From C. W. Crocker 17 May 1862
South St. Chichester
May 17th. 62
Dear Sir
Could you see the pleasure your book has already given me, for I have just dipped into it, and the continued pleasure I shall receive in perusing it and trying all the points within my reach, it would repay your kindness better than any words of mine could do.1 I shall give up the attempt to try and thank you, for it would be impossible to do it properly; all I can say is that you have furnished me with a great amount of pleasure of the highest and purest kind. That I appreciate your present I need hardly say.
I had already begun to examine the structure of Orchis maculata before the book reached, before it had been in my possession ten minutes I understood its peculiarities. clearly.— Have you ever examined Sobralia I do not find the name in the index and have not yet read the whole book.2 A friend of mine sent me a flower of S. macrantha which I kept in water for some days for I did not like to sacrifice the pleasure of seeing it even to the curiosity of examining its structure. It yesterday began to shrivel and I then tried taking away the sepals and petals I saw there was a passage leading to the nectary. An insect going in would disturb nothing but in coming out would lift up a cup, hinged at the top, and covering the pollinia. These so quickly set that after about half a minute I had some little difficulty in removing them from the object to which they were attached. If the insect failed in removing them the lid fell back into its former position to keep all moist.— I had only one flower to examine and know the danger of judging from such meagre materials but if you examine this plant yourself I think you will find this the plan of operation.
I am terribly afraid I shall be obliged to lose a twelvemonth in the case of the Hollyhock experiment. I cannot get the necessary plants.3 Everybody discards the plants which have a tendency to be single and the very double ones would be useless for the purpose. It would be of no use to write to the nurserymen for they would grow none but what they term first class plants. I have tried every garden near us with the same result. I shall however do the best I can with the plants such as they are and should the result be unsatisfactory will make sure of single plants from someb⟨ody’s⟩ seed-bed for the following year.
I have been trying to make myself acquainted with the history of Ranunculus Ficaria, and you will see the result in the little paper I post with this.4 I mentioned some points connected with it in the Chronicle hoping to get light especially upon the point as to what enemies it has to fight against in the struggle for life. Two correspondents said they had found the young tubers to be eaten by the common wood pigeon.5 Th⟨is is un⟩satisfactory to me; the tubers ⟨ ⟩ ⟨ ⟩ those formed the preceeding ⟨ ⟩ upon the surface of the ground. This was not the point I wished for information upon— I wanted to know what killed them in the second year— there are hundreds produced every spring from last summer’s tubers for every single plant which grows on the second year. What kills them after they have once made a good start? They dont rot away because they keep very well even under water. It is not due to the pigeons because I dont believe they would dig them out (in the second year the tubers are buried an inch or so below the surface) and because the wholesale destruction is going on where pigeons are rarely if ever seen. When a root does manage to live on it grows much stronger and flowers more early and more plentifully than the plants from last year’s tubers.
I enclose a copy of my notes upon Primula sinensis but look upon them as very unsatisfactory because the plants were quite exhausted with flowering.6 In other places ⟨ ⟩ I visited I found only two or three ⟨ ⟩ blooms.
Primula sinensis Garden No. 1— —Garden No 2. Long styled —— 8 — 4 Short styled — 4 — 5 Medial — — 2 — 1?
Since I wrote to you last I have lost my poor Mother after a most trying illness. She only survived my father for a little more than six months.7
With many thanks for your kind present I remain, dear Sir, | yours very respectfully | Chas. W. Crocker
C. Darwin Esqre.
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Collected papers: The collected papers of Charles Darwin. Edited by Paul H. Barrett. 2 vols. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. 1977.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Crocker, Charles William. 1862. The lesser celandine, Ranunculus ficaria. Gardener’s Weekly Magazine, and Floricultural Cabinet 4: 68–70.
DNB: Dictionary of national biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. 63 vols. and 2 supplements (6 vols.). London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1912. Dictionary of national biography 1912–90. Edited by H. W. C. Davis et al. 9 vols. London: Oxford University Press. 1927–96.
‘Illegitimate offspring of dimorphic and trimorphic plants’: On the character and hybrid-like nature of the offspring from the illegitimate unions of dimorphic and trimorphic plants. By Charles Darwin. [Read 20 February 1868.] Journal of the Linnean Society of London (Botany) 10 (1869): 393–437.
Orchids 2d ed.: The various contrivances by which orchids are fertilised by insects. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition, revised. London: John Murray. 1877.
Orchids: On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1862.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Comments on presentation copy of Orchids. Has CD studied the orchid Sobralia?
Cannot get material for hollyhock experiment.
Sends his notes on Primula sinensis.
He is experimenting on Ranunculus.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3557
- From
- Charles William Crocker
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Chichester
- Source of text
- DAR 108: 133, DAR 161.2: 258
- Physical description
- ALS 5pp damaged †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3557,” accessed on 3 June 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3557.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 10