[15] DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING PLANTS KNOWLTON. 



"It is never a good plaa to put two differeat plants between the same 

 two leaves of the portfolio. The leaves adhere to each other, and be- 

 come doubled^ wrinkled, and 

 matted in the effort to separate 

 them. If the portfolio has not 

 leaves enough to hold all the 

 collections of a day, this of 

 course may become necessary. 

 " It is better to have a sys- 

 tematic method in filling the 

 portfolio during the excursion. 

 The plants should be placed 

 next to one another between 

 successive leaves, and not put 

 in at random. This, besides 

 giving an idea of the capacity 

 of the portfolio at any time and 

 showing how much has been 

 done, is a great help in finding 

 unoccupied space, which, when 

 the book becomes nearly full, 

 is very difScult where empty 

 leaves are as likely to occur in 

 one part as another." (Ward.) 

 The question of labeling the 

 specimens is next presented. 

 If the day's collection is only 

 moderately large and made in 

 a locality with which the col- 

 lector is familiar, it is not nec- 

 essary to attempt any kind of 

 labeling in the field, as a glance at the plants as they are being put 

 in the press will usually immediately call up numerous instances con- 

 nected with its station and collection. The chronological arrange- 

 ment of the specimens in the portfolio as recommended above will also 

 be a great aid in this labeling. 



If, however, the collection is made in a new locality it is always best 

 to affix some sort of a label in the field, and it is always best to decide 

 beforehand how many sets of si^ecimens are to be made. If the expe- 

 dition is a purely botanical one to a new^ region, it may be desirable to 

 collect as many as 25 or 50 specimens of each species, but if the local- 

 ity is better known or the time or space limited, 10 or even 5 specimens 

 of each species may be selected as the number. Having decided upon 

 the number the collector should be sure to collect enough material tomaTce 

 Mjp the full nwuber of sets. It is also a good plan to put in a few extra 



Fig. 9 — Showing method of budding plant in shape 

 of letter M. 



