From Thomas Stretch to W. B. Tegetmeier 25 February 1868
Ormskirk
25th Feby 1868
Dear Sir,
In response to your letter requesting information respecting the relative numbers of males & females, I beg to give you my mite of information with respect to Poultry—1
In eight years the number of chickens reared by me is as follows, viz
| Cocks (Males) | 487 | |
| Pullets (Females) | 514 | (514) |
| 1,001 | 2 |
Yours truly | Th. Stretch
W B Tegetemier Esq
CD annotations
Verso of letter:
| ♀ | ♂ | |||||||
| 514 | : | 487 | = | 100 | : | y | = | 94.7473 |
Footnotes
At CD’s request, Tegetmeier had placed a notice in the Field requesting information on the proportion of the sexes in domestic animals (see letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 11 February [1868] and n. 2). Tegetmeier probably gave Stretch’s letter to CD, together with a related memorandum, which reads: ‘Mr Stretch’s fowls are cochins of a very superior quality and always selling for a very high prices I should think it most likely that the record would be accurately kept’ (DAR 86: C13).
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
Eight-year record of sexes of chickens.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5934
- From
- Thomas Stretch
- To
- William Bernhard Tegetmeier
- Source of text
- DAR 86: C13
- Physical description
- encl †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5934,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5934.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16
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