an illustration that it is not a very simple
accomplishment, it may be mentioned that out of forty young ladies
who came to work on trial for a prominent photographer, he could find
only nine who were suitable to fill positions. The pay for this work
is not very munificent, ranging from $6 to $10 per week.

The retouching, or taking out the marks or spots on negatives, is a
much more difficult branch of work. The pay, however, does not seem to
be as large as it should be, considering the amount of skill required.
Young women receive from $8 to $12 a week. A man doing the same kind
of work, and working the same number of hours, would be paid $16 a
week. There have been cases where ladies have received larger
salaries than the sums just mentioned, but such instances are rare.

The coloring of photographs is the most important, or rather the
highest paid, of the three branches of work that have been mentioned.
It is said that to be successful at this calling one must have some
taste for drawing, and what is commonly called a good eye for color.
Very few photographers employ colorists on a salary, for the reason
that they do not have enough work to keep them constantly employed.
There are probably but eight or ten galleries in New York where
colorists are employed all the year round. The truth is, that it is
not alone necessary to be a good colorist--one must be very good; and
if very good, she can have her studio and take work from the galleries
as well as from private parties. Photograph coloring has come to be
considered as important as portraiture. Another qualification for
success in the work, therefore, should be the rare ability not only
to preserve, but sometimes to make, a likeness.

There is one branch of the picture-making business that has grown to
large proportions within the past fifteen years; it is what is called
the "copying" business. There are many establishments in various
cities of the Union that constantly advertise for agents to collect
pictures. The agent goes through the rural districts, visiting each
dwelling, and inquiring of the inmates if there are any old pictures
of living or deceased friends that they would like to have copied,
enlarged, and colored. In nearly every farm-house there are such
pictures--old daguerreotypes of long-lost aunts, uncles, and
grandfathers, "old-fashioned photographs" of mother, together
with newer photographs of the living taken by the perambulating
picture-taker,