26 



The Ferx Lover's Companion 



Helpful Hints 



The following hints may be helpful to the young 

 collector: 



1. A good lens with needles 

 for dissecting is very helpful in 

 examining the sori, veins, glands, 

 etc., as an accurate knowledge 

 of any one of these items may 

 aid in identifying a given speci- 

 men. Uausch and Lomb make a 

 convenient two-bladed ])ocket 

 glass for about two dollars. 



2. Do not exterminate or weaken a fern colony by 

 taking more plants than it can spare. In small colonies 

 of rare ferns take a few and lea\'e the rest to grow. It is 

 decidedly ill-lired to roli a locality of its jirecious plants. 

 Pick your fern leaf down close to the root-stock, including 

 a portion of that also, if it can be s])ared. Place your 

 fronds between newsj)aper sheets and lay "dryers" over 

 them (blotting paper or other absorbent paper). Cover 

 with a board or slat frame, and lay on this a weight of 

 several pounds, leaving it for twenty-four hours; if the 

 sjjecimeus are not then cured, change the dryers. Mount 

 the prepared specimens on white mounting sheets. The 

 regulatiou size is I65 by II5 inches. The labels are usually 

 3f by If inches. A san pie will suggest the proper 

 inscrijjtion. 



*In the linen tester here figured (cost .fil. .")(() tlic lens is mounted 

 in a lirass frame which holds it in position, enabling the dissector to 

 use both hands. A tripod lens will also be found cheap and 

 serviceable. 



