102 ON DRYING SPECIMENS OF FLOWERS. 



(as frequently they do), the hest mode of expelling them is hy n gentle 

 application of lime-water, or a weak mixture of soap-suds and tobacco 

 liquid, being cautious to have the whole syringed off with soft water 

 early the following morning. 



ARTICLE V. . 



ON DRVING SPECIMENS OF FLOWERS. 



BY T. W., WALTON NURSERY, LIVERPOOL. 



Having in the number of the Cabinet for February last seen a query 

 by one of your numerous correspondents, concerning the best method 

 of drying and preserving wild plants and flowers ; and being rather 

 surprised that so simple a question was not answered in the number 

 for the present month, I have been induced (though a perfect stranger 

 to public writing) to answer the question to the best of my abilities. 

 I beg to observe, that most of the works on botany of the present day 

 contain ample directions on the subject required. The most simple 

 and the most efficacious method for general purposes is, drying them 

 in books. Any person who can command a few heavy volumes may 

 dry plants sufficient to stock an ordinary herbarium in a short time. 



Let the specimens be gathered when perfectly dry, and placed in 

 a tin box till brought home. Have some good blotting paper in readi- 

 ness, get your books, and place the "specimens between two pieces of 

 blotting paper in a neat and regular manner, taking care that the 

 petals and leaves are expanded in their proper position. Place them 

 in the books, rather far apart, then lay the books one on another, and 

 they will need no further trouble than looking over every three or 

 four days, for the first three weeks. If any dampness is detected, the 

 blotting paper must be immediately changed, and the specimen placed 

 in a fresh part of the book. This method answers admirably well for 

 plants in general. I am often agreeably surprised to find in most of 

 my books specimens which I chanced to pick up on a walk, and which 

 were laid by and forgotten, preserved in the most beautiful manner. 



Having frequently experienced the difficulty of drying such plants 

 as Echinopsis, Dipsacus, &c, owing to their globular heads, and that 

 many of our most delicate plants were frequently pressed to a mass 

 by the common method, I shall now describe that which I have 

 practised with such specimens for several years. I get a quantity of 



