self. She has taken to herself two chairs to sit upon at once; for see! there are two cup leaves under this great leaf. Right and left come her own two daughters; she gives each of them a separate chair; but quite at a distance from her must the two uppermost leaves keep themselves her step-daughters content themselves together sorrowfully on one seat. The good God pities the neglected step-daughters, and punishes the wicked step-mother and her own idle daughters. He draws the stem of the blossom round: so now the step-mother has become the lowest, who so gladly was the highest when the stem stood erect. She has a great hump on her back also, and a beard has grown upon both of her own daughters, as a punishment for their pride; so that they are laughed at by all the children who see it. But the despised step-daughters are become the uppermost."

The violet has much more to tell its guests concerning its relations, the variegated little blossoms which men, on account of that story, call step-mother-the pale violet in the wood and in the swamp, and the yellow violet high up there on the Alps-till the sinking sun admonishes the guests upon their departure. They bid it adieu, very much pleased with its narrative.

In this manner day after day passes away, till, on Sunday, the children come to the bushes seeking violets. Full of joy they carry the little flower home, and set it out in the garden, to tend it until it blooms again; or pluck it for a fragrant bouquet, a present to their father and mother.

THE COST OF BUTTING.

THE anecdote of an old ram so pleasantly related in the January number, reminds me of an aged butter who belonged to my father's flock in my youthful days. I must tell you how he got cured of his butting propensities. One day, as he was looking about him after some object worth butting, he espied a boy's cap which was accidentally left hanging, with a piece of gingerbread in it, on the sharp end of a projecting spike. "That 's just the thing," said he to himself. So he made for it, "full tilt." Poor fellow! his aim was too sure. He was impaled on the spike. It entered his brain, and finished his butting forever. And so the bread and butter came in

contact.

W. H. S.

DR. AINSWORTH, who lives in Pennsylvania, has raised a potato

about eight inches in diameter, or as large as a good-sized pumpkin. He believes he will yet grow one as large as a barrel. And how do you suppose he has done it? He took a flower-pot, filled it with earth, planted a common-sized potato, and then filled the earth with carbonic acid gas, and put the flower-pot into an iron vessel, filled with carbonic acid, and covered to prevent the escape of the gas. At the end of six months, he says, the plant reached the height of four feet, and bore a pale blossom. In a week more the pot was split. After taking away the plant, he found a new potato, at the root, eight inches in diameter. By planting this, and treating it in the same manner, he hopes this year to obtain a potato of the size of a barrel. What do my agricultural nephews think about it?

UNCLE FRANK AT THE WEST.

Y your leave, reader, I must tell you something about my rambles in the Western and North-western States and Territories. I left home, on this tour, just as the last sands of winter were running out, according to the almanac, though, in fact, these few sands moved very slowly, and stern old winter had it all his own way for some time afterward.

NIAGARA IN WINTER.

I stopped, on my way to Detroit, to see Niagara in its winter costume. You can not conceive how imposing the Falls look, ornamented with frost-work as they are. Hundreds of icicles, of most gigantic size, hang from the perpendicular cliffs. Some of these icicles I was able to measure. I found one which had fallen down; and by standing near it, I ascertained that its diameter at the base was more than six feet; and from the known height of the banks, I could calculate the length of one of these immense icicles, which was upward of one hundred feet. Think of that, my boy. You have sometimes found one of these beautiful things, hanging from the eaves of the house, which was as long as your arm, and as thick, perhaps, at the largest end. This icicle you regarded as a great curiosity. But the one at Niagara was as long as the whole distance from the ground to a high church spire. Then there were other great wonders about this winter scene. There was a huge mound of ice, just in front of the American Fall, reaching almost to the top of the cliff, and resting on the rocks below, which was five hundred feet in diameter, at its base. The trees, too, all around the Fall, for a great many rods, presented quite a curious appearance. The spray had been wafted by the wind upon their trunks and branches, and the side next the Fall was coated with ice several inches thick. This icy coat seemed like the deep shading which the artist puts into his picture. I crossed the Niagara river on the ice. Don't shudder. It's all over now. I crossed for the first time in the night, with one of the finest full moons in com

pany that you ever saw in your life. Oh, such a charming scene as this full moon lighted up! The ice floor over which I passed was all paved with pearls, formed by the freezing of the spray. To crown all, a rainbow appeared-a lunar rainbow-and was relieved against the clear sky, seeming a rich belt of diamonds. I shall not soon forget my winter pilgrimage to Niagara. I think I never enjoyed a visit there so much before.

THE SUSPENSION-BRIDGE.

The bridge over the Niagara river, built mainly for the passage across it of the cars of the Great Western Railroad, is one of the most remarkable structures of the kind in the world. I think I never saw a work of such great mechanical extent, which seemed to me more perfect. It is what is called a suspension bridge; that is, there are no piers in the middle, but it is held up by strong bundles of wires passing over a high and strong abutment on each shore, and securely fastened in the rock. The bridge hangs on these great bundles of wires. It is very securely braced beside, by iron rods connecting with the rocky cliff, so that you can scarcely perceive, when a large train of cars passes over it, that it moves at all. If you should look out of the window, as you are passing over the bridge, however, I should not blame you for shuddering. It does seem frightful to be passing, with such a heavy load, over a chasm of such depth.

GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD.

This road runs from the Suspension Bridge to Detroit, on the Canadian side. It is an exceedingly well managed road. I was quite surprised to see how nearly they made their time, during that trying period in the winter, when so many railroads were subject to all sorts of irregularities. The country through which the road passes, for the most part, is uninteresting enough. Nature has not been especially lavish in beautifying it; and as for art, she has scarcely been that way, I should fancy. There are tall trees, though, to be seen 'almost all the way, and but for the snow, I suppose some wheat-fields. A great proportion of the inhabitants seem to make their living, directly or indirectly, through the medium of lumber and grain.

THE SPECULATOR IN WHEAT.

It is quite a common thing, you know, for men of great wealth to buy large quantities of wheat in the autumn, soon after it is harvested,