Reba H. wished to know if any correspondent had seen peach-trees blooming in September. I never saw peach-trees in blossom at that season, but we once had two pear-trees that blossomed in October.
I take great pleasure in reading Young People. I am eleven years old.
Josie B. G.
Darlington Heights, Virginia.
I was very much interested in the account of sumac gathering in Young People No. 51, and I thought you would like to know how it is done here in Prince Edward County.
The work of gathering begins in June, and lasts until some time in August. It is gathered here before it turns red, and the berries are not gathered at all. If the berries are mixed with the leaves and twigs, it is worthless, and it is worth very little anyway, as the price is only fifty or seventy-five cents a hundred pounds. There are two kinds of sumac, the male and female; the former is what the merchants want, but the negroes often try to cheat, for it is very hard to tell the difference between the two kinds when the sumac is dry. They do not dry it in a house, but lay it on the ground in the sun for about two days, and then leave it in the shade of the trees for about a week longer.
Harry J.
Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania.
I live among the hills of Pennsylvania, where they get out great quantities of coal and sand. We have glass factories in our town, and it is so nice to see them make glass! We have a boat-yard here, too, and when the boats are launched we can get on them. It is a big slide when the boat goes into the river.
I am nine years old, and send greeting to Harper's Young People. I tuck it under my pillow every night.
Mabel M.