HOW TO PRESS FLOWERS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 39, 26 September 1891, Page 423

HOW TO PRESS FLOWERS.

The New Zealand bush abounds in lovely flowers ; some of them can be obtained nowhere else. A search for them will well repay your trouble, dear reader, and possibly might also prove a source of profit. I see that in the World’s Fair to be held in Chicago, pressed flowers are to be amongst the exhibits. Why should you not send some specimens. On your next ramble in the bush, take along one of those long, japanned-tin botanist’s boxes, or else a light basket. Have a layer of damp moss in your receptacle, and put your plants away as soon as possible. Choose the choicest specimens—and several of one sort will not come amiss. Gather the shapeliest leaves of the trees, sprigs of moss, and any miniature leaves that you think will retain their beauty after being dried, and specially keep a lookout for ferns. Some plants are very small, and it is best to dig such up by the roots—it will be all the more interesting to have the whole plant. It will be prudent to take along a large, thin book, which can be tightly strapped together, as you may want to press some of the most delicate ferns immediately. Have the covers perforated with large holes to admit the air. You can buy all sorts of botanist’s portfolios ; but a couple of thin boards you can readily make yourself, will answer every purpose. Put thirty or forty sheets of drying paper between the covers, and fasten a couple of strips of leather so as to form a convenient handle. Be very careful in laying your specimens between the leaves to have every flower separate and smooth. After some pleasant hours in the woods you will come home with your basket full of all kinds of plants and flowers. To preserve the delicate colours of the latter, it is necessary that they should be dried at once. Place them on your dry-ing-paper and carefully arrange every flower, smoothing out all wrinkles. If any petals have dropped off, set them in place with a little mucilage. Some flowers cannot bear the touch of a warm hand, and these you will find wilted. They may be restored by

sprinkling with luke-warm water, and laying them away over night in a cool, dark place. If you are in a hurry, cut off part of the stems of the wilted flowers and place them in a vase of hot water, where they will straighten in a few hours.

After arranging your specimens on the drying-paper, lay several sheets over and under them and put in a press or under a heavy weight. You will never regret the money invested in a press. Twelve hours after pressing, change the papers, and press again. In a few days your plants will oe ready to lay away, but be careful to keep under pressure until perfectly dry, or your larger flowers will mould or shrink, and thus lose all beauty.

In mounting my specimens I use heavy mounting paper, llj x 16 i inches, but a beginner would, perhaps, do well to start with ‘ binder’s paper,’ which is cheaper and just as suitable. A little mucilage may be put on the plant here and there, or you may fasten it by pasting narrow strips of paper across it. When your mounting is finished, write under each specimen the date when it was found, the place, name, genus and species, the colour, and the familiar name. The sheets may then be placed in portfolios, according to genera, or may be arranged so that the specimens from one place are together.