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I F one would 
A turn to 
M other 
N a- 
t u r e ’ s s t 
ore- 
house at 
this 
season 
she 
would be 
sur- 
prised at the 
abundance 
a n d 
variety 
that 
there awaits the 
purchaser. 
Of- 
ten the products 
of the e c 
1 r t h 
which to 
you 
are very 
com- 
m 0 n p 1 a c e 
be- 
cause of 
your 
familiarity 
with 
them will 
be a 
delight to 
those 
living in 
other 
parts of 
the 
countr y 
who 
have never 
seen 
them. 
<?/T7 em&fan cer/7om f/ie lfof'/c9j ^af(9en 
A VARIETY OF INEXPENSIVE GIFTS FROM DISTANT 
SECTIONS OF THE COUNTRY 
Mary Hamilton Talbott 
Few mountain dwellers in the South realize how cov¬ 
eted are the scarlet galax leaves which they hardly notice, 
yet they are found in but two or three places in the world ; 
think how prized would be a wreath of them, or some of 
the rare winter mosses and ferns, a barrel of holly or 
mistletoe, all of which are so abundant in these regions. 
Chinquapins are unknown to many a Northern girl and 
boy, and only an occasional one has ever seen a cotton 
boll. South Carolina is the only State in the Union where 
tea is grown; a package of this would surely be a novelty. 
Kumquats, limes, guaves, do not seem like Christmas gifts 
to those who live in Florida, yet their friends in many an 
inland town of the North hardly know them. Alliga¬ 
tor pears are uncommon in many places, and almost 
everywhere cost twenty-five cents each. Send a basket 
of them with a few written instructions as to how you 
serve them. Often strange foods are thrown out as 
unpalatable because the recipients do not know how to 
use them. Not one person in a thousand has eaten a 
chayote, but in the Far South it is very common. 
Michigan and all our Northern States abound 
in birch trees; the bark of this is an especial 
treasure. Send a hanging basket made of it, or 
a box fashioned from it and filled with some of 
your best home-made candy. A dozen plain 
slips of this 
bark may go to 
the hostess who 
gives unique 
luncheons, to 
be used as 
place cards; 
your camping 
friends would 
be glad to have 
napkin rings 
made of it. 
Often pieces 
large enough to 
make into scrap 
baskets can be 
found, and these 
are very dainty. 
Have you to 
whom the locust 
thorn is com- 
m o n ever 
thought of a 
thorn as a sti- 
letto? It is 
sharper than any 
and this alone would make your friend who 
appreciate it. A band of silver with her 
silver one, 
embroiders 
initials on it, which can be put on by your local jeweler, 
would give it a more Christmassy air. 
A little girl who lived in Colorado delighted some of 
her Ohio cousins with pinon-nuts and pine gum. The 
queer Indian pottery I had sent me from New Mexico 
will always be treasured. Any of the handicraft of the 
Indians is usually acceptable. Only in Arizona are 
fresh dates procurable; the recipients of a few pounds of 
them could almost imagine themselves in far Egypt. 
The pine district inhabitants love to pile the open fire 
with cones; what a delight to the city cousin if she had a 
bag of them for her grate; a small chunk of the tree in 
the bottom might be labeled “Your Yule Log." The 
ground pines, or lycopodia, are a bonanza in them¬ 
selves ; wreaths and garlands may be made of them, and 
also of the shining, bitter prince's pine, of laurel or of 
Rose hips, bittersweet, partridge berries, black 
or wintergreen berries, may be wound in. By 
taking small twigs and winding one on to the 
other, using light picture wire as binding, the 
wreathing makes very rapid progress. It will 
cost you nothing maybe but the express to send 
(Continued on page 390) 
yew. 
alder 
357 
