346 
RURAL HOURS. 
then tliere are other difficulties in the necessary studies : three or 
four weeks at the utmost are all that is allowed to the painter from 
year to year ; and from one autumn to another he may almost 
persuade himself that he was deceived in this or that tint, pre- 
served by his sketches. In short, to become a superior and 
faithful painter of autumn in this country, must require a course 
of study quite peculiar, and prolonged over half a lifetime. Still, 
some landscape Rubens or Titian may yet, perhaps, arise among 
us, whose pencil shall do full justice to this beautiful and peculiar 
subject. 
Independently of this higher branch of art, one would gladly 
see the beauty of our autumnal foliage turned to account in many 
other ways ; as yet it has scarcely made an impression upon the 
ornamental and useful arts, for which it is admirably adapted. 
What beautiful arabesques might be taken from our forests, when 
in brilliant color, for frescoes or paper-hangings ! What patterns 
for the dyer, and weaver, and printer ; what models for the arti- 
ficial-flower makers and embroiderers ; what designs for the richest 
kind of carpeting ! Before long, those beautiful models which fill 
the land every autumn, must assuredly attract the attention they 
deserve from manufacturers and mechanics ; that they have not 
already done so, is a striking proof of our imitative habits in every- 
thing of this kind. Had the woods about Lyons been filled Avith 
American maples and creepers, we may rest assured that the 
shops in Broadway and Chestnut street would long since have 
been filled with ribbons, and silks, and brocades, copied from 
them. 
Wednesday, 18th. — Rainy, mild. The woods, alas ! are begin- 
ning to fade. Many trees are losing something of their vivid 
