see nor touch the other, for the door
prevents.

THE COW PUZZLE.

Tell the company that seven cows were walking in a straight line into a
narrow door, and say to them, "If you should ask the last cow, 'How many
pairs of horns are before you?' what would she reply?"

Some will answer, "One pair," and some, "Seven pairs," but after
puzzling them for a while, you can reply, "In the opinion of most
scientists, she would not say anything, for she could not speak, poor
thing!"

ANOTHER COW PUZZLE.

[Illustration]

Draw a square with a lead-pencil, and say, "Suppose this field was
inclosed with walls fifty feet high, without opening or possibility of
digging under, and a cow was in there, how could you get it out?"

_Answer._--Rub it out.

CHARADE.

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.

[Illustration: A NAUGHTY LITTLE DOG.

"You bad dog, you's done gone tore my