360 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[July, 
accuracy, will compare with Gray’s Manual for 
the Northern States, and Chapman’s Flora for 
the States south of Virginia. Our friends on 
the Pacific Coast must wait a year or so for 
Prof. Brewer’s Flora of California, which will 
include nearly all the plants not contained in 
the other two works. So much for books. In 
collecting, it is a too common fault to have re¬ 
gard to the flower and nothing else, and those 
who commence collecting plants spend a year 
or two in drying “ snips ” from the tops of 
plants, to he thrown away w'hen they have 
learned to make better specimens. 
A specimen should be a complete re¬ 
presentative of the plant—not only 
the flower, but bud, fruit, or seed, all 
its various kinds of leaves, and in 
small plants, even the root. With 
some plants these can all be repre¬ 
sented in the same specimen, but 
with others it is necessary to collect 
specimens both in flower and in fruit. 
Shrubs and other woody plants have 
usually the same kind of leaves 
throughout, but with herbaceous 
plants the leaves near the root are 
often very different from those near 
the stein, and in collecting this should 
be kept in mind, and both kinds of 
leaves secured. In preserving plants, 
they are to be thoroughly dried, and 
as newspaper is usually the handiest, 
this may be used, though any unsized 
paper, brown is as good as any, may 
be used. Two sorts of paper are re¬ 
quired : folds and dryers. Folds are 
simply pieces of paper folded once, 
just like a sheet of wnuting paper. 
The dryers are made of six or more 
thicknesses of paper, with a stitch 
through them to keep them together. 
Having folds and dryers prepared, 
lay down one or two dryers, then a 
fold, containing the plant nicely laid 
out, then another dryer, another fold, 
and so on, until all the plants are 
disposed of, observing to use two or 
more diyers above and below those 
folds which contain veiyjnicy plants. 
When all the plants are in, put a 
board on the pile, and on this large 
stones or other weights. The pres¬ 
sure should be just enough to keep 
the plants from wrinkling—and not 
crush them—50 to 100 pounds, ac¬ 
cording to the number and nature 
of the plants. The next day, at 
least, the dryers must be changed. 
The pile is to be rebuilt wdth fresh 
dryers. Put down a dryer, on which 
place a fold from the pile, without 
opening it or disturbing the plant, 
then another dryer, another fold, and so on. 
Spread out the dryers from the first pile to dry, 
(the drier they are the better,) and then they 
will be ready to use in another change. Plants 
when first put in should have the dryers changed 
nt least once a day, and if they are very succu¬ 
lent, still oftener. It is to be understood that the 
plants are not to bo taken out of the folds until 
they are quite dry, and when the change of dry¬ 
ers is made, they are to be undisturbed. When 
quite dry, the plants may be put away into the 
collection or herbarium. Any arrangement that 
will keep together plants nearly related, will 
answer. We must defer a description of the 
usual form of a herbarium until another time. 
We would remark that it is best for all collec¬ 
tors to adopt the standard size for their drying 
paper, about 11 x 16 inches, and all specimens 
should be bent or cut to conform to this size. 
American Cowslip. —{Dodecatheon Meadia.) 
Those who are familiar with foreign books 
and papers on floriculture, will have noticed 
the high estimation in which this plant is held 
abroad. Last spring, one of the English horti¬ 
cultural papers offered a prize for the best lists 
AMEKiCAN COWSLIP. —{Dodccalhcon, Meadia.) 
of fifty herbaceous plants. Many lists have 
been published, and we And the Dodecatheon in 
at least half of them. Though so popular 
abroad it is seldom that we find it in cultiva¬ 
tion here, except in the gardens of those who 
cherish these less fashionable plants. Our en¬ 
graving is from a plant from a friend’s garden, 
and to save room, one below the average size 
was selected. What can be prettier than this ? 
A graceful stem arises from a cluster of leaves, 
and bears at its top a number of flowers upon 
long stems. The flowers are exceedingly quaint 
in their form, the corolla being turned sharply 
back, somewhat like those of the nearly related 
green-house Cyclamen. This peculiar shape of 
the flower has given it in some parts of the 
country the not inexpressive name of “Shooting- 
star.” The flowers are of a beautiful rose pur¬ 
ple color, yellowish in the throat, and the general 
effect is heightened by the bright yellow of the 
stamens, with brown filaments. There is a white 
variety which is less showy than the ordinary 
color. The plant is found growing wild in the 
rich woods of Pennsylvania, and further South 
and West, and is quite hardy in cultivation. 
It does best in a cool and somewhat shady 
situation. The foliage dies soon after the flow- 
ei'ing is over, and the stools may be divided 
when the plant is in the dormant 
state. Seeds are sold at the seed 
stores, from which, with proper care, 
the plant may be raised. The seeds 
are very fine, and like other small 
seeds, are best started in boxes. The 
name “Cowslip” is in some parts of 
the country applied to the Caltha, a 
yellow flower related to the Butter¬ 
cup. This plant belongs to the same 
family as the true Cowslip—the 
Primrose family—one which gives us 
the Auriculas, Polyanthuses, Cycla¬ 
mens, and other beautiful plants.- 
The botanical name Dodecatheon, 
means ticelve gods; its application 
to this plant is not obvious. We 
hope to see increased attention given 
to hardy herbaceous plants, which 
have welt nigh disappeared before 
the rage for bedding flowers, and 
among those we would commend 
to the notice of lovers of beautiful 
flowers is the Dodecatheon. . 
Horticultural and Botanical 
Congress.—Europe and America. 
On the 22d of May last, there as¬ 
sembled in London, The Interna¬ 
tional Horticultural and Botanical 
, Congress. International so far as 
Europe was concerned, for though 
an American here and there may 
have been invited, American horti¬ 
culturists as a body were ignored by 
those having the matter in charge. 
We are not at all surprised at this, 
as it is of a piece with the “ British 
neutrality” which has persistently 
refused to acknowledge the existence 
of horticulture in America. 
Probably there never was an as¬ 
semblage like that which convened 
at the time and place above men¬ 
tioned, for the number of eminent 
horticulturists and botanists brought 
together, and while we regret that 
some representative man of our own 
country was not present, we rejoice 
that so many of our trans-Atlantic brethern 
convened, and look for the report of their 
doings with much interest. We mention this 
foreign Congress as introductory to calling at¬ 
tention to a body of quite as much importance 
that is to meet in St. Louis, Mo., on the 4th of 
September next. To be sure this meeting is 
only that of the American Pomological Society, 
but it is as important to us as that of the Interna¬ 
tional Congress is to Europeans. It will bring 
together cultivators from as widely dilferent cli¬ 
mates as did that Congress, and if we may not 
be as strong in the array of great names, we at 
least shall have men of large experience, 
whose deliberations, if properly conducted, 
will be of benefit to the cause of horticulture. 
