The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-08-03
Terms Eight Dollars per a,,nune, IN odyanee.

Ter. indeed, you may preserve them for years
in this manner. We have leaves and flowers
now in our possession that have been pressed
from six to twelve years, gathered, some in
the East Indies, some in Scotland, some in
Central America, some in California aud
some in Labrador. These are all in good
preservation, and most Of the flowers retain
their color and much of their beauty.
AS a general rule all flowers will press
weii unless they have pulpy leaves or soft
cayx Whenever the leaf or petal of a flower
mas a Juiceless, silky texture, an1 the little
green cup or calyx that holds the leaves to-
| gether is sapless and firm, the flower will
press nicely. Even small marigolds and double
butter-cups will press we'll But all roses, ex-
cepting the dwarf Burgundy, all lilies, petu-
Mas, camelias, acaclas and nearly all white
flowers are unsuitable The b,st garden
flowers are tulips, verbenas, blue larkspurs,
heaths Of all kinds, forget-me-nots, pansies
ladies, delight carnations, and many of the
red and blush pinks, and all flowers that are
blue and resemble harebells or single butter
cups All varieties Of small green leaves
should be gathered and pressed-the more
the better. OF green home flowers, amongst
the best are the small horns of the coral plant,
and all sages, geraniums and dragon flowers,
institutions and fuchias If small. Quaking
grass, Canadian grass, oats, nearly all the
moses and the several kinds OF grasses will
press well and add to the beauty Of your dec
orations. .-...-.-....
In selecting flowers, care must be token to
get those most recently opened. For when
flower has been opened day or two, its
leaves get loose in the calyx, its tints lose
some of their Brightness, ard its silky leaves
are more likely to crumple up and wrinkle in
drying; and the dried flower, when you come
to take 1t out Of your book to use in apicture,
will be very apt to fall apart, and you will
have some trouble in rearranging the leaves
as they grew in the calyx. Yet If you cannot
procure flowers when they are first opened,
you can take the separate leaves, when press
ed, and stick them, one by one, back into
their calyx, and they win look just as II they
had never fallen apart. But In order to do
this, YOU must study the looks of every flower
you see, so that 1t win be daguerreotyped on
your memory, and then you will be able to
restore the petals to their cup, In the same
order which the Creator made them grow.
This is a delightful and most instructive part
of the study; and if you learn it well, you can
draw and paint flowers and leaves and trees
fl ON memory, which would be great advan-
tage to any artist, especially in winter. We
would add, that hdlf-opened buds, and small
unopened ones, such as arbutilon and fuchias
are beautiful to press, and make your variety
of outline greater. .a..' td h-".g
Verbeuas, and all plants that blossom so
that many flowers form on one branch, must
be separated, and each pressed sinsly, or in
small punches of two and three. If you un-
dertake to press an undivided bunch, you will
mar its beauty; for the blossoms will overlie
each other. We should prefer to press each
blossom separately, for you can easily group
them together again, If you wish to have
bunch of them in any one picture, or in an
Herbarium. 1t will be good plan whenever
YOU visit greenhouse or garden, TO look for
those flowers and leaves which will press well
and which you do not own. and never omit
an opportunity of adding TO your collection.
II you have friends who are travellers or sail
ors, you can, through them, procure many
rare flowers, and those that have interest from
foreign or historical association. An ivy from
Shakespeare's house or from Napoleons st.
Helena grave, or from st. Peters church in
Rome, or from the Mosque at Jerusalem, or a
leaf from the Nile, or flower from Australia
ANY such token adds much to the interest
of an Herbarium. Tulips may be preserved
more perfect in pressing, by pressing each
leaf by ITSELF and the calyx by itself, and then
grouping the leaves together afterwards when
you come to use them, inserting them in the
calyx as they formerly grew.
Flowers thus arranged and set in rustic
frames, made of shells, beads or nuts, as dis
played upon parlor walls, vie in beauty with
anything which can be drawn with the paint
ers brush or pencil.
TRAxI.