112 THE PLANT WORLD. 



plants still in their white papers transferred to the fresh driers, build- 

 ing up the pile as before. The driers first used will be found to be 

 quite moist and must be dried either by sunlight or artificial heat be- 

 fore they can be used again. In the process of drying a set of plants, 

 the driers must be changed several times, but the same white papers 

 are used throughout and the plants never removed from them. Some 

 collectors do not use a sheet of the thin paper to cover each plant, but 

 it is best to do so, as otherwise many plants will stick to the driers. 

 The second change of driers may come twenty-four hours after the 

 first, the process described above being repeated. Usually one or 

 more changes follow at intervals, being governed by the condition of 

 the plants. When the plants appear fairly dry, they may be left under 

 heavy pressure for some days more, when they will be ready for 

 mounting. 



To many collectors the frequent changing of driers here advo- 

 cated may seem a sheer waste of time, but after having examined a 

 hundred thousand specimens made by a variety of collectors, good, 

 bad and indifferent, I repeat with emphasis that the more frequently 

 the driers are changed, especially during the first two days of drying, 

 the better will be the specimens resulting. I am aware that specimens 

 can be made by merely placing plants between driers under sufficient 

 weight and forgetting all about them until they are needed, but such 

 specimens, while they may answer for the identification of a species, 

 are good for nothing else. The leaves have turned brown or yellow 

 and the delicate tints of the flower have faded. By the other method 

 it is possible to retain the colors of even many parasitic plants which 

 the botanist has declared are foreordained to blacken in drying. 



I may be pardoned for giving a word to the drying of the driers, 

 for there is a knack in doing even this. At best the spreading out 

 and picking up of many driers is a back-breaking labor, and anything 

 that will lighten this is worth attention. With some collectors it is 

 the practice to cut the driers twice as large as needed and fold them 

 once, making what is equivalent to two driers joined together by one 

 of the long sides This can easily be hung over a line, or even set 

 up on an end to dry. In the long run, however, it will doubtless be 

 found easier to cut the driers of the usual size, and dry by spreading 

 out in the sunshine. If one selects a level space which is already 

 warmed by the sun's rays, he may spread down two driers at a time 

 and both will dry in the course of three hours. If care is taken to put 

 down the second pair of driers so that they just overlap the first, the 

 third slightly overlapping the second and so on, like the shingles on a 

 house, when the time comes to take them up, instead of picking each 

 up separately, it is only necessary to begin at number one and with a 



