214 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



are to dry the specimens quickly, thoroughly and with a pressure that will 

 not crush them. A good method is to place each specimen in a sheet of 

 brown paper and interpose several empty sheets between each two of 

 those filled. Then place them in the press — a napkin press if one has one ; 

 if not, a few heavy books may be used. Then press them gently for the 

 first day or two — ^just enough to prevent the leaves and flowers from 

 shrivelling; When the papers are quite damp, separate them and spread 

 them on the floor of a room where they can dry a little. Return them to 

 the press, increasing the weight. Repeat this daily until the flowers are 

 quite dry. They can then be laid away or pasted into blank books, classified 

 or numbered. 



HOW TO PRESS FLOWERS. 



A WRITER in Gardening Illustrated uses cotton-batting instead of 

 SNA bibulous paper in which to place fresh flowers for pressing. " I have 

 had," he says, " much experience in flower drying, and I never found 

 any kind of paper answer, however carefully used, and for the following 

 reasons : First, the paper, of any kind — is, however lightly pressed, too 

 hard a substance to touch the delicate bloom or surface of the petals of any 

 flower, and at once injures the tender skin, causing the liquid to exude and 

 saturate the leaf, which tends to decay it, as well as to injure or destroy the 

 color. Secondly, paper does not absorb the natural moisture rapidly enough^ 

 but remains damp about the flower, thus allowing the air to pass through,, 

 while damp air injures both color and leaf. I have tried a great many dif- 

 ferent ways, and one only has proved really successful — viz., the use of 

 cotton wool. I take a small folio, in which I have folds of newspapers, four 

 sheets thick. Between each of these folds I place two sheets of soft, fine 

 clear white cotton wool. I have this out with me, and as I gather the flowers 

 I want to press, I lay them out carefully between the sheets of cotton wool,, 

 filling the sheet up as quickly as possible. I close it up in the newspaperr 

 carefully turning it up all round the edges. When I get home I take the 

 packets out of the folio, and place them in large books, under good pressure^ 

 and leave them as long as I deem necessary. Some flowers need a much 

 longer time — those of a fleshy nature, for instance. The great secret is not 

 to allow the air to touch them (by no means look at them to see how they 

 are getting on) until they are quite dry. I have scarlet Geraniums, Violas, 

 etc., which have been done more than two years, as fresh in color as at first, 

 although in constant use on candle shades." 



