132 BOTANICAL GAZETTE, | June, 
ven days, may elapse before paper and press can be reached. I have now one 
battered old box which has traveled many hundreds of miles, and in which of- 
ten ericaceous and orchidaceous plants from the Maine and New Hampshire 
mountains have been preserved several days, or even have come into full flower 
when home was reached, though only in bud when gathered. 
After putting in press it is well to change the driers twice a day at first, 
and then once a day till the specimens are thoroughly dry. My habit is to use 
quite a heavy pressure, with plenty of driers between the specimens, as I think 
it shortens the time of drying, and gives to the petals a more enduring texture. 
I greatly prefer a lever press to either a screw or a strap, as the lever keeps the 
pressure constant, following the pile as it inevitably settles. My press consists 
of a heavy frame, with a lever six feet long, the ae applied one foot from 
the fulcrum. I use a forty pound weight, so that by moving it along the lever 
it gives a pressure of from 40 to 200 pounds. For succulent and delicate plants 
of course I use more moderate pressure at first, increasing it as they become 
dry.—J. W. Cuickerina, JR. 
For drying paper I use a good quality of “carpet-felting” or “ carpet pa- 
per.” I buy it by the roll and cut it up into sheets of the usual size (12 by 18 
inches). I use no tissue paper in drying ordinary plants, using it for delicate 
ones only. My press is composed of two boards about twenty inches square (one 
for the floor, the other for the top), and my weight is a great stone. My botan- 
izing case (pedantically called a rasculum in books, but never so far as I know 
so called by any one in the field) is twenty inches long, and is elliptical in 
cross-section, the measurements being 74 by 4} inches. The door or lid (which 
fits as tightly as possible) is on one side, and is 64 by 18} inches; in other 
words, it is very nearly as large as one whole side of the case. It is ne nged be- 
low, and closes with a simple clasp above. The hinges are placed high enough 
on the side of the case so that when the lid is open the plants will not drop out. 
I rarely carry my case by slinging a strap over my shoulder, but provide 
for such strap and use by having the usual rings or cleats attached at the ends 
and top. For erdinary use I have a common “tub-handle” fastened to the 
top of the case.—Cuas. E, Bessey. 
I am out in the woods, and am probably too late to be of any service to 
the herbarium number of the Gazerre, so I will merely say that in making 
good clean herbarium specimens the important point is to dry them as quickly 
as possible. I have always used old newspapers for sania and prefer a weight 
of 75 or 100 pounds to straps or serews.— A. W. CHAPMAN. 
When not too large I collect the ces plant with the root attached. The 
lectors almost invariably fail. to collect fruit. Annuals can generally be 
collected so as to show both flowers and fruit on the same plant, but this is 
seldom the case with perennials. I have heard the complaint that some col- 
