Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-10
Fig 4.

fruit trees. Every village improvement
society should encourage the forming of
these small collections; every local grange
and alliance should help, and at every
county fair premiums should be offered for
the best collections, together with the best
essays on the habits Of injurious, and also
beneficial, insects of that particular section.
1t is with the idea Of helping on such
movements and such studies that this series
of short articles is prepared.
A collection of insects should be begun in
the proper way. 1t is true that the larger
kinds, such as butterflies and the great
beetles, can be transfxed with ordinary
pins and stuck into cigar boxes without any
especial care, but they will not show to good
advantage and Will soon be ruined by the
little red ants or by certain other little in
sects which are particularly fond of eating
dead and dry specimens. There are three
very necessary things to provide before be-
ginning to collect These are the boxes or
cabinets, proper insect pins and spreading
boards
Collection for Display.
Different collectors prefer different kinds
of boxes, but we may take it for granted
that the young collector wishes at first
display collection. For this purpose glass
covered tray is the best The most 6onven-
lent dimensions are eighteen inches square
and three inches deep. The cover to the
tray should fit on by means of tongue and
groove, and the material of which the boxes
are made should be aboutthree-eighths Of an
inch thick.
We show in Fig 1 good display tray,
which any carpenter, or in fact any ingeni-
Gus boy himself, should be able to make
cheaply. The maker should be careful to
dove-tail all joints so as to render the boxes
as tight as possible. The best boxes are
lined with sheet cork, in which to insert
pins, but the best boxes are expensive. A
fair substitute may be found in firmly glu-
ing small bottle corks at the proper inter-
walls on the bottom of the box
Such trays can be piled one upon the
other, or cabinet can be constructed to
contain them, or they can be hung upon the
wall. If hung up, q dark cloth curtain
should be attached to each, as otherwise the
specimens would soon become sadly faded
by the light.
IT one cannot afford these rather elaborate
glass-covered boxes, a tight pasteboard box
will answer for some time. These can be
made to order in any paper box factory.
They should be made of heavy pasteboard,
the cover should fit very tightly, all joints
should be carefully pasted over with paper.
| have seen such boxes, 10 by II by az
inches. with solid cover, which were made
to order in New York City for 25 cents,
and which were strong enough and large
enough to answer fairly we'll tor tempor-
airy collections
Pins to Transfix Them.
It is almost useless to try to make col
lection with common pins. They are too
short and too stout and altogether too
clumsy. There better be, therefore, some
little outlay of money in buying the real in
sect pins. These may be bought from any
dealer in natural history supplies. Almost
every large place has its dealer They cost
10 cents per 100 or 81 per 1000 Nos. 2, Q and
are the best to buy, and the beginner
might send at first for 200 of these three
sizes assorted. Any man with rod Of land
will find it profitable to have his children
thus spend 80 cents. These pins are long
and slender, yet strong. elastic and sharp,
and are just suited fer their purpose.
The next thing to get ready, before be-
ginning the collection, is the spreading
board. This is absolutely necessary if you
are going to collect butterflies and moths
The idea Of this spreading board can Be
readily seen from Fig 2. 1t is made Of two
pieces of thin, smooth pine wood, Joined
together by braces, with crack between
them sufficiently wide to admit the body Of
the insect whose wings are to be spread,
piece of sheet cork Or corn pith being
fastened beneath the opening to hold the
pins. 1t is we'll to. have three OF four of
these spreading boards With the cracks
varying id width; some for bik-bodied