136 
THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
be detailed below; but it may be observed here that the papers used for 
this purpose being of two colours, say blue and red (most of the former 
colour), the plants are placed between those of a red colour only, the blue 
being used simply for absorbing moisture; the advantage of which is, 
that you know at once where to look for your plants, without having to 
hunt through every sheet for them. Thin deal boards, the same size as the 
press, are interspersed between the various sets of plants that may be 
in different stages of dryness, the boards always being warmed to as high 
a degree of temperature as possible before they are put in, which, com¬ 
bined with frequently changing and drying the papers, has the effect of 
speedily preparing the plants for the herbarium. The boards should be of 
white deal, with no perceivable quantity of turpentine in them; and 
where plants are very full of leaves, it is of much advantage to place 
a piece of writing-paper between them, so that each leaf may dry 
without adhering to any other; where any of ( the leaves have, through 
keeping, become limp and partially shrivelled, it is advisable to inclose 
them in a piece of stiff paper folded like a piece of note paper, which 
ensures their drying in a proper shape, an object frequently of much 
importance in determining the species. 
The method of using the'press is as follows:—having provided a suffi¬ 
cient quantity of stout paper of two different colours (say blue and red, 
or white), in about the proportion of eight of the one colour to two of the 
other, the plants are to be spread out on a sheet of the lesser quantity, say 
the red or white, and another sheet of the same put over them; then four 
sheets of the blue paper, or any other convenient quantity, are placed on 
the bottom board of the press, then the two sheets containing the plants, 
on these put eight sheets of the blue, then two more of the red with 
plants, then blue, and so on, until the press is filled, or all the plants are 
placed in it; but between each four or five sets of plants, it is advisable 
to introduce one of the thin boards heated as much as may be convenient ; 
this is of great use in drying the specimens, and should be done every time 
the papers are shifted, which may be done every day for the plants newly 
gathered; the boards also serve to separate each gathering, by which means 
the fresh plants do not affect those which are nearly dry. The only use of 
two different-coloured papers is, as before observed, that by always using 
the one for placing the plants in, you can, in shifting the papers, know 
where they are without the labour of looking between each sheet. A 
small oven, sufficiently large to take in the papers and boards, would be 
a very great advantage, as you could thus keep a double set of papers and 
boards constantly ready, and easily to be warmed thoroughly, an object 
difficult and tedious to attain before an open fire. 
