THE MAKING OF AN HERBARIUM. 

 By Willard N. Cliite. 



THIRD PAPER MOUNTING. 



IN no part of herbarium-making have greater improvements been 

 made than in the methods of mounting plants. It was once cus- 

 tomary to place them between folded sheets of paper as in Fig. 3, 

 but by such an arrangement the plants were easily damaged and 

 the labels lost or misplaced, making it impracticable for any herbarium 

 that is frequently consulted. Nowadays, in all herbariums worthy of 

 the name, the plants are mounted on single sheets of paper, to which 

 they are fastened by various means. 



The mounting sheet should always be \\'^2 by i6>^ inches in size. 

 The beginner frequently cannot see the necessity for being so partic- 

 ular about this. For his benefit it may be pointed out that since this 

 size has been adopted by all representative herbariums, plants mounted 

 on paper of other sizes lose much of their value either for sale or 

 exchange, as they cannot readily be incorporated with 

 other collections. When the owner tires of such an 

 herbarium, no one else wants it, while if it consisted 

 of sheets of the standard size, any botanical institution 

 would be glad to preserve it. The mounting sheet 

 may vary in weight from heavy writing paper (unruled) 

 to thin card-board, according to individual taste. The 

 material most used is called ledger paper, from its use 

 in the manufacture of such books. The heaviest grade 

 of this is the one suitable for ordinary plants. Each 

 ream of 500 sheets 11}^ by i6>^ inches should weigh 

 about twenty pounds or more and cost about twenty cents a pound. 

 It is not advisable to use paper lighter than this, and for thick speci- 

 mens, such as the conifers, hickories, etc., light card-board should be 

 used. It is also well to look to the composition of the paper. A 

 paper made of wood-pulp will soon turn brown upon exposure to the 

 light, and is unfit for use. Care should also be taken to select a paper 

 with a firm, hard surface. The price given above is for the best 

 grades of linen rag stock. 



Until very recently it was the practice to fasten the plants to the 

 sheets by strips of gummed paper. A better way has now been de- 

 vised, which consists in gluing them to the sheets. The advantages 

 of the new process are many. It is quicker, neater, holds the plants 

 more firmly, and is believed to preserve them from injury better than 

 any other method. The only objection to it worth considering is that 



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