HINTS TO COLLECTORS. 37 



flower garden, and ask no other. Nor can it be for one 

 moment supposed that our modest English flowers will yield 

 the true pleasure for which they were created when they are 

 ranked side by side, in. seeming mockery, with the gay produc- 

 tions of foreign countries. 



Trusting that in the student of Nature love and reverence 

 will go hand in hand, the writer ventures to give the following 

 few suggestions on the collection and preservation of plants 

 based on his own experience : The chief requisite for collecting 

 is a long and nariow tin-box, in which the specimens may be 

 placed when gathered, and in which they will keep fresh for 

 some hours. To insure lasting specimens for the herbarium 

 the plant should not be gathered when soaked with rain or 

 heavy dew ; if such is unavoidable, the moisture must be 

 damped off* with blotting-paper before pressure is applied. For 

 drying, use a rough paper without glaze, and fairly thick. Some 

 kinds of newspaper, blotting-paper (if often changed), and an 

 absorbent brown paper used by grocers and sold sometimes as 

 botanical drying-paper are good for the purpose. The plant 

 must be placed between the sheets as evenly as possible ; if 

 the stem is thick, it is advisable to take a slice off' one side ; 

 and if it prevents the pressure resting on the petals as in the 

 Rosce and Rubi, for instance a pad of blotting-paper under the 

 flower will prevent shrinkage. A perfect specimen should 

 contain flower and fruit ; if the root is a critical part, it 

 should also be added. The plant, thus prepared and placed in 

 the drying-paper, must be put between boards under a strong 

 and even pressure. After the second or third day it should be 

 examined ; as it will then be less rigid, the leaflets and petals 

 may easily be set out. Pressure even stronger than before 

 must again be applied, and for succulent species the paper 

 changed occasionally. 



When completely dry the plant should be mounted on stiff" 

 white paper. The size depends on the purpose of the collec- 

 tion ; paper 17 in. by 10 in. will be found useful and workable, 

 and can be obtained of most printers. It is a bad system to 

 fasten the specimens on with glue or gum, as it renders it 

 impossible to shift the mount, and the finer parts of the 

 flowers are destroyed. The writer has found that very thin 

 strips of parchment, cut with wider ends, laid across the 

 stoutest parts of the plant and fastened to the paper with 

 strong cement, form a most easy and effectual way of mounting 

 with the least possible unsightliness. 



To the paper must be attached the name (Latin and Eng- 

 lish), the Order, the date of collection, and the locality of the 

 plant. Each Species should be placed, with its fellows of the 

 same Genus, in a stout cover of blue or brown paper, bearing 



