Part 10 (1/2)

DAISY PETALS.

211. Pull off the ”petals” of a daisy one by one, naming a boy (or a girl as the case may be) at each one, thus, ”Jenny, f.a.n.n.y, Jenny, f.a.n.n.y,” etc.

The one named with the last petal is your sweetheart. The seeds which remain on the back of your hand after taking them up show the number of your children.

212. Common at the present time is the formula:--

He loves me, he loves me not.

213. To tell the fortune, take an ”ox-eye daisy,” and pluck the ”petals”

one by one, using the same words as have been given above for b.u.t.tons.

_General in the United States._

In Ohio and other Western States where the ox-eye daisy is not common, children use instead the bloom of the despised dog-fennel.

214. Fortunes are told by pulling off leaflets of a compound leaf, such as the locust, repeating, ”Rich man, poor man,” etc.

_Central Illinois._

215. Name a daisy, and then pull off the petals (ray-flowers) one by one, saying ”yes, no,” and if ”yes” falls on the last, the person loves you, and _vice versa_.

_Alabama._

216. A formula for daisy petals:--

He loves me, He don't; He'll have me, He won't; He would if he could, But he can't.

_New Brunswick._

217. If you find a five-leaf daisy (that is, one with five ray-flowers) and swallow it without chewing, you will in the course of the day shake hands with your intended.

_Alabama._

218. Another:--

Hate her, Have her, This year, Next year, Sometime, Never.

_New Brunswick._

219. Another:--

He loves, She loves, Hate her, Have her, This year, Next year, Now or never.

_Cape Breton._

Girls repeat the last three lines only of the above rhyme.

_Prince Edward Island._

DOORWAY.

220. Put the breast-bone of a fowl over the front door, and the first one of the opposite s.e.x that enters is to be your future companion.

_Alabama._

221. Hang over the door a corn-cob from which you have sh.e.l.led all but twenty grains. The first man that enters you'll marry.