ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING PLANTS 31 



or the pressure can be obtained by placing glazed bricks, boxes of 

 pebbles, or heavy iron weights on top. Such automatic pressure is 

 best, for it adjusts itself to the diminishing thickness of the contents 

 of the press as the specimens dry. A press of this kind, or a pair of 

 them, can be taken to the Continent without much trouble ; but 

 if a few plants only are to be collected, it would suffice to take a couple 

 of pieces of thick millboard with either leather straps or thinner 

 straps made of a kind of braid, or of the cloth that saddlers use, 

 with buckles attached. Elastic bands are not recommended, for 

 they break easily and cannot be adjusted like straps. 



To separate half-dried specimens from fresh ones, and to keep 

 the whole mass fairly level, and generally to hasten the process of 

 drying, we have found a few thin wooden ' ventilators ' or frames 

 the size of the press, made of cross-pieces of wood half an inch 

 wide and one-eighth inch thick, very useful. Sometimes strong 

 wire work frames or lattices can be bought, which answer the 

 same purpose, or they could be used instead of the wooden boards 

 to form an actual drying-press 



Common blotting-paper should never be used for drying plants 

 in ; it is too tender, it does not last, costs too much, and the plants 

 often stick to it. Any coarse, stout, and unsized paper will do, and 

 even old newspapers may be used as a last resort. 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, and Co., of 

 54, Hatton Garden, London, at is. id. per quire or 155. a ream 

 for the smallest size, which measures 16x10 inches when folded 

 Suitable paper cannot always be bought in Swiss resorts, and if the 

 stock has run short 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 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 thickness 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 



