176 BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 



botanical studies, are desirous of knowing sometliing more of the 

 plants they collect than the mere colours of their blossoms. The 

 directions we shall give will be those which we follow in our own 

 practice, but they are, of course, subject to all the modifications 

 which the taste or means of the individual may suggest. 



In the first place you must get your plants ; this is a work for all 

 seasons, and not an amusement for summer merely. The most 

 exquisite specimens of mosses and lichens are only to be obtained in 

 the winter, and are in their highest perfection during sharp frosty 

 weather. To know the best spots and situations for particular tribes 

 of plants must be a matter of experience ; but, at commencing, the 

 student will do well to coUect plants of a dry woody texture, as ferns, 

 heaths, grasses, and mosses. They should always be collected, if 

 possible, in dry weather, as the trouble of preparing is increased ten- 

 fold if they are gathered wet with rain; this, of course, cannot always 

 be ensured, and it will often happen that choice specimens may be 

 obtained during unfavourable weather, when it might not be con- 

 venient to visit the same spot on more favourable occasions. The 

 moment a plant is obtained, the process of drying should be com- 

 menced ; for this purpose it will be necessary to have a collecting 

 box. These are usually made of tin, and may be purchased at the 

 herbalists' shops. We have always used a box made of milled-board, 

 covered with leather, and furnished with suitable fastenings, after the 

 fashion of a small portmanteau. The larger the box the better, as 

 the specimens can then be placed in it, root and stem entire, without 

 breaking. Convenience of transit, however, will not admit the use of 

 a box so large as many plants require ; the size we have found most 

 convenient, both for facility of carriage and for preservation of the 

 specimens, is about eighteen inches in length by eight in width, and 

 about six inches deep. Before starting from home the box should be 

 about half filled with strips of dry blotting, or coarse sugar-paper, cut 

 to fit it, and several pieces of cardboard covered also with blotting- 

 paper. A strong pocket-book, with some pieces of blotting-paper, 

 will also be found very useful for small and choice plants. A strong 

 pruning -knife will answer aU purposes for cutting and digging up. 

 When you determine on taking up a plant, look carefuUy about for 

 the most neat and perfect specimen, and then dig it up carefully, and 

 with the root as entire as possible. It is impossible to get more than 

 a small portion of the roots of some trailing and creeping plants, but, 



