Ɛpsilon

To J. D. Hooker   1 October [1879]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

Oct 1st

My dear Hooker

Do not hate me too much for bothering you. Ld. Walsingham says G. Sleigh is sober, honest & industrious; & he evidently wishes to give him a good character, but adds “he is likely to be a useful gardener under a good head. He is a strong able working man, but requires instruction & experience”. Now having done the thing most odious to me of making a change in my servants, I think it would be a pity not to get a really good gardener. Pray tell me what you think. I have written to Sleigh that he would not do, but I could easily take him if you thought that I had better; I agreed that I wd give him 28s per week to be raised to 30s. I have sent him a present to make up for his disappointment.2

Can you or Mr Smith aid me?3 Miss Laura Forster, who is staying here says she has known of 6 good gardeners procured through Mrs Veitch.; but I do not know the Veitch’s.4 For love of Heaven advise me | Your affect | C. Darwin

I forgot to thank you for Tecoma & Mimosa; the former like all other apheliotropic plants proves at present to be a beast.5

Pray tell Lady Hooker that I have thoroughly appreciated her Bananas: they were excellent & she the best of women.—6

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to Thomas de Grey, 26 September 1879.
2
CD had asked Thomas de Grey, Baron Walsingham, for a character reference for George Sleigh (letter to Thomas de Grey, 26 September 1879; see also letter to George Sleigh, [before 26 September 1879]). Henry Lettington, CD’s previous head gardener, became ill in 1879 and seems to have reduced the amount of time he spent working for CD (letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 1 September [1879]; letter from Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, [20 September 1879], DAR 219.9: 207; CD’s Classed accounts (Down House MS)). Grey’s reply and CD’s second letter to Sleigh have not been found.
3
Hooker was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; John Smith was curator of the herbarium.
4
CD had had dealings with the nurserymen James Veitch & Sons since at least 1861 (see Correspondence vol. 9).
5
According the Kew Outwards book (Archives, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), CD was sent ‘Tecoma (?) radicans’ and Mimosa pudica on 26 September 1879. Tecoma radicans is a synonym of Campsis radicans (trumpet creeper). In Movement in plants, p. 451, CD commented that the stems of Tecoma radicans, like the stems of other plants that climbed by rootlets, were apheliotropic. He discussed the movement of the cotyledons of Mimosa pudica (the sensitive or shame plant) in ibid., pp. 37, 105 and passim.
6
Hyacinth Hooker had evidently taken over Hooker’s task of sending CD bananas from Kew (see Correspondence vol. 25, letter to Hyacinth Hooker, [18 November 1877]).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

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Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12241,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12241