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THE RURAL HEW-YORKER 
upon white paper, the high lights are made by 
leaving it uncovered; it upon tinted, they are put 
In with a few judicious touches ot white crayon,— 
not many, or the whole effect will be gray and 
chalky. 
Crayon-drawing Is most exquisite, and some ot 
the productions of the artist, on crayon are equal to 
fine oil paintings. Yet any one who can draw' well 
In pencil ought to do Just as well In crayon, making 
very pretty little sketches and beautiful heads. 
Black crayons come In three grades of hardness, 
and cost, seven cents for three—white ones, each 
five cents. Whatman’s tinted papers, In sott. grays 
and buffs arid greens, are fifteen cents a sheet, 
each one being very nearly half a yard square A 
stump, resembling a gray paper cigar, la ten cents; 
but you may be able to do without It. There Is 
also a crayon-holder, but the brass tube ou the top 
of a pen or pencil will answer the purpose. If you 
want any such contrivance at all. 1 never used 
one. 
The outline Is generally drawn with pencil or 
prepared charcoal, which Is easy to work with, as 
It rubs out so readily. Crayon does not rub out, 
but makes a ruinous smear. (By the way. crayon¬ 
drawing Is about the dirtiest work any woman can 
do. It Is necessary to have a hast a ot water and a 
towel close at hand to be used every other minute, 
or else an Inadvertent touch may spoil former a 
most beautiful creation, the labor of months.) As 
to shading, It differs little from that required In 
pencil-drawing, except In the completed work the 
lozenges may be larger and more apparent. Then, 
too, It Is not possible with the point, of the crayon 
to blend as perfectly, hence this Is done with the 
little Anger, and the stump, or a crumpled hunch 
of coarse paper taking its place. Iti other words, 
hand corner generally receives the greatest amount 
of darkness—though this rule is far from Invariable. 
But observe lights and shadows—their rorm. direc¬ 
tion and Intensity—in nature, even while you are 
Imitating set models, so that by the time you are 
able to Invent you will have learned how to flnlsfri 
agreeably and correctly. 
Tho manner of putting In the shading differs 
with r he strength and habit and degree of delicacy 
not quite equilateral. Draw each of these lines, 
putting In the little curves according to the model, 
and then with your gauge measure each and the 
space between them, and see how nearly they cor¬ 
respond to the original- It la advisable never to 
erase a mark If It can be helped; hut If It can’t, 
that is, If you need to alter, the case Is different. 
Make corrections until you are perfectly satisfied,— 
and don’t be surprised If this should take you 
THE FARMER’S LESSON 
If I had told her in the spring 
The old. old fltory briefly. 
When sparrow and robin began to eing, 
And the ploughing was over chiefly 1 
But haste makes waste, * nd the story sweet, 
I reasoned, will keep through the mowing, 
Till I drop the corn and plant the wheat. 
And give them a chance fur growing 
Had I even told the tale in June, 
When the wind through tho grass was blowing 
Instead of thinking it rather too soon. 
And waiting till after the mowing. 
Or had I hiuted, out under the stars, 
That I knew a story worth hearing. 
Lingering to put up the pasture bars, 
Nor waited to do the shearing! 
Now the barn is full, and so is the bin. 
But I have grown wise without glory. 
Since love 1s the crop not gathered in— 
For my neighbor told her the story ! 
EDITORIAL NOTES 
Any ladles who may have failed to receive pat¬ 
terns ordered from this office wUl confer a favor by 
dropping me a postal card, stating number of pat¬ 
tern, bust measure, and date on which It was or¬ 
dered. 
Linda Herbert.—I would advise you to watt for 
two or three weeks before purchasing a cloak, 
by that time the storekeepers will close out their 
stock at low rates. 
Miss L.—Pretty photographs 36x28 can be bought 
as low as T5c. and $1, and beaut If id imported photo¬ 
graphs, a little smaller In size, cost ft.76, Many 
houses sell off their pictures at much lower rates 
than those given above, just after the holidays. A 
handsome natural wood frame costs $2.50 In New 
York, 
TEA-TABLE COVER 
The finished cover Is shown In No. 1. The center 
Is art canvas, embroidered with crewels. The bor¬ 
der Is composed of alternate squares of guipure 
netting and embroidered art canvas, as shown In 
Nos. 2 and 3, and a fringe with -a heading of drawn 
threads, ornamented with long stitches in crewel, 
as shown In the design, No, 4. The hinge and the 
border of squares are. separated by a narrow border, 
as shown at No. 6. The different parts are sewn 
together, and the cover lined with art canvas or 
silk, according to taste. Directions for Crewel- 
Work were given In a late number of the Rural, 
and Guipure Netting will be given in a week or 
two. 
of every Individual hand. Some draughtsmen make 
a vast number of crossing lines of different degrees 
of heaviness, describing infinitely small lozenges; 
some make similar lozenges, with scattered lines 
running through them, up and down or from side 
to side; still others, blend their lines in no particu¬ 
lar fashion. The only rule Is, taste and practice, 
and this, too. Is after all, tho only rule for drawing. 
Continue as you have begun until you can copy 
little scenes, first, by developing all the. lines from 
the starting point, and trying their correctness by 
measurement, and then by lightness and heaviness 
of touch working In all the lights and shadows, un¬ 
til you can sketch from nature; first, by outlining 
a number of objects on a reduced scale and In true 
proportion, and then, by finishing them according 
as the brightness and darkness actually appear to 
you. 
