RAJSTGE MAI>rAGEMElsrT OF THE ISTATIOlTAIi FORESTS. 91 



collected to-day, therefore, with notes on its abundance and A'alue, 

 or lack of value, may prove to be an important record 30 years hence, 

 when the species is no longer to be found on the range in question. 

 In other words, without that specimen to fall back on one might not 

 be sure in future years that certain definite changes of vegetation had 

 taken place. 



A plant specimen represents a not inconsiderable investment when 

 the various processes tlirough which it must go are taken into Sk-^ 

 count, viz, collection, pressing, annotation, preparation for transmis- 

 sion, transportation, numbering, and arrangement in Washington, 

 identification, recording and reporting, preparation and mounting 

 for the herbarium, and fumigation or other protection from insects 

 when in the herbarium. Attention to certain details in connection 

 with the collection of the plants will tend to produce a maximum 

 of beneficial results with a minimmn of ultimate expense. A poor 

 specimen may cost practically the same as a good one, yet there is a 

 great difference in the value of the two as records. 



SUGGESTIONS FOE THE COLLECTION OF RANGE PLANT SPECIr 

 MENS ON NATIONAL FORESTS. 



SELECTION OF SPECIMENS. 



The plants should be collected during their flowering or fruiting 

 stage ; and, wherever practicable, the whole plant should be collected. 

 As the sheets for mounting the specimens are 11^ by 164 inches, all 

 specimens should come within these limits. If the plant is too large 

 to be preserved in its normal position, it should, if possible, be bent, 

 preferably in A, N, or M shape, to bring it within the proper dimen- 

 sions. If the plant is too large to preserve in its entirety, representa- 

 tive portions will have to be selected. It is often desirable, espe- 

 cially with grasses, to hold the corners securely, when bent and 

 placed in the press, by means of small pieces of cardboard in each of 

 which a slit about an inch or two long has been made. Grasses 

 should not be bent at the " nodes " or joints. 



A plant specimen, to be complete, should include not only repre- 

 sentative portions of the parts above ground, but also enough of the 

 underground parts to indicate clearly the character of the root sys- 

 tem. It is often impossible to obtain all these parts in a single 

 specimen, so two or more specimens should be collected when neces- 

 sary. When this is done, care should be taken to see that these sev- 

 eral portions are kept together in the collection and that they receive 

 but one number, or, preferably, that they be placed in tlie same 

 folder. Complete specimens are often necessary for certain identifi- 

 cation and are always desirable from the purely educational stand- 

 point. Many specimens are unidentifiable specifically because, al- 



