ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING PLANTS xiii 



coarse, stout, and unsized paper will do, and even old newspapers may be used 

 as a last resource. It is not necessary to buy the specially made grey, absorbent 

 paper, though as it lasts a lifetime it is not expensive in the end. Such drying- 

 paper is supplied in four sizes by Messrs. West, Newman, & Co., of 54, Hatton 

 Garden, London, at is. id. per quire or 155. a ream for the smallest size, which 

 measures 16 x 10 inches when folded. The orthodox paper cannot always be 

 bought when travelling, and in that case it is better to ask the stationer for some 

 of his ordinary rough wrapping-paper. In Italy and France the tough, yellow or 

 grey paper frequently used in grocers' shops will also form quite a good drying- 

 paper. 



Before the specimens are placed in the press they should be examined, and 

 any superfluous branches, leaves, or buds removed, if a fairly flat object cannot 

 be otherwise attained. Roots should have soil or sand shaken from them, and 

 they should be washed if necessary, and dried in a duster. The plant is then laid 

 out as naturally as possible on a sheet of drying-paper, and others are placed by 

 it until the sheet is fairly covered. Several sheets of paper should be placed 

 between this lot and the next, according to the nature of the plants and the thick- 

 ness of the paper ; but the great idea in pressing plants is to dry them quickly, 

 and thus preserve the colour as naturally as possible. The more paper used and 

 the oftener it is changed and dried the better. At first the papers should be dried 

 every day, in the sun or by the fire ; afterwards less often. If the paper is hot, 

 all the better, and a hot iron is often a useful adjunct. The pressure should be 

 light at first, and increased after the first day, but the flowers and delicate leaves 

 of some plants will shrivel if the pressure is not even and adequate. However, 

 many a youthful collector is apt to forget that drying is the chief thing, and that 

 the pressure can be easily overdone. At the first changing of papers the speci- 

 mens can be rearranged while pliable, and superabundant parts removed with 

 scissors. Any stems with broken or ragged ends should also be cut clean. 

 When quite fresh many specimens do not so easily yield to necessary treatment 

 as now. 



Generally it is better to leave plants in the tin, rather than put them in water, 

 if it is inconvenient to press them within one or two days ; while many small kinds 

 would remain fresh a week in the tin if in a cool place, though both leaves and 

 flowers might lose some colour during that time. Most of the very thick or fleshy 

 portions of plants, such as the head of a Thistle, the bulb of a Daffodil, or the 

 stem of an Orobanche, should be cut in two before being dried. In fact, the 

 whole of a thick Orobanche or of a plant like the common Mullein had better be 

 split in two from top to bottom. Usually both halves are worth preserving. 

 Woody stems also are better split in two, or at any rate thinned. 



In order to aid the drying of any such thick or fleshy plants, or portions of 

 plants, it is well to make pads of cotton-wool and place them both above and 

 below the specimens. Cotton-wool can be bought in long sheets and easily cut 

 with scissors the size of the drying-paper. It is better that the plants should not 

 touch the cotton-wool itself; but useful and more or less permanent pads can 

 be made very quickly by loosely stitching together with a needle and thread a 

 pair of folded sheets of drying-paper with the wool inside. 



Many succulent plants, such as Orchids, Lilies, Sedums, and Sempervivums 

 can be dried with the help of these pads, but it is best first to dip them in boiling 

 water up to the base of the flowers. This kills the plant at once, and enables it 

 to be dried more quickly, and with much less loss of colour. Thick Orchids 

 should always be killed in this way, and their tubers and stems might first be 



