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for the herharium, as without doubt many fine and rare specimens are 

 lost or spoilt simply because they are neglected after they have been, 

 collected. 



My plan, as soon as the collecting ground has been reached, is to lay 

 the press on the ground or against a stump or tree, and to collect the 

 plants found in the immediate vicinity : when as many as can be con- 

 veniently carried in the hand have been gathered, they are taken to the 

 press, the specimens most worthy of preservation are selected and 

 placed between driers, and the others thrown away. It is important 

 that not only the flower, and where possible the fruit, be collected, but 

 the root also. It may be said that large roots often disarrange the press 

 and the specimens it contains, but there is no need of this. I know of 

 no plant, the root of which may not, with a little trouble, be cut down, so 

 that while its structure may be shown, it will not interfere with the 

 proper drying of the other specimens in the same press. The cutting 

 should all be made from one side, and in the case of bulbous and tuber 

 ous plants, or*" those with tap roots, everything beneath the skin should 

 be carefully cut away, and the specimen will for all herbarium purposes 

 answer as well as if the entire bulb, tuber, or root had been preserved. 

 When using a plant press in the field, no care need be exercised ia 

 placing specimens between the driers ; much time is often wasted in 

 the endeavor to make specimens remain in just the position that seems 

 best to the collector. If they are placed in the press in the most hap- 

 hazard manner and submitted to moderate pressure it will be found that 

 after a few hours they will become limp — not withered — and may then 

 be arranged to suit any taste ; when put under greater pressure the 

 lines where leaves and blossoms have been bent will disappear. After 

 a day's collecting it is by no means necessary that the plants should at 

 once be transferi-ed to the home press, although the sooner this is done 

 the better, for it should not be forgotten that as soon as driers become 

 saturated, their usefulness is gone. At home a screw or lever press may 

 be used, but a piece of broad board and two or three stones of vari- 

 ous weights will answer much better. It is a mistake to use too 

 great pressure, all that is required, is that all parts of the specimea 

 come in contact with the driers, and that the weight be sufficient to pre- 

 vent wrinkling. What the weight should be depends upon the number 



