THE MAKING OF AN HERBARIUM. 

 By Willard N. Clutc. 



SECOND PAPER DRYING. 



AFTER a day in the field the collector may return much fatigued, 

 but if he would have good specimens no time should be lost 

 in getting his plants into the drying-press. To allow them to 

 remain in the collecting-press for any length of time is to run 

 the risk of making inferior specimens. The drying-press being de- 

 signed to remove the moisture from the plants, it follows that the 

 press which will do this with the least expenditure of time and labor on 

 the part of the collector is to be preferred. The form most commonly 

 used is essentially like the collecting-press, except that it contains 

 sheets of thick bibulous paper instead of the thin collecting sheets. 

 It may be remarked here, that since the object is to rapidly absorb the 

 moisture, any bibulous paper, such as blotting paper or pads made of 

 old newspapers, will do; but the kind favored by botanists is the ma- 

 terial sold in the shops under the name of "deadening felt " or " felt 

 paper," and used by house-builders for a variety of purposes. It is 

 placed on the market in rolls, each of which contains a strip 150 feet 

 long and three feet wide and costs about $1.50. Any large paper or 

 hardware store should have it. The driers should be 12 by 18 inches 

 in size. The roll cuts to this size without waste, giving three hundred 

 driers, which will usually be found sufficient for drying the plants col- 

 lected about home. 



When the driers are ready for the plants, the collecting-press is 

 opened, two driers are laid on some level surface, as a floor or table, 

 and upon these the first plant is laid, being lifted from the press upon 

 its collecting sheet, the plant itself not being handled. Over the 

 plant is then placed a sheet of the collecting paper, and upon this two 

 more driers and then another plant, building up the pile in this way 

 as high as desired. If this work has been properly performed, each 

 plant will now be lying upon a sheet of white paper, covered by a 

 sheet of similar material and separated from the next plant by two 

 driers. Upon this pile sufficient weight should be placed to insure 

 that the plants will dry perfectly flat. If it is desired to re-arrange 

 any of the plants upon their collecting sheets, or to straighten out 

 leaves, petals, etc., it should be done while putting the plants in press. 

 When the process of drying has once begun, the plants should not be 

 disturbed. 



In twelve hours after the plants have been put in press, the 

 weights should be removed, a supply of fresh driers obtained, and the 



