118 THE OPEN BOOK OF NATURE 
out carefully, or, when they are dried, they will 
present a pitiful appearance. Pile your specimens 
thus laid between sheets one on top of another, put 
a suitable board of wood at the top and bottom of 
the pile, and then lay a weight en top of it. You 
must dry the plants under pressure of some sort. 
If you prefer it, you can do without the weight by 
using straps, and drawing them tight around the 
boards. You will have to change your drying- 
papers daily if you wish your specimens to be well 
preserved. It is advisable to place stout cards in the 
press between every three or four plants. When 
they are thoroughly dry, you take them out of your 
press and arrange them on sheets of clean paper, 
fastening them by thin glue or strips of gum-paper. 
A good size for your mounting-sheets is about seven- 
teen inches by eleven inches, but the leaves of a 
cheap drawing-book may be made to serve very 
well. Then each specimen must have a label on 
which are stated the Natural Order and scientific 
name, as well as the popular name of the plant, also 
the locality in which it was found, and the date of 
finding. 
The mounted specimens may be stored in boxes 
or portfolios ; they should be kept in a very dry 
place. The specimens, of course, should be arranged 
according to their Natural Orders and genera, just 
in the order in which they are described in the 
“ Floras,”? which are books containing an account 
of our wild flowers. The Rev. ©. A. Johns’ 
“ Flowers of the Field ”’ is such a book, and a very 
useful one for beginners to refer to. 
Some plants dry quickly—say, in a day or two ; 
