HINTS FOR COLLECTING, DRYING, AND MOUNTING BOTANICAL SPECIMENS.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1692, 23 July 1879, Page 4

HINTS FOR COLLECTING, DRYING, AND MOUNTING BOTANICAL SPECIMENS.

COLLECTING, Ihings wanted—a strong trowel, a large pocket knife, a collecting book. No plant is too insignificant to collect and preserve. You will see very many attractive flowers, get these certainly ; but do not neglect to collect plants that have insignificant flowers. If you have a magnifying glass, look at one of these flowers through it, and you will see that it is as wonderful and as beautiful as many a more conspicuous flower. Dig the whole plant up if possible. See that it shows the root, stem, leaves, buds, flowers, and fruit. If the plant is too largo for removal, cut off a branch showing most of the parts mentioned above. Put the specimen at once in your collecting book, with a ticket attached showing date and place of finding. The book should have a very stout cover, and should contain from twelve to twenty parcels of drying paper, each parcel being made of two sheets. Secure the book with two straps. If you are not going far, you may not want a collecting book. It is very convenient for holding your flowers and preventing them from withering before yon can put them in the drying press. Note. —In collecting ferns, only take fronds in fructification ; two fronds are necessary to make a “ specimen.” DKTINO, Things wanted—Board, made so as not to warp; drying paper—white blotting paper will do, or the stout wrapping paper used by grocers. The boards may be any size. When yon have decided upon the size of your drying paper, get the boards made tho same size. It is best to put the plants in the drying press the same day they are collected. Do not make a mess. Keep all your things in one place. Aim at neatness and tidiness, not only in tho result of your work, but while you are at work. On the board place four or six sheets of drying paper, and on this as many specimens as the space will hold ; lay them out as naturally as possible. Now place on those four or six more sheets of drying paper ; then more plants, and so on. Then another board ; on this place about 1001 b weight. Very delicate plants should be dried in a separate press under lighter pressure. There should be attached to every specimen a memorandum of date, place, and finder. Let the p’ants be ao placed that the pressure may be equally distributed. Take care that the pile is arranged so as to bo steady. If any of the plants are of a fleshy nature, or have very stiff stems, you must put plenty of paper on them and below them, or else they may injure other specimens.

Let the specimens remain under pressure for twenty-four hours. Then remove the top board and make it the bottom one ; place the plants in fresh paper, putting the old paper in the sun or before the fire to dry thoroughly before you use it again. Change the drying paper every day ; but if more than a day must elapse before you can attend to this (as if Sunday intervene) put thicker layers of paper between the plants. Some plants will be dry in a week ; others will take much longer. If you find that any flowers lose their colour in drying, you had better have a separate press for them, more paper, and greater pressure. In drying such as Telopea (Waratah), or Bauksia (Honeysuckle), split the stem and bead of the

flowers and dry one-halt. As the drying of your specimens will take a good deal of time and attention, you are advised to have a stated time for this. On no account let your plants interfere with your lessons or other duties. If you have fresh specimens to press, separate them from tho former lot by a third board, a sheet of tin, or several newspapers. Practice will suggest to you many useful plans for complete, rapid, and neat preservation of plants, but at first the simple apparatus here described will answer all purposes. MOUNTING. Things wanted—Stiff paper, glue, a board of the same kind as for the drying press ; a lighter weight. You will now proceed to make a herbarium, or “ dry garden,” for future use, and this is done by fastening your dried specimens to sheets of stiff paper. Cartridge paper is the beat, but there is a cheap paper called “glazed casing” that will do very well. You can have it cut to any size you like ; sheets about 11x9 inches when folded once will be found to suit beginners next. When any of your plants are quite dry, put them aside between folds of newspaper under a board and light weight till you have enough for a days* mounting, or if you think best, till your collecting is over for the season. See that your mounting sheets are neatly out to the size you intend to use, and never vary from tho size once chosen. Open the folded sheet, and having put a little thin glue on the back of the specimens, place it on the right hand side of the paper ; the left hand side will do for a fly leaf to cover the specimen, put a piece of waste paper on the plant before you fold the fly sheet down, or it may stick. Now the paper under the board, then a light weight on this, and proceed to mount your other specimens -in the same way. Do not put more than one kind of plant on the same sheet. Let your mounted specimens remain under light pressure till the glue is set. _ If you do not like toJ use glue, you can stitch the dried plants on to tho paper, or fix them with strips of gummed paper. The last way of fixing the specimens is recommended to beginners. To make the strips—Take some sheets of plain white letter-paper, wash o=e side of each with gum water, and place them to dry so that they will not curl up. When dry keep them in a book till you want them. Then cut narrow even strips from them, and these into long or short lengths, as you require to fix the body or the stem of your specimens. Moisten the strips by passing them over a wet sponge. Note.—ln mounting ferns use into fronds, one to show the upper surface, and the other to show the fructification.

Leave sufficient space in the lower corners of each mounting sheet for the name of the plant and other particulars regarding it. Keep your plants when mounted in brown paper wrappers, and in a dry place. Put plenty of camphor in a box or cupboard where you keep your herbarium.