Hints for Rock Collectors

1. Label specimens as they are collected. Identification can wait until later, but the place where the rocks were found should be recorded at once. Many collections have become mixed up because the collector did not do this.

2. Trim rocks in the collection to a common size. Specimens about 3 by 4 by 2 inches are large enough to show rock features well. Other display sizes are 2 by 3 by 1 inch, or 3 by 3 by 2 inches.

3. Ask for permission to collect rocks on private property. The owners will appreciate this courtesy on your part.

4. Be careful when collecting rocks. Work with another person, if possible, and carry a first aid kit. Wear protective clothing--safety glasses, hard-toed shoes, hard hat, and gloves--when dislodging specimens. Avoid overhanging rock and the edges of steep, natural or quarried walls.

5. Do not collect rocks in national parks and monuments or in State parks; it is illegal. Similar rocks commonly crop out on land nearby.

6. Look for unusual rocks to study in large buildings or in cemeteries. Dimension stone blocks and monument stone are often transported long distances from where they are quarried. Polished stone sometimes looks different from unpolished rock. This provides good identification practice.

7. Join a mineral club or subscribe to a mineral magazine. They occasionally discuss rocks.

8. Collecting rocks from each State or country has no scientific significance. The distribution of rocks is a natural phenomenon and is not related to political divisions.