The vasculum should be oval-cylindrical in shape, at least eigh- 
teen inches long, and with a door opening on one side. A small 
additional compartment opening at one end will be convenient as a 
lunch box, and also to contain water plants, nuts, aporirp, land 
shells, or other objects of interest met with on the tramp/ The 
portfolio should hieasure eighteen by twelve inches. It is best made 
simply of two stout steets^ of pasteboard, not connected by a back, 
or hinges, and covered with “ enamelled clpth to keep but moisture. 
To tie them together, I prefer a stofikicdrd, or fishing-line, to india 
rubber bands or straps. 
The young botanist spon learns that the collection. of specimens 
does not consist in - tearing off a flower with a portion of the stem 
and a few jrppbr leaves. He finds it impossible to identify his spe- 
cies in many cases, without having both the sterile and fertile 
flowers when the plant is monoecious or dioecious, also the mature 
fruit, the root leaves, and even the root, all of which are component 
parts of the complete plant and often essential to its recognition. 
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