To J. T. Moggridge   13 November [1866]1

Down Bromley

Nov. 13.

My dear Mr. Moggridge

I am very much obliged for your very interesting letter, for the seeds, and especially for the trouble which you have taken about the peas.2 I have often received vague information about sw. and common peas crossing; but on the other hand some careful raisers have assured me positively (and in one case I saw the seed-beds) that they get seed from beds of adjoining vars., and each var. comes true. I have the particulars of one case in which one var. of common pea was raised for a number of generations near other peas and yet kept true. From the action of Bees and from analogy the whole case perplexes me much. Perhaps if you come across any nursery gardener you will enquire whether they have actually known adjoining vars. to cross.

Last autumn I saw a peculiar bee visiting and apparently fertilising my sweet peas and I have saved seed to see if they come true.

But I shall be very much more interested by hearing what takes place in a warmer country.3

What you tell me about Jordan’s subspecies interests me much. I hope M. Thuret or Dr. Bornet will publish their results.— If you see them again, can you find out if they have so large a stock of seed that they could spare me a little. I should like to cross some of these five forms, and likewise grow them separately and in adjoining beds.—4 I am glad to hear about the orchids: mine are growing well.—5

One word more about the peas; it would be of some value, if you could ascertain that it was a general practice to grow the vars. of sweet and common peas separate; for this is certainly not commonly done in England.

With cordial thanks for all your great kindness, believe me, | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Copy

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. T. Moggridge, 9 November [1866].
2
Moggridge had made enquiries about hybridisation in peas (see letter from J. T. Moggridge, 9 November [1866]). For CD’s earlier work on sweetpeas and other leguminous plants, see the second letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [before 11 August 1866] and nn. 2, 5, and 6.
4
The remarks on Alexis Jordan’s sub-species were in a now missing portion of the letter from J. T. Moggridge, 9 November [1866], but probably referred to the several new species within the genus Papaver described in Jordan 1864; these were being studied by Edouard Bornet in the Antibes garden of Gustave Adolphe Thuret. Bornet later sent CD seeds of some Papaver varieties, so he could perform crossing experiments (see letter to Edouard Bornet, 1 December 1866 and n. 1).
5
The remarks on orchids were in a now missing portion of the letter from J. T. Moggridge, 9 November [1866]; Moggridge frequently sent orchid specimens to CD (see Correspondence vol. 13, letter from J. T. Moggridge, 27 December [1865] and, this volume, letter from J. T. Moggridge, 21 May [1866]). Moggridge may also have brought specimens when he visited CD in June (see letter from J. T. Moggridge, 14 June [1866] and n. 2).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5277,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5277