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In sending specimens of plants for investigation it is
desirable to have the leaves, flowers, and fruit; and in the
case of bulbous plants, the bulbs, also. When they are
sent from a distance it is best to prepare the specimens
by drying them under pressure between folds of absorbent
paper, otherwise the parts shrink and break so as to
be hardly recognizable. When the dried plants are sent
they should be protected from breakage in the mail by
being inclosed between pieces of stiff pasteboard. Packages
weighing less than four pounds can be sent by mail
at the rate of one cent per ounce. Write the name of the
sender on the outside. In the letter accompanying the
specimens state where collected, the date, and any other
particulars of the plant, whether reputed poisonous, pestiferous,
medicinal, or useful.

United States
Department of Agriculture,
Bureau of Botany,
Washington, D. C., May 29 1885.

Prof. C. E. Bessey –
My dear Sir:–

The article on "[?]" is
from American Suppl. to Encycl. Britannica,
pub. in Phila.

I am now located here as
Assistant Botanist in this Department.
I have been assigned the case of the
cryptogamic portion of the Herbarium.
My line of work, as at present indicated, will
be the examination of commercial seeds
and the investigation of parasitic fungi
— those species that affect injuriously
on field & garden crops. In due time
the Department will send out circulars
directing the attention of the farmers to
some one or more of these pests requesting,
at the same time, information as
to the physical surroundings and matters
connected with the culture and growth of