106 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



Very large herbs, as the Sunflower, Hemp, or Poke-weed, as well as shrubs 

 and trees, cannot be laid entire in the herbarium. Therefore, from each 

 take portions sixteen inches long. Select two or more specimens when 

 necessary to show variation in leaves, etc. This precaution should be espe- 

 cially observed when the root-leaves differ from those of the stem. When 

 the flowers are not perfect, or when the staminate and pistillate flowers are 

 not on the same plant, two separate plants must be secured to make the com- 

 plete herbarium specimen. 



If a long excursion is to be made a Collecting box will be needed. In 

 fact, delicate plants often wilt in a few minutes unless placed under cover to 

 prevent evaporation. A plant press can be taken into the field, but it is 

 perhaps preferable not to be encumbered by anything more than a light col- 

 lecting box. The latter should have a close-fitting lid, and be convenient 

 to handle. A tin box fifteen to twenty inches long, oval in transverse sec- 

 tion, with the lid occupying the major portion of one side, is perhaps the 

 most serviceable and a comparatively cheap vasculum. A handle can be 

 soldered on the middle above, or rings attached at the ends for fastening a 

 strap to be thrown over the shoulder. But expense may be avoided alto- 

 gether by using a pasteboard box, like a long envelope-box. 



Having the fresh plants at home, they should be prepared at once for 

 pressing and drying. Papers for dryers should be cut a half-inch or 

 an inch larger each way than the species sheets, perhaps twelve by seventeen 

 or eighteen inches. Old newspapers may be utilized, but the soft felt paper 

 used by builders is preferable, and costs only a few cents per pound. Do 

 not lay the specimens directly on the dryers, but put them in folded sheets 

 of thin paper. These folded specimen-holders should be out eleven and a 

 half by sixteen and a half inches, the size of the sheets on which the speci- 

 mens are ultimately to be mounted. 



A little attention should be given to the appearance of the specimen 

 when laid in press, the object being to show the several parts to the best 

 advantage, and above all, to have a specimen when finished that will look 

 as life-like as possible. Large leaves should be straightened, if necessary, 

 and other parts disposed so as to give the best result. With each specimen 

 never fail to lay in a temporary label, giving the following items : the local- 

 ity, the date, the collector's name, and, if known, also the name of the plant. 

 When all the specimens are placed on top of each other with one to three 

 dryers (or more if the specimens are succulent or contain much moisture) 

 intervening throughout, the pile is to be subjected to moderate and continu- 

 ous pressure. After twelve or twenty-four hours the dryers will have ab- 

 sorbed considerable moisture and therefore should be exchanged for dry 

 ones. This changing of dryers should be attended to daily until the specimens 

 are thoroughly dry, when they may be removed (still lying in the specimen- 

 holders) from the press and are ready for mounting. 



