214 FLORA OF WASHINGTON AND VICINITY. 



lections, and awake to the real facts of the case. The portfolio may^ 

 therefore, be quite a rude afi'air. Any paper that is put into it is des- 

 tined to get wet and torn and to require renewal several times a season, 

 and it should, therefore, be cheap. It is always best to take the plants 

 out as soon as possible after returning home. It is not necessary, there- 

 fore, that the paper have great absorbing qualities. It is more impor- 

 tant that it be strong and tough, and this kind is in reality the most 

 economical. Moderately thick and firm manila paper is, therefore, 

 upon the whole recommended. One fact it is important to bear in mind 

 relative to the portfolio. A plant once placed in it should never be 

 allowed to stir afterwards until it is ready to be taken out. If it moves 

 about or drops down upon the back of the portfolio, the leaves and 

 flowers will become so completely wrinkled and disorganized as to be 

 incapable of preservation. The pressure once upon it must not be re- 

 laxed. This has been a source of much difficulty, and several kinds of 

 appliance for obviating it have been devised. Of these the best is prob- 

 ably that of two broad elastic straps from the two outer corners of 

 one side, which can be carried over the leaves in which plants have been 

 placed and attached to a ring at the center of the back by means of a 

 snap. And yet even this form is open to objections. The time required 

 to adjust it, though brief, involves delay in collecting, and it is liable to 

 get out of order. I think it safe to say that practical experience in the 

 majority of cases ultimately leads to the rejection of all such devices. 

 I have myself for several years used nothing but an old book, 16 

 inches long by 10 wide, with some of the leaves left in, which I carry 

 with my hand upon the front edge, holding the covers together. An 

 India-rubber band around both covers is an excellent auxiliary where 

 any considerable interval elapses between the times of collecting speci- 

 mens, and it is often very convenient to put one longitudinally around 

 one of the covers and the leaf next to the last specimen collected, which 

 can remain, and answers the purpose of the elastic straps of the device 

 described above. It may be added that nothing is more convenient 

 than a small pocketful of these rubbers, which, one finds, may be used 

 in a thousand unthought-of ways. 



Besides the portfolio, the trowel, and the glass, a collector should 

 always carry a good knife for trinmiiug branches from trees and shrubs 

 and for many other purposes. He should also have a tape-line, which, 

 for measuring girths, etc., is much better than a rule, and should be ol" 

 the kind that wind up with an internal spring and are not encumbered 



