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In most cases of herbs one or the other way will be found possible. 
If not, fruit must be collected later, as in the case of shrubs and 
trees, of which generally only a branchlet with flowers, or flowers 
and leaves, can be gathered at first; and subsequently the fruit and 
mature leaves, which should be taken from the same individual as 
the flowers. 
A. specimen should be so arranged as to be no larger when 
pressed than can be neatly mounted on the common size of American 
herbarium paper, 163 by 114 inches. This may not be the best size 
of mounting paper that could have been selected for. a common 
standard, yet inasmuch as it has been adopted by most of the lead- 
ing botanists. and colleges of the country for their herbariums, it 
would be well if all American botanists at least should conform to 
this standard. Its general adoption would probably facilitate ex- 
changes and contribute to an advantageous disposal of private 
collections when the owners thereof have finished their botanical 
careers; or in other words it would probably do much to prevent 
at that time the breaking up and often the total waste of such private 
and local collections,—frequently of high intrinsic value and gathered 
together with care, patience, assiduity and perchance much expense, 
—and facilitate their incorporation with the permanent herbariums 
connected with our societies, schools and colleges. 
Herbaceous plants not over three or four feet in height should 
generally be preserved entire, root and all. This can be done by 
bending or breaking—not entirely off—at one, two or three places. 
If broken twice it may be arranged something like a capital N, 
when put in portfolio. Very large plants will have to be divided 
and preserved separately; or, better still, take a convenient portion 
of the upper stem having leaves, flowers and fruit, with a sufficient 
part of the lower stem containing lower leaves, and root enough to 
show whether annual, biennial or perennial. Thick roots, tubers, 
bulbs, etc., should be pared down, but in such a manner that their 
original shape can be easily determined. Good typical specimens 
and of average size should be selected as representatives in the 
herbarium ;—although overgrown and dwarf specimens, as well as 
sports and abnormal grdwths are of value to the physiological 
botanist, and if peculiarly striking should be carefully preserved. 
The variation from the specific type which many plants show opens 
a wide and interesting field for careful investigation and merits the. 
thoughtful attention of every intelligent observer. 
- It will be found an excellent plan for the collector to keep a 
record of the time of flowering and fruiting of the different plants 
and when the best specimens may be obtained in his vicinity. This 
will be found of great help to him in following seasons. Seasons 
may vary much in regard to earliness, as for example, the fore part 
of the floral season of 1878 in Dutchess County was three weeks 
earlier than in 1877, that being perhaps an average season in this 
region ; yet, if the collector knows the relative time of flowering or 
stages of growth of a group of plants the previous year, and now 
ascertains the time when one or more of them are in the same stage 
_ of bloom as then, he will have no difficulty in telling quite accurately — 
