396 
TIIE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
on the line for the purpose of allowing the rubber to 
harden before attempting to fasten any more. Now 
take a second ball and proceed as before, continuing to 
apply the silks to some ten or twelve balls before going 
back to complete the first one, which by this time has 
become hardened. After the balls are covered with 
silks, and the rubber has thoroughly hardened, they are 
placed in lukewarm water to soak out the gum; they are 
then hung up in a warm room for a day or so till the silks 
expand and form into the beautiful globes of Milk-weed 
silks. Another method is to fasten the moistened Milk¬ 
weed silks one by one to the wire with a fine thread. 
If the silks are first neatly arranged in piles, each pile 
to constitute the number that is intended for a ball, 
much time will be saved. Care should be taken to have 
the ends of the silk even, the thread being wound over 
and over and not extended up and down the wire; the 
silks, when thus fastened, will resemble a brush, but 
after hanging in a heated room or in the sun they will 
fluff out and expand into a sphere of shining silken 
texture. 
These Milk-weed balls can be tinted in various colors 
with analine dyes. A. W. Roberts. 
CHRISTMAS IN OLDEN TIME. 
, ND well our Christian sires of old 
Loved when the year its course 
had rolled, 
And brought blithe Christmas 
back again, 
With all its hospitable train. 
Domestic and religious rite 
Gave honor to the holy night; 
On Christmas eve the bells were 
rung; 
On Christmas eve the mass was 
sung; 
That only night in all the year, 
Saw the stoled priest the chalice 
rear. 
The damsel donned her kirtle 
sheen; 
The hall was dressed with Holly 
green; 
Forth to the wood did merry- 
men go, 
To gather in the Misletoe. 
Then opened wide the baron’s hall 
To vassal, tenant, serf, and all; 
Power laid his rod of rule aside, 
And ceremony doffed his pride; 
The heir, with Roses in his shoes, 
That night might village partner choose; 
The Lord, underogating, share 
The vulgar game of “post and pair.” 
All hailed with uncontrolled delight 
And general voice the happy night 
That to the cottage, as the crown 
Brought tidings of salvation down. 
The fire, with well-dried logs supplied, 
Went roaring up the chimney wide; 
The huge hall table’s oaken face, 
Scrubbed till it shone the day to grace, 
Bore then upon its massive board 
No mark to part the squire and lord; 
Then was brought in the lusty brawn 
By old blue-coated serving-man; 
Then the grim boar’s head frowned on high, 
Crested with Bays and Rosemary. 
Well can the green-garbed ranger tell 
How, when, and where the monster fell; 
What dogs before his death he tore, 
And all the baiting of the boar. 
The wassail round, in good brown bowls, 
Garnished with ribbons, blithely trowls, 
There the huge sirloin reeked; hard by 
Plum-porridge stood, and Cliristmas-pie, 
Nor failed old Scotland to produce 
At such high tide, her savory goose. 
Then came the merry maskers in; 
And carols roared with blithsome din, 
If unmelodious was the song, 
It was a hearty note, and strong. 
Who lists may in their murmuring see 
Traces of ancient mystery; 
White skirts supplied the masquerade. 
And smutted cheeks the visors made; 
But, oh ! what maskers, richly dight, 
Can boast of bosoms half so light ? 
England was merry England, when 
Old Christmas brought his sports again. 
’Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale ! 
’Twas Christmas told the merriest tale ; 
A Christmas gambol oft could cheer 
The poor man’s heart through half the year. 
—Sir Walter Scott. 
A CHRISTMAS VIOLET. 
Three o’clock in the afternoon it was, and the snow 
lay several inches deep on the ground in the city of 
Baltimore. A young man walked briskly up Eutaw 
Street, and picked his way carefully across the open 
end of the market-place on Lexington. It was a busy 
•scene; for all day long the market had been crowded, 
•and large carts were backed up to the pavement for 
two blocks, and the sidewalks were lined with dealers 
in fruits, flowers, and knick-knacks of every imaginable 
description. Along the great market building, for 
hundreds of feet, the three aisles were well filled, and, 
in fact, crowded with venders arranging their stands 
for the evening, and with purchasers carrying baskets 
and bundles. 