If you wish to draw from a large picture, in which 
the multitude of lines and variety of distances 
might contuse you, the work can be facilitated as 
follows: Rule over the surface of It a number of 
horizontal and perpendicular lines, every two lines 
running In the name direction being exactly th» 
same distance apart, so that the whole pattern Is 
LETTERS FROM A COUNTRY GIRL.-No. 10 
the fashion at the present time. If a tiny crayon 
head has a white mat around It, the beauty may 
be heightened by a few bright Illuminations In 
water colors upon t he margin, and then a flat hand 
of dead gold will frame it fittingly. But Dever de¬ 
grade your lovely effort by associating with It a 
cheap stained affair suggesting a staring litho¬ 
graph, nor load it down with a cumbersome gilt 
appendage, appropriate for the ancient portrait of 
your great-grandmother. 
LADIES, LEARN TO DRAW. 
MARGARET B. HARVEY 
Incidentally througnoui my icuers i in¬ 
ferred to the advantages of possessing a knowl¬ 
edge of drawing. 1 fully believe that, scattered 
over our hillsides and hidden within our valleys 
are hundreds of girls and women dowered with a 
dormant power to copy or create, yet who feel that 
this one little gift, can never be brought to light be¬ 
cause no one has told them what to do. With the 
humble hope that what I say may be of some 
value, 1 assert first, that It Is not nearly so diffi¬ 
cult to become proficient with the pencil as Is gen¬ 
erally supposed. Of course, high art Is one thing, 
—but ordinary delineation and shading, with satts- 
fnotorv results, are within the reach of all who are 
i'itcrati) Ulistfllang 
GONE 
Gone with its Joys, its hopes, its fears. 
Gone with its smiles, gone with its tears, 
One move link to the chain of years. 
Another year has gone. 
Gsne with its wenry toils, its strife. 
Gone with its sorrowfu' record rife 
Of broken vows and wasted life. 
Another year haa none. 
Gone with a sigh, gone with a groan 
From hearts fuli of sorrow unknown, 
Wafted up to the Great White Throne, 
Another year has gone. 
Gone perchance with a few bright days 
Found in hidden paths and ways, 
Mingliug with Joyous notes of praise, 
Auother year has gone. 
Gone to its rest; tt sleeps at last, 
D iwn. deep iu tho vault of the Past, 
Where the years lie, iu number vast. 
Another year has gone. 
80 easily. Then she wants one oi raoct » ^ 
pencils, such as are sold for every day use, ami a ||||U 
diamond rubber After a learner has acquired a Rigs £ glare 
degree or skill It is time enough to think about MfiSW 
Whatman’s fine tinted papei-s and Faber’s cases of 
polygrade pencils.—though 1 have seen very cred- * fepft 
liable drawings by young persons who never had g||| * 
Pl T would now get a light, smooth piece ot pine £23 J 
board of a size suitable to bold on the lap, or real 3^3 J |4 
on the edge of a table, or lay fiat, on a sllghih £Fi3| « 
sloping desk, as most convenient. Then I would | 
spread my paper fiat upon It. pushing a tack into £$2® * S 
each comer to keep it firm and smooth. I aoks tor ||BgS M Ma¬ 
this purpose, can be procured at any store for the hIsISmj® 
sale of artiste’ materials, at the rate of about a tBwjirc KS&H 
cent apiece,—they have sharp points and large ggjHgB 
brass button-heads and. sink Into the wood easily |||||g 3!55!i 
apon pressure with the thumb. A set of four may FUf’f* 
be used a long time. Pyjfrf it »j9a 
I would not be too ambitious at first, neither WMff U 
would l be too trilling. 1 would not attempt to gpw 1*1 
draw my father’s barn, nor would 1 begin on is && jSntia 
straight lines, but 1 would try something simple, g jjlWEskS 
yet giving me an opportunity to see what 1 was do- g 
ing. For Instance, my fair friends, lake the out R j|{S | y £ 
Une of a leaf, or the figure of an animal as given In ± 5 * 
the columns of the Rural. Judge by your eye lww jjj 5jg «] fg|g 
to arrange your lines so as to have your work lit gj 
the middle of the paper, and begin at. top or Dot- £ 
tom or side or corner, suit, yourself as to where 
you choose your starting-point. Only having ink- 
en one, let every line bear upon It, and be capable v 
of being tested by measurements from It, 
It is well to have little strips ot paper lor gauges. 1 
I will suppose that, you are attempting to draw an dark shades 
ivy loaf, and have commenced at the extremity, , that the part 
WHAT HAPPENED TO SEVEN GIRLS IN 
TEN YEARS. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
Once upon a time In the city of Richmond, Va., 
(to be exact. It was upon New Year’s Day. 1S67,) sLx 
girls sat on the floor around a stove In a comfort¬ 
ably furnished room that served as bedroom and 
sitting-room to two of the number—Mary Walter 
and Zethrea Raynor. The names of the other girls, 
respectively, were Martha and Mary Cake (.for short 
they were called •* the cookies''), who were sisters, 
and Cornelia Jaynes and Mary Roswell. The sev¬ 
enth girl—tor they “were seven”—Merey Biddle, 
was “up North,” tn Maine, her native state, beg¬ 
ging her people for money for the Normal School 
building, which was to bo for the accommodation 
of colored pupils In the capital city of Virginia. 
The sLx girls, as I have already remarked, sat on 
the floor around a stove; a wood fire was burning 
brightly within It; each maiden had her hands 
clasped about her knees; the twilight was begin¬ 
ning to gather, but the loose tongues, which had 
** -- 1 t - 
angle of forty-five degrees, so that the lower right- 
