Mints to the Young Botanist. 131 



"^ey are not to be removed till the second or third changing. 

 Theie should always be a suflScient quantity of absorbent paper 

 at hand for placing the plants newly collected, and for changing 

 older collections in process of drying. As soon as the wet paper 

 is removed, it should be hung up or spread out to dry, so as to be 

 ready for use "when required. 



II. Boards. These are intended to be placed at certain inter- 

 vals between the absorbent paper, say at a distance of two inches, 

 in order to preserve a uniform pressure. They should be of the 

 same size as the paper, and about \ of an inch in thickness. 

 There should also be two boards, | of an inch thict, to serve as 

 strong outside boards — one underneath, the other above. Sheets 

 of firm pasteboard are sometimes convenient for separating plants 

 with stout woody stems from the more delicate ones, and thus 

 preventing injury. They are also useful for packing up collec- 

 tions of dried plants temporarily. 



III. A Lens, a small Knife or Scissors, and an ordinary pair 

 of forceps, should always be on the table for use when required. 

 A sufficient number of small slips of paper should be cut for the 

 purpose of writing down the Name of each plant, the Order to 

 which it belongs, its Habitat or place where found, the Date of 

 gathering, and any other remarks that may be considered worthy 

 of notice — more especially in relation to deviations in form, size, 

 locality of growth, &c., &c. These slips or labels should be placed 

 beside the plants to which they refer. 



IV. Weights are required to apply pressure to the plants after 

 being arranged in the paper. If there be but one weight, it 

 should be placed exactly upon the centre of the upper outside 

 board, and should not be less than 100 pounds. It is preferable to 

 have two or three different weights, so as to vary the amount of 

 pressure from 60 to 120 pounds, according to the wet or dry 

 state of the plants — those having been pressed for a week or so 

 and more or less dry, not requiring so heavy a weight as previously. 

 Some Botanists use screw-presses by which they are enabled to 

 regulate the amount of pressure according to circumstances, but 

 they are far from being so convenient as the ordinary weights. 



Being thus furnished with the necessary apparatus, the collector 

 adopts the following mode of pressing the plants and preparing 

 them for the herbarium. One of the outside boards is placed 

 upon the table immediately in front of him, and over it two sheets 

 of absorbent paper. Upon this he spreads out one or more speci- 



