BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



[8] 



delicate specimens that might be injured by other phmts in the large 

 compartment. 



Plants collected in a box of this kind will remain perfectly fresh for 

 a considerable time and may then be examined to much better advan- 

 tage than if preserved in a portfolio, where they will unavoidably be 

 more or less crushed. 



" The box requires less time to open, is more manageable in windy 

 weather, j)reserves the plants fresh for examination at home, and is 

 especially serviceable when some time must elapse before the plants 

 can be placed in the press." (Gerald McCarthy in Botanical Gazette, 

 XI, p. 134.) 



POCKET-KNIFE. 



The collector should always be provided with a 

 strong pocket-knife, which is useful in a great variety 

 of ways, such as cutting branches of trees, trimming 

 specimens, removing fungi and lichens from the bark 

 of trees, and even for digging up small j^lants. 



TROWEL. 



Some sort of a digging instrument will be found 

 indispensable in taking up plants by the roots, or in 

 securing rootstocks and other underground stems. 

 The style of trowel used by gardeners is very good, 

 and should be strong and not likely to be easily 

 broken. An old flat file ground down and provided 

 with a wooden handle is also very serviceable. The 

 trowel may be conveniently carried in a leather 

 sheath attached to the belt or fastened by some sim- 



FiG. 2— Trowel. 



pie device to the portfolio. 



DEEDaE. 



It is often very desirable to have some sort of an implement that 

 may be used in securing water plants that can not be reached with the 



hands. 



For this purpose a dredge made as 

 follows is recommended: An iron rod 

 five-sixteenths of an inch in diameter 

 and about J 2 inches long, bent to form 

 a small ring at one end, passes through 

 and carries below its center a disk of 

 lead about 3 inches in diameter. This 

 disk hfflds embedded in it 12 to 14 iron hooks all bent toward the same 

 side. The hooks project about an inch from the leaden disk and curve 

 inward about an inch. The iron rod projects about 3 inches beyond the 



Fig. 3 — Dredge for aquatic plants. 



