Peacock : Seed Collecting and Drying. 



177 



Cardamine pratensis is still unrepresented in my tubes. It, 

 too, flaunts a flower-head in the May breezes, well nig^h as 

 conspicuous as R. Ficaria, but it is not so frequently found, and 

 is still more particular about the localities in which it will fully 

 mature its seeds. With all their gaudy show of blossom both 

 species have found a simpler way under most circumstances of 

 producing fresh plants than from matured seed. 



So first ' catch ' your seed ! After that all is plain sailing. 

 Reject nothing till by comparison the freshly gathered and dried 

 ones are proved to be better specimens than those your tubes 

 already contain. For collecting work in the field the simplest 

 means in the end will be found best. There are all kinds of 

 ways of folding seed papers, but the half-sheet of notepaper 

 folded three times with the ends closed down is hard to beat. 

 It is so simple and handy. Write on the outside in pencil the 

 London Catalogue name and number of the species as soon as 

 you have collected the seed in the field. When you have returned 

 home, go over the name and number in ink, and place the 

 packet just as it comes in from the field in a tray to dry in the 

 ordinary temperature of a sitting room, not in artificial heat or 

 the seeds will dry too rapidly. There is much surplus moisture 

 in all seeds, and unless this is dried out before they are placed 

 in the tubes of the collection, the seeds will most certainly 

 mould, and lose their brightness, if they do not stick together 

 in a most unpleasing mass. 



The tubes I have found best for all kinds of seeds I obtained 

 from Messrs. Reynolds & Branson, Leeds. They are two inches 

 long, and half an inch across the mouth. When the seeds are 

 quite dry they will 'jump' briskly when dropped on an oaken 

 table from the height of a foot. Round seed when put on an 

 inclined tray will soon sort themselves out from any dust or dirt 

 or fractured capsules by gravity. Flat seeds must be placed in 

 a tray and gently or more roughly blown according to their 

 weight. If a few of the lighter seeds are blown away the 

 sample finally obtained is all the more valuable. 



Labelling is the next most important matter. Never gum 

 a label on the outside of the tube. It may rub off, and in any 

 case with handling becomes dirty. There is a far better way 

 than adding anything externally. A tube with a half inch 

 mouth, according to the thickness of the glass, which varies 

 much even in the same order, will allow of a paper round the 

 inside from i^^ to long, by half an inch wide, being used. 

 This should be neatly cut, and the name and number written on 



1904 June M 



