Wild Flower Preservation - A Collector's Guide (Paperback)

CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Wild Flou er Preservation for flower lovers and amateur students - 7 For more advanced naturalists failing to preserve plants successfully - For boys and girls at school - Preservation of plants an art in itself - No haphazard performance - That prosaic word herbarium -A doleful definition - A dainty collection of plants - Poetry and flowers inseparable. CHAPTER I1 Must be orderly and neat - A list of requisites - Working expenses small after initial outlay-Well illustrated Flora indispensable - How to secure second-hand books - How to make a press - Separate mounts versus albums - Cabinet for storing the collection. CHAPTER 111 A necessity to students - Records of plant structure - Locality and date of finds -Your own CONTENTS PAGE observations - Drawings of plants - Various kinds of Nature Notes - Record of the months - Notes a refiection of yourself - The poetry of flowers. CHAPTER IV How can I study plant life -Confusing number of books on the subject - A simple beginning - Best way of learning meanings of technical terms - A flrst lesson in plant study - Tall Buttercup - Floral mechanism of Robins Plantain - List of abbreviations used in notes - Useful books for further study - Attempting too much - The botanical bore - The interesting botanist - The use of English names. CHAPTER V Use of basket or collecting case-Choosing a specimen for preservation - Wanton and destructive gathering-Only a few of each species to be picked. CHAPTER V1 THE IDEN LIl ICA MON OF PLANTS . . . . 99 Early identiflcation - Examination of the Cuckooflower --Scientific methods of identification useless to beginners - An examination of Mathewss FieldBook-A popular and simple method of classification - Example of plant description. CONTENTS CHAPTER V11 PAGE THE ART OF PRESSING WILD FLOWERS . . . . 115 Press immediately after identification - Frail nature of most wild flowers - Rules for pressing plants - Unnatural, wizened specimens belonging to some naturalists-Dried plants must not resemble scarecrows - Methods of pressing plants - How to press knobby flower-heads successfully - Changing the drying papers - Pressing fruits - Use of a storing press. CHAPTER V111 MOUNTING THE PUNTS . . . . . . . 141 Plants must not be left long unattachedeRequisites at hand for mounting-How to mount the plants - Pressure - Portions not adhering to be refixed-Classiflcatian in the herbarium-Natural growth to be studied-How to mount plants in albums - A collection of graceful, natural-looking plants - Let Nature be your teacher...