DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING FLOWERING 

 PLANTS AND FERNS. 



THE FOLLOWING DIEECTIONS for the collection of flower- 

 ing plants and ferns have been prepared in response to frequent 

 requests for such information on the part of correspondents of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry and take the place of directions along the 

 same line in Circular No. 126 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, issued 

 in 1913, the supply of which is now exhausted. 



EQUIPMENT. 



Trowel or pick. — A trowel or pick is a necessity for securing the 

 roots of many deep-rooted plants. Ordinary garden trowels are 

 much too weak for general field work. The intrenching knife for- 

 merly used in the United States Army, which is provided with a 

 leather case and spring for attachment to the belt, will be found a 

 useful instrument. Probably the best all-round tool, however, is the 

 geological pick shown in figure 1, which has a head 9 to 10 inches 

 long and a handle a foot long. The pointed end may be used for ex- 

 tracting plants from rock crevices, while the transverse blade is used 

 for digging. The pick may be jDrovicled with a loop of rope to be 

 passed over the wrist, and when not in use it may be thrust through 

 the belt. If the pick is made to order by a blacksmith, care should 

 be taken to secure a sufficiently firm shank. 



ColIe'Cting hox or portfolio. — A vasculum or collecting box of heavy 

 tin (fig. 1) is often used for short collecting trips or when plants are 

 desired for study in the fresh state. As supplied by dealers in bo- 

 tanical equipment these are painted black, but if repainted with 

 white paint, to avoid absorption of the sun's rays, they will preserve 

 specimens in much fresher condition. When collecting in mountain- 

 ous countries a packsack does very well. The plants as gathered 

 should be wetted and rolled up in wet newspapers before placing in 

 the packsack and will be kept in as good condition as if placed in 

 the collecting box. 



For ordinary work a collecting portfolio of some sort should be 

 used. Several more or less elaborate types have been devised, but 

 have found comparatively little application. A simple and inex- 

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