VALE. 
O gentlest season of the changing year, 
Though thy bright days are past, 
Our hearts will ever hold thy memory dear 
So long as memories last : 
Gladly each year we see thy pageant glow 
Through amber days with air like hydromel, 
And now we sigh in whispers sad and slow, 
“ Farewell, farewell! ” 
Through the dim vista of the forest nook 
Fall bars of shade and shine, 
And o’er the shimmering ripples of the brook 
Swings the Clematis vine: 
The breeze comes faintly from the far-off sea 
To linger in the leafy inland dell, 
And sings October’s dreamy monody, 
Farewell, farewell! 
The withered meadow-grasses, white and brown, 
Gleam in the autumn air, 
Where shining stars of silvery cotton-down 
Go sailing here and there: 
Decadence sits upon the fading earth, 
Her flowers have felt the touch of Azrael; 
To blooming sights and chirping sounds of mirth, 
Farewell, farewell! 
The day declines, and cloudy phantoms drift 
About the distant West, 
Where many a purple peak and golden rift 
Welcome the sun to rest: 
As goes this happy day, the season goes, 
Its dying murmurs chant the autumn’s knell,— 
The solemn requiem of the earth’s repose,— 
Farewell, farewell! 
Fade gently, gently, in the western sky, 
O fair October day ! 
Let rustling trees give back the parting sigh 
Of winds that die away ! 
Let the broad sunlight deepen into shade, 
Let the kine homeward sound the tinkling bell, 
To all thy glories that in twilight fade, 
Farewell, farewell ! 
The twittering birds may seek their hidden homes 
In the dark cedar-tree, 
And hived bees, in honey-laden combs, 
Hum low and lazily: 
O’er the wide landscape falls the shadowy night, 
On field, and hill, and blue horizon’s swell, 
The sun gives forth his last expiring light,— 
Farewell, farewell! —George Arnold. 
HOW TO ARRANGE GRASSES. 
The delicate coloring, and airy, feathery beauty of 
grasses are beginning to be thoroughly appreciated, and 
few are the homes which do not possess a vase of them 
for the adornment of the table and mantlepiece. 
Indeed, they form the prettiest of mantel ornaments, 
especially when grouped in the picturesque, rustic 
holders made of the coarse straw cuffs used by artists 
and clerks to protect their linen ones. 
In fashioning these, have ready half-a-dozen skeins of 
worsted, two in different shades of green, and one each 
of brown, blue, white and yellow. 
Begin just above the plait finishing the narrow part 
of the cuff, and work long, uneven stitches in imitation 
of reeds and rushes; near the bottom put a few short 
stitches to represent little brown bushes, and here and 
there make a white Daisy with a yellow dot in the 
centre, and clusters of three tiny blue flowers for 
Forget-me-nots. 
Fit a piece of pasteboard into the smaller portion of 
the cuff, and fill with several varieties of grasses, 
arranging them so they appear naturally free and grace¬ 
ful, and adding, by way of contrast, a few red pendants 
of the Barberry and some Milk-weed pods that have 
burst into sprays of silver. 
When the cuffs cannot be obtained, shape out of 
pasteboard two circular pieces four inches in diameter ; 
lay them together, and around the edges pierce twenty 
or thirty holes; through these pass straws six inches in 
length, then separate the pieces until the ends of each 
straw extend beyond them but half an inch. 
In the wide space left between run strips of bright 
narrow satin ribbon (say cardinal and old gold, or garnet 
and peacock-blue) in and out the straws, one close upon 
the other, and hide the pasteboard with bits of moss 
and lichen glued fast. 
Finally, having a sharp pen-knife, cut out most 
of the top circle, and the ornament is ready to be 
filled. 
Cast-away berry boxes of the low, square pattern, 
deftly covered with gray Moss, and containing short, 
fine grasses, a flaming autumn leaf and a few delicate 
Ferns look prettily on centre tables, while old Straw¬ 
berry baskets, painted scarlet, varied with a decalco- 
manie border, and full of soft Pussy-willows and 
feathery Clematis, are bright little tilings for brackets 
in sombre corners. 
Many of the high vases standing in the windows are 
often filled with large bunches of grass, but more ap¬ 
propriate than these seem the tall brown Cat-tails, the 
rich, velvety, Sumach plumes, and nodding sprays of 
amber Wheat and Oats. 
In the clusters of smaller vases, put a stem of Bitter¬ 
sweet or Alder-berries, a tuft or two of Golden-rod, or 
some crimson Everlastings, for a dainty touch of more 
brilliant color. 
To be sure, these do not come under the head of 
grasses, but they all grow together in that happy sum¬ 
mer-time, now almost forgotten “mid the snowing and 
the blowing and the cruel sleet.” — Selected. 
