St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1912-01-03
BOTANY FIELD WORK
w. P. Carr Tells How Some Of the
Government Work IS Conducted.


orally understood by the people who
are not associated with this class
of work. The average collector,
while in the field, does not generally
have the time to answer in detail
the numerous questions concerning
his work asked him by farmers and
other people. with the result that
there is an almost universal mis-
understanding of the character,
scope, and value of this branch of
botanical investigation. While the
general opinion formed by watching
a collector in the field Is not always
highly complimentary to the bota-
mist personally, the value of the
work to the average farmer is esti-
mable If he will only utilize the re-
suits obtained through this work.
In the process of making a bo-
tanical survey the collector is gen
orally given a stated area in which
to carry on thorough collections of
his special class of plants. The best
known botanist is the one who col
lects all Towering plants, including
the common wild flowers, grasses,
trees, shrubs, and aquatic and bog
plants. Other classes of botanical
collecting include MOSES, ferns,
lichens, etc, and fungus and bacte-
rial plant diseases, fleshy fungi and
wood growths. There are a few
cryptogamic botanists who collect
fungus diseases of insects. The gen.
eral botanical collector, however,
collects all towering plants that are
representative of the section to
which he is assigned. The plants
that may have an economic value
are noted and utilized as explained
later.
There is no general system for
making these collections, such as
collecting all grass specimens at
once, all tree and shrub specimens
next, etc. AS a general rule each in
dividual species is collected as it
is noticed, without regard to it's
classification. The collector gives
consecutive numbers to his plant
collections, keeping a record in the
notebook Of the date, place, altitude
and miscellaneous notes on the gem
eral environment of each specimen.
In many expeditions the work is
conducted more from a taXonomic
than an economic standpoint. With
the taXonomic end in view this class
of specimens is secured in the
above manner, but only sufficient
material for determining the species
is obtained. After the botanical
name of each specimen is determin-
ed the plants are mounted on card
board sheets and placed in the her
barium of the institution under
whose auspices the expedition is
conducted, where they may be ex-
amined at any time. Published lists
of these collections are usually
ouaf1aHIn which NAV 10 mgpd nv O.
onomic botanists searching for dis
tinctive species Of economic value.
A large value of the taxonomic col
lection is in being able to supply to
the economic botanist the correct
classification of the plant, the range
of the species over the country, and
the general condition under which
it grows in the wild state.
The economic botanist, on the
other hand, makes not only collec-
lions of the native plants of region
for their scientific value, but makes
additional collections and notes on
the economic value of the species, |
and here is where the real value to
the plant grower becomes evident. 1t
is doubtless safe to say that in any
section of the country there are
wild plants as yet undomesticated, !
which could be made of true value
to the growers Of the section if put
under domestication and experiment |
tation. Native fruit trees usually
make the best stocks on which to
graft and bud valuable imported and
cultivated varieties of fruits of the
same species. Native wild flowers, !
domesticated and cross-pollinated
with cultivated varieties of value, |
sometimes produce hybrids of still
greater value, the advantage OF
growing the hybrid in the habitat
of one of the ancestors being COM
bined with the superior quality of
the other ancestor. In order to
give opportunity for the economic
work on the native plants the col |
lector brings to the propagation
collections of the seeds, budwood, !
grating stocks, etc, for use in de- |
veloping more valuable plants under
native conditions.
The economic botanist in this |
plant industry usually works with |
only one phase of the large subject; !
the forage crop expert gives atten- |
ton to all the native grasses, Glow
ers and other legumes; the medicin- |
al plant expert works with the plants |
with medicinal values; the horticul- !
turist puts the native fruit and veg
etable plants under experimental |
ton, and so forth. The general col !
lector, however, makes collections |
OF all forms, with notes and photo
graphs, from which the laboratory !
and greenhouse propagation work |
are conducted.
1t would make this article too |
long to go into the methods used |
by the psychologist and propagation /
In developing the value of the plants /
after the work Of the field collector |
has been concluded, or to more than \
generaliZe on the work of the coll |
lector. The results of the work of /
the collector can be Of real value to
the farmer, horticulturist, florist,
nurseryman, and to all interested in
garden and ornamental plants by
thnir etrdnino their Incal hnra and 1