249. Put three raw beans in your mouth, go out of doors, stand in front of some one’s window and listen. The first man’s name you hear spoken will be either that of your future husband or of the one having the same name.
Salem, Mass.
250. If a piece of brush or brier sticks to the dress, name it. If it drops, the lover is false; if it sticks, he is true.
Northern Ohio.
251. Blow seeds from the dandelion until none remain, counting each puff as a letter of the alphabet; the letter which ends the blowing is the initial of the name of the person the blower marries.
252. Rub your hands in sweet fern. The first one you shake hands with afterward is your true love.
253. Wear a piece of fern in the toe of your shoe, and the first person you meet you will marry.
New Hampshire.
254. Take a live-forever leaf, squeeze it to loosen the inner and outer skin. If it makes a balloon as you blow into it, you will be married and live a long time. If it does not, you will be an old maid.