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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
condition and colour. First of all, a sufficient quantity of paper, 
rather larger than the fronds to be dried, must be procured ; for 
fronds rather hard in texture, newspapers printed on paper equal in 
quality to that of the Times, Field, or Illustrated London News, will 
answer admirably, consequently, a large number of the smaller 
species may be dried in books which possess no particular value. 
Of course it will not be desirable to put them between the leaves of 
valuable books, as they will stain the leaves more or less. The more 
soft and fragile kinds will require a greater degree of care and a 
more absorbent paper. The best paper is unquestionably the 
“botanical paper ” manufactured and sold by Mr. Edward Newman, 
of Bishopsgate Street Without, London, which is also most valuable 
for drying botanical specimens of all kinds. To admit of the fronds 
being more evenly pressed than would otherwise be possible, pro- 
vide two stout pieces of board, which of necessity must be quite dat. 
Fully developed and perfect fronds must be selected, and 
gathered when quite dry. Commence by laying a few sheets of 
paper upon the board. Upon these spread out one of the fronds; 
cover this with a few more sheets of paper; lay out another frond; 
and repeat this until the stock of fronds is exhausted, or till the pile 
has reached a height of eighteen inches or two feet. The board can 
then be placed upon the top, and a weight put upon it to press the 
fronds. The weight may be a pile of books, or a box filled with 
sand, if no other weights are available for the purpose. In three or 
four days change the paper, using dry paper of the same kind as 
before. Some kinds might be changed a second time with ad- 
vantage, but. as a rule, the fronds may be dried most satisfactorily 
when changed once. 
In mounting the specimens, procure a scrap-book, or a sufficient 
supply of sheets of moderately stout white paper, of a uniform size ; 
a supply of gum, which may be made by dissolving an ounce of gum 
arabic in a little hot water ; and a number of slips of rather thin and 
tough white paper, these should vary from three-quarters of an inch 
long and a quarter of an inch wide, to two inches long by half an 
inch wide. Gumming the fronds to the paper is most objectionable, 
and it is much better to fix them to the paper with the bands men- 
tioned above. To do this neatly, lay the frond out nicely on the 
paper and commence strapping it down. The bands should be 
gummed on one side only, and from four to eight, according to the 
size of the frond, will be required to hold it securely in its place. 
When the fronds are small, several may be attached to each sheet. 
A small portion of the fronds should be turned up, to admit of an 
examination of the fructification, in case it should be desired at any 
time. 
The names should be written under each frond, and in the case 
of native species a note describing where each was found will also add 
to the interest of the dried specimens. 
