270 
folio should be made while transferring to the home press, as _ they 
will then be found sufficiently collapsed to be managed easily. For 
picking at the leaves and flowers in arranging specimens, there is 
nothing much better than a quill tooth-pick. 
After the specimens have been arranged and the driers changed, 
they should be returned to the press and a heavier weight placed 
upon them. Some writers advise pressing lightly at first and grad- 
ually increasing the pressure, but my experience is in favor of quite 
the opposite course. As soon as the specimens have been putin 
order, I find it best to place the plants at once under strong press- 
ure—as heavy as they are to receive at any time. In the case of 
the Sedges and Grasses very little pressure should be used ; from 10 
to 25 lbs., is amply sufficient. 
To have specimens retain their atura/ness in color, form and 
appearance, we repeat, they should be dried as rapidly as possible, 
_and the best way to secure this result is by frequent changing of the 
driers. The driers should be changed at least once a day for the 
first four or five days, and afterwards every other day until the spec- 
imens are cured,—which in most plants will be in about a week. 
While good specimens can be made by this treatment, I would rec- 
ommend changing oftener for the first day or two, as thereby a 
marked improvement will be gained. The first day with Grasses, 
Sedges and their allies, and the first two days with most other plants, 
are of more importance in drying than all the subsequent time. As | 
an acute botanist pertinently remarks: “‘ Two or even three changes 
of the driers during the first 24 hours will accomplish more than a 
dozen changes after the lapse of several days. The most perfect | 
preservation of the beautiful colors of some Orchids which I have ever 
seen was effected by heating the driers and changing them every two 
hours during the first day.” 
The using of heated driers I have found a very efficient aid in 
my plant drying. I employ them whenever possible in my work, 
and, as a factor in making fine specimens, changing with heated drt- 
ers should be placed next in value to freguent changing. ‘This heat- 
ing is very simple. Spread the damp driers out in the sunshine, and 
when dry bring them in hot and make changes at once. It is sur- 
prising to see what a marked effect these heated driers have upon 
fresh or stubborn specimens, and how quickly they cause them to 
yield to their potent influence. Of course driers heated by the fire 
or by flat-irons answer equally the same purpose. — Ao 
The period required to dry specimens varies with different spe- 
cies and with the season; it will depend also on the frequency of the 
changes and the temperature of the driers. The time is usually from 
four days to a week, while a few plants require even longer. But 
with two changes a day for the first day or two and heated ‘driers 
the specimens may be dried in fully half their usual time, and in 
better condition. Consequently, it will be seen that the special 
attention recommended during their early period in drying does not, 
in the aggregate, make any additional labor, but rather Jess, for by 
it the plants are much sooner dried, , 
One of the most difficult of American plants that have come 
me | 
