Ɛpsilon

To J. D. Hooker   2 October [1869]1

Down, Beckenham | Kent

Oct 2d

My dear Hooker.—

I am sorry to bother you with the enclosed long letter; but you will see that De Candolle asks me to communicate with you.— If you wish I will send you half all the many packets of seeds.—2

The experiment seems to me quite an excellent one; & I shd enjoy trying it, & will do my best, but I have so many other things in hand, & so little strength & time to watch & record daily the state of some score of lots of plants.— Yet, I will do my best.— If anyone in your establishment, wd do the work effectually I think it wd be Wisest to hand the whole lots over to you.—

Yours affect | C. Darwin

Please return D.C.s Letter.—

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to Alphonse de Candolle, 11 October 1869.
2
CD evidently enclosed the letter from Alphonse de Candolle, 28 September 1869. A copy of Candolle’s letter along with notes on the results of experiments made at Kew is in the archive at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Directors’ Correspondence, vol. 135, doc. 367a–e).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.3 of lots] ‘of’ interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6923,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6923