PHANTOM LEAVES. 
June and July are the months in which most leaves 
should be gathered for skeletonizing; for while they 
should be perfectly developed, they must not become 
toughened and rendered leathery by the sun and wind. 
Of course there are some varieties that must be collected 
whenever they are in the proper condition, which may 
not occur at this season, but those most easy to be suc¬ 
cessful with, such as the Poplars, especially the silver¬ 
leaved, and the Aspen, the Apple, Pear, etc., should be 
gathered now. The Willow is very delicate and must 
be carefully handled as well as the Maple; these should 
be gathered when young. Leaves of the Camellia, 
Orange. Lemon. Rose, Ivy and Holly are very beautiful 
when well done, also grasses aud Ferus which, though 
very frail, well repay for the labor incurred when sue. 
cessfully prepared. 
It is well'to gather a large number of leaves, as many 
of them will become mutilated even when great care is 
exercised: noneshouldbe selected that are not absolutely 
perfect, without blotch, perforation or broken margin, 
else the skeleton will be imperfect. A good plan for 
determining the condition of a leaf is to hold it up to 
the light, when all defects can readily be seen. As the 
collections, are made the leaves should be laid at once in 
a book or where they can be subjected to a slight pres¬ 
sure until ready for masceration. There are two ways 
of doing this, which we take from “Household Elegan¬ 
cies, ” published at the office of the Floral Cabinet, 
The first of these, though a rather tedious and disagree¬ 
able operation, is most satisfactory in its results, for by 
it the most delicate fibres can be preserved in all their 
beauty. The leaves are placed in an open vessel covered 
to the depth of several inches with rain-water, and 
placed in the full sunlight in the open air. Put on 
them a pane of glass with a weight on it to keep them 
well down in the water. Add water from time to time 
as it evaporates, that the supply may be kept up. In 
about two weeks they may be examined and, if any are 
found soft and pulpy, these must be removed. After 
this, those that remain should be examined once or twice 
a week, removing the soft ones each time to a basin of 
clear water, which should be done most carefully to pre¬ 
vent breaking or marring them, and this is best accom¬ 
plished by slipping a card or piece of glass beneath the 
leaf and causing it to float upon it, and then when im¬ 
mersed in the basin of clear water it will float off unin¬ 
jured. By this means the leaves, though so tender that 
they will not bear their own weight, can be kept in per¬ 
fect form. 
For the cleaning, two or three brushes and a sharp- 
pointed knife are necessary, also a soft but thick camel’s 
hair brush, a stiff bristle brush, and a tooth-brush. A 
leaf is lifted out of the water by floating it upon a piece 
of glass ; then with the soft brush gently passed over 
the surface all the pulp is removed, aiding the brushing 
with a stream of water, poured carefully over. Slip the 
leaf again into the water, turn it and again float upon 
the glass, cleaning the opposite side in the same manner. 
The green surface must be entirely removed, leaving 
nothing but the skeleton of fibrous veins. If this can¬ 
not be done by merely using the soft brush, the stiller 
one or the tooth-brush must be applied. The motion 
used in cleaning must be a downward tapping, one 
which breaks up the connection of epidermis, without 
destroying the fibers. As the leaves are cleaned they 
must be immersed in another basin of clear water until 
all are cleansed or you are ready to bleach them, which 
should now be done as soon as possible. 
The other method in preparing the leaves consists in 
using a caustic to destroy the epidermis of the leaf, aud 
is made by dissolving four ounces of sal-soda in one 
quart of boiling water, to which add two ounces of air- 
slacked quicklime and boil fifteen or twenty minutes. 
When this is cooled strain oil' the clear liquid, put the 
leaves in it and boil. Watch them closely that they 
may not boil to pieces, trying them frequently by remov¬ 
ing a leaf to a vessel of pure water; rub gently with the 
fingers, and when the pulp separates easily from the 
fibers, the remainder of the leaves may be taken out. 
By either process the leaves are now ready for bleach¬ 
ing; and for this several ways are recommended. The 
simplest, perhaps, is by using a solution of chloride of 
lime, made by dissolving one tablespoouful of chloride 
of lime in a quart of water, adding a few grains of citric 
acid, then decanting the clear liquid into which the 
leaves should be immersed for a day or two, and placed 
in a covered glass dish in a very dark closet. Another 
bleaching preparation said to be very good is made from 
the following formula : To twelve ounces of carbonate 
of soda add six ounces of chlorinated lime and three 
quarts of water ; dissolve the soda in one and one-half 
pints of water with the aid of heat; triturate the lime 
gradually with water until a smooth creamy liquid is 
formed ; into this stir the remainder of the water and 
put aside for twelve hours or until perfectly settled ; 
then pour off the clear liquid and turn the residue into 
a muslin bag to drain, adding a little water from time 
to time. When you have sufficient liquid to make two 
quarts of the lime water, mix with it the solution of 
carbonate of soda, stirring it until thoroughly blended. 
Let this mixture drain through a paper laid in a funnel 
until five pints of liquid have been thus filtered. This 
should be kept in an opaque bottle tightly corked. 
When using this bleaching fluid, which is very power¬ 
ful, it should be diluted with from three to six times the 
quantity of soft water, according to the texture of the 
leaves to be bleached. 
After bleaching by either process they should be 
placed in clear cool water for a day, then floated off 
upon a card and very gently dried with some soft linen, 
then pressed between sheets of clean white paper, after 
which they are ready for arranging. 
Holly leaves Are beautiful, but must be prepared alone 
on account of the spines. Fern and fine grasses are so 
apt to curl, it is best to float them off upon pieces of 
card; then while damp, with needle and camel’s-hair 
brush, arrange each tiny leaflet that they may 'form 
graceful and natural groups ; lay between sheets of soft 
