Ɛpsilon

From T. H. Farrer   12 March 1880

Please Read & burn or keep

THF 1

12.3.80

Copyhold Inclosure & Tithe Commision | 3, St. James’ Square. S.W.

Mar 12.80

My dear Farrer

Pray say to Mr. Darwin that we have entire confidence in his appropriation of the money. I had no idea that Mr. Torbitts experiments were on so large a scale.2

I keep Mr. D’s letter to show it to Mr. Morrison.3

Great enjoyment attend you on your going over to Rome.4 | Yours sincerely | James Caird

1
Farrer wrote the comments at the top of letter before forwarding it to CD.
2
In his draft letter to Farrer of 9 March 1880, CD had expressed doubt whether Caird had understood the scale of James Torbitt’s breeding experiments on blight-resistant potatoes. Caird had been collecting subscriptions to enable Torbitt to continue his work.
3
See draft letter to T. H. Farrer, 9 March 1880. Charles and Alfred Morrison had given £25 each to support Torbitt’s scheme; they had asked to know the results (see enclosure to second letter from T. H. Farrer, 8 March 1880.
4
‘Going over to Rome’: a joking allusion to converting to Catholicism. Farrer planned to visit Rome for six weeks with his wife Katherine Euphemia Farrer; see letter to James Torbitt, 20 March 1880 and n. 2.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12533,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12533