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FIELD BOTANY 



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Edited by Dr. H. A. Gleason, Urbana, 111. 



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It is at this season of the year that the field worker begins 

 to look forward to another season of out-of-door activity and 

 to lay plans for a new campaign. Judging from the letters that 

 have come in to this department, it seems that many of its 

 readers are preparing to make a collection of plants, and it is 

 to them that these suggestions are especially directed. 



There are all sorts of presses that may be used, from a 

 piece of board with a rock on it to the elaborate frames offered 

 for sale by several firms. There is no need of using as cum- 

 brous affair as the former, or of paying two or three dollars 

 for the latter, when an expenditure of a few cents will make a 

 press more satisfactory than either. 



The theory of pressing plants is simple; the plant is flat- 

 tened so that it ocupies less space, and is held in that position 

 until it is dry. The press must be designed to serve efficiently 

 for both purposes of flattening and drying. The old-fashioned 

 method of using weights is simple and has the advantage of 

 subjecting the plants always to a uniform amount of pressure, 

 but it is unwieldy and clumsy and in its usual form retards the 

 drying process. Straps buckled around a press are light, but 

 are adjustable only to certain buckle-holes. They also wear 

 out rather quickly and are comparatively expensive. The 

 press here described has the advantage of cheapness, lightness, 

 and ease of operation. It has been in constant use by myself 

 for eight years, and everyone who has tried it has adopted it. 



Provide some lath or, better, the dressed strips used for 

 making lattices, about 1>4 inches wide by ^ inch thick. Cut 



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