To J. D. Hooker 9 [December 1855]
Down.
9th—
My dear Hooker
I thought you were going to snub me, & in truth I opened the paper with no little fear; but instead of that you good & wicked man you have given me much too much praise.—1 I think I must now bury seed.—
What a capital little essay yours is, & what an odd case of deception about the Loranthus.2
Adios | C. D.
I have been reflecting that it wd. be far better to bury the Charlock seed3 in a Public Garden (together with a few other kinds) for suppose some of the seeds were to grow after 10 years, What a pity it wd. then be that the seeds shd. not be tried for a large period, & I shd be then 57 years old. In a public garden with some record kept, the case wd. get more interesting every year.— But if you think it not worth while, I will try Charlock, burying it 9 inches deep & enclosing the sides with bricks on edge.— But I think it a pity if the experiment is tried at all that it is not in a Public Place.— When we meet at Club4 you can tell me what you think—
Will you give the enclosed memorandum to Mr Seeman5 with my compliments.—
Footnotes
Summary
Burying charlock seeds.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-1736
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 114: 143
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1736,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1736.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 5