To T. H. Farrer 18 January 1881
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)
Jan 18th 1881
My dear Farrer
When you next go to Abinger, if you can spare the time & the weather is decent, will you be so kind as to aid me once more to the many times already.—1
I am perplexed by the amount of residue left on the surface of the chalk here & by the very little on the sloping Downs to the north of your house.— I want you to go to the Downs & select any turf-covered sloping surface & cut with any strong knife or spud a small square hole & to send me about 2 oz. of clean chalk-fragments, immediately beneath the vegetable mould. I want to ascertain the percentage of earthy matter in the chalk. You will not, I imagine, have to dig above 6 inches deep, if so much.— I shd like to hear what the thickness of the vegetable mould is, measured from the upper surface, at the base of the free blades of grass.
Near Winchester I find that much fine earthy matter percolates into the chalk—, from 10 to 13 per cent; whereas the unaltered upper chalk contains only from 1 to 2 per cent.—2
P.S. | Note from Mr Caird agreeing with what you generously proposed in re Torbitt.3
Footnotes
Bibliography
Earthworms: The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881.
Summary
Asks THF to obtain sample of chalk immediately below vegetable mould at Abinger.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13016
- 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 299/32)
- Physical description
- inc
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13016,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13016.xml