To T. H. Farrer 12 July 1875
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
July 12. 75
My dear Farrer
I think the experiment would be well worth trial, but it would be difficult unless D⟨ro⟩sera grew in some one’s park; for ⟨a⟩ considerable number of plants ought to be covered up very early in the season, & not fed with insects & an equal number likewise covered up & fe⟨d⟩; & an equal number of the ⟨pla⟩nts afterwards weighed, & as ⟨you⟩ justly observe their see⟨d⟩ing observed.1 I have found that they can be easily cultivated in soup plates surrounded by moss, & the only care requisite is not to give them too much water; they like a high temperature ie cool hothouse. I had a number of plates & began your experiment last summer, but unfortunately put partitions of zinc across each plate, & this seemed to kill all the plants; any how they quickly grew so unhealthy that I could draw no conclusions.
Independantly of seeding it is not improbable that the effects of animal food might be shown on the following year.
We had a letter from my son William this morning & he ends with the following words, with which I most heartily concur “we ought really to sign a round robin of thanks of the Farrers, it was so very pleasant there”2
Believe me my dear Farrer | Yours most sincerely | Ch. Darwin
P.S | I know nothing about the fertilisation of Drosera
Footnotes
Summary
Describes difficulty of conditions for the experiment with Drosera suggested by THF.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10060
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Linnean Society of London (LS Ms 299/24)
- Physical description
- LS 4pp damaged
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10060,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10060.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 23