small roots on the top of his 
head? He moves very quickly, and don’t care who ke- 
steps on.” 
“I saw a creature with the fine roots you speak of 
once, hut it moved more slowly, and though it did not 
tread on us, it pulled up many of my cousins and took 
them away.” 
“Ho! ho!” laughed young Laurel, shaking himself 
again, “ it was a woman ; not much difference, except in 
their leaves—clothes—I mean. Well, these creatures 
have some queer ways. On this night every year Santa 
Claus comes for some of us to adorn the festival they 
celebrate on the morrow. He is a man, too—and the 
best of the lot. At this time of the year he visits every¬ 
one he can, and those he is forced to neglect feel very 
ranch hurt. It is not himself they care for so much, you 
understand, hut the gifts he brings to everyone, espe¬ 
cially the children.” 
“ But what is it all about, and why does he do this at 
the same time every year?” asked Miss Polly, who 
always liked to get at the bottom of things. 
“I don’t very well know myself,” answered young 
Mountain Laurel frankly, “ask Lord Abies Hemlock.” 
“What is your wish, Miss Polypody?” asked Lord 
Hemlock, bending gracefully down to the little fern. 
“May it please your Lordship,” was the modest an¬ 
swer, “why does Santa Claus come this time every 
year? ” 
“Listen, and 1 will tell you. Many long years ago 
our Creator sent a wise and holy persen to teach men 
how to live. This was necessary, for they did not know 
themselves. Now, though this person was the Son of 
God, and came from heaven, He resolved to become in 
all things, except sin, like men, in order that they 
might the more easily believe his words. So He was 
born in a stable, and his cradle was a manger, and all 
who came to welcome him were three strangers from the 
East. But these strangers brought rich and costly gifts 
to the Christ-child, and now, every year when His birth¬ 
day comes, men give gifts to those they love, to remind 
them of the Child in the manger, and all the joy He 
brought into the world. 
“As for Santa Claus, he has enough to do to carry the 
gifts where they belong. All love him, but eEpecially 
the children, for to them he brings the most.” And 
Lord Hemlock lifted his beautiful branches towards 
the sky again. 
Now, while they -were talking, the darkness grew’ 
deeper and deeper, and the snow fell faster and faster, 
till Miss Mitchelia was quite hidden, and Polypody had 
to stretch up to look around. But about midnight, 
when Lord Hemlock had finished his story, and Madame- 
Maple was sighing in her sleep, the snow ceased to fall, 
the north wind blew and blew till it blew all the clouds 
out of the sky, and there, behind them, were the stars, 
which had been shining all the while, though nobody 
knew it. Then it was that Mr. Laurel and Miss Poly¬ 
pody, wide-awake and waiting for something to happen, 
heard a sweet silvery sound far away, and looking 
through the edge of the wood, saw a jolly old man 
Fig. 9. 
