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MISC. PUBLICATION 568, U. S. DEP'T. OF AGRICULTURE 



Equipment for Plant Collecting 



For obvious reasons, the amount of equipment to be carried about 

 should be kept to a minimum. This is especially true when traveling in 

 regions where transportation facilities are unfavorable, or when long 

 distances are to be covered on foot. Minimum requirements for the 

 field are: Collecting case (portfolio) (fig. 3); folded-newspaper sheets; 

 knapsack; small pickax (entrenching tool) (fig. 2, A); pruning shears 

 (snap-cut type) (fig. 2, B) ; pocket lens (6 to 7 x magnification) ; pocket 

 compass; stout pocketknife (Boy Scout type); paper or cloth bags for 

 seed, roots, or analysis material; stout eyelet tags for marking large bulky 

 fruits and bagged material; strong twine. A large, flat bag with handles 

 will be convenient for carrying bulky fruits or propagation material. A 

 waterproof knapsack is extremely useful for long trips by foot. 



Figure 2. — Collecting equipment. A, Small pickax (entrenching tool); B, snap-cut 



pruning shears. 



A piece of oilcloth may be carried to protect the collecting case from 

 rain. Also, longer pieces of oilcloth can be used for collecting plants if so 

 desired. To keep the individual collections separated by this method, 

 the oilcloth is used as a roll — the first collection is placed at one edge 

 and the roll given a slight turn; then the second collection, another 

 slight turn; and so on until full. The ends of the roll are folded over 

 toward the middle and tied with a string to keep the plants from dry- 

 ing out. By this method the full rolls can be cached and picked up on 

 the return trip to camp. 



Collecting cases (portfolios) vary in design and construction accord- 

 ing to the purpose and ideas of the people using them. For small-scale, 

 or incidental, work a special collecting can (vasculum) is most useful, 

 especially for bringing in living material for transplanting. In an emer- 



