As by the fire the lovers sit,
On rosy wings the moments flit;
One little word confirms their bliss,
And seals it with a loving kiss.
That bliss they never could sustain
Without my second's golden grain;
Yet if it does attend their feet,
Their daily walk is incomplete.
My whole leaps forth from out the flame,
Airy and light, but still the same;
Showing a hard and common thing
Made pure and white through suffering.
THE USEFUL SUNFLOWER.
In Southwestern Russia, between the Baltic and the Black seas, the sunflower is universally cultivated in fields, gardens, and borders, and every part of the plant is turned to practical account. A hundred pounds of the seeds yield forty pounds of oil, and the pressed residue forms a wholesome food for cattle, as also do the leaves and the green stalks, cut up small, all being eagerly eaten. The fresh flowers, when a little short of full bloom, furnish a dish for the table which bears favorable comparison with the artichoke. They contain a large quantity of honey, and so prove an attraction to bees. The seeds are a valuable food for poultry; ground into flour, pastry and cakes can be made from them; and boiled in alum and water, they yield a blue coloring matter. The carefully dried leaf is used as tobacco. The seed receptacles are made into blotting-paper, and the inner part of the stalk into a fine writing-paper; the woody portions are consumed as fuel, and from the resulting ash valuable potash is obtained. Large plantations of them in swampy places are a protection against intermittent fever.
A NAUGHTY LITTLE DOG.
"You bad dog, you's done gone tore my bes' bunnit mos' to pieces. I's a big min' to gib you a whippin' that you'll 'member. Yes, I has."