THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



7 



HINTS ON PRESERVING PLANTS. 



By J. P. SOUTTER. 



Noticing the query by Mr. Taylor, in the Young Naturalist for November, 

 perhaps a few hints upon collecting and pressing plants, based upon a pretty 

 lengthy and successful experience, may prove interesting to beginners 

 who are forming a herbarium. Mr. Taylor seems to be no novice, so to 

 him some of these remarks may seem trite and needless, but if he will try 

 painting his dried specimens with a solution of nitric acid, one part of the 

 acid to 20 parts spirits of wine, it is said to be a good preservative of the 

 colours. In practice I have found that care and patience are the most essen- 

 tial requisites in ensuring good specimens. Doubtless, some are much more 

 fugitive in their colouring than others, and even seem to defy all efforts to 

 preserve them so as to retain a presentable appearance. Indeed it is charac- 

 teristic of certain plants to turn black in drying, such as Melampyrum, &c. 



If we can choose our time for gathering plants, they should be plucked 

 when quite dry, and transferred as soon as practicable to the drying press. 

 In the same way if there is a possibility of choice one should select as perfect 

 a plant as can be got, with as many as possible of the characteristic phases, 

 such as fully developed leaves, flowers, and fruit. This will often necessitate 

 the preserving of more than one specimen to show the successive stages. In 

 all small plants the roots should also be carefully dug up, cleared of the 

 the adherent earth, and dried along with the specimen. When this is im- 

 practicable from the bulk or stature of the plant, a knife should be used and 

 the bulk or blossom neatly neatly cut off, nothing looks more slovenly than 

 the ragged end of a broken branch in the herbarum. Before setting out on 

 a collecting expedition it is necessary to have some sort of a receptacle to 

 receive your plants, as they wither so quickly when carried in the hand. For 

 this purpose a tin box is best as it excludes the air thoroughly, and if need 

 be the plants will keep fresh for several days, till they can be attended to. 

 In very dry hot weather it is a wise precaution to line it with a little damp 

 moss or grass or a few thick leaves. In thick- stemmed, succulent, or fleshy 

 plants it is advisable to slice the stem longitudinally, and scoop out a poition 

 of the interior. 



Having now prepared your plant for the drying process, the object is to 

 keep it flat by continuous piessure, and absorb the moisture by bibulous 

 paper. To attain this end a screw press is desirable — but by no means 

 essential — as the same effect can be obtained by loose weights laid on the top. 

 Indeed these have the advantage of automatically sustaining the pressure when 

 the bulk of the pile subsides, whilst the screw requires frequent tightening 



