NOTES FOE FIELD BOTANISTS , <5rv. n 
VI. NOTES FOR FIELD BOTANISTS, TRAVELLERS, 
AND COLLECTORS. 
Outfit. Any or all of the following may be needed, 
according to the places to be visited, and the kind of work 
to be done. All that is needed should be taken from the 
start, as it is usually difficult to get suitable things quickly 
elsewhere ; extra supplies of paper, etc. may be sent to the 
“ Poste restante ” at places to be visited en route. 
Portfolios for pressing plants as collected, lightly made of two strong 
cloth-covered pasteboards (17 in. x 1 1 in.) with encircling straps and 
handle, and to contain 30 — 50 sheets of paper. Specimens as collected 
are put at once into these and time is thus saved in making large 
collections, eg. on a journey in new country. 
Collecting tins or vasculums of various sizes for bringing plants home 
for further study. When slung on the back, the hinges should be on the 
lower side of the lid, and the bolt should slide downwards to fasten, 
otherwise it is liable to work loose. Small specimens are best carried 
in small round-cornered tobacco or tooth-powder tins , not among large 
ones in a general vasculum. 
Presses for drying plants ; each consists of two outer frames of \ inch 
hoop-iron 17J x nj inches, 
filled in with stout wire netting 
soldered to the iron. The 
papers lie between these frames 5 
and the whole is strapped with 
two stout straps to obtain the 
pressure. _| 
i : 
Lattices , 17x11 inches, for | ; 
admitting air between the 3 : 1 ’* 4 
masses of plants in the press, ! j 
made of two sets of parallel i • 
thin laths fastened together at — 
right angles. 
Drying paper in sheets 2 
17x11 inches in ample quan- 
tity ; stout Manila is best, 
blotting paper is too fragile. 
Mounting paper in sheets 
16JX10J inches (standard size of Kew herbarium) or sheets of 
newspaper or other common paper for preservation of dry specimens 
removed from the press. Unfolded envelopes of thin paper cut into the 
shape shown, for seeds, flowers, &c. ; place the specimen on 1 and fold 
over the wings 2, 3, 4, 5 in order. 2 must be the same size as 1. 
