WCP3887

[1]

Parkstone, Dorset.

June 7th. 1899

Dear Mr. Ridley¹

I should have written before to thank you for the box with very nice plants of orchids — some Aerides or Saccolabiums I suppose — which reached me some weeks back ^{in very good condition} but I waited expecting a P.[ost] card with the name of the species. Then about 2 weeks back I received a huge case of orchids fromt he Calcutta Bot.[anical] Gardens through the recommendation of Sir George King.² It contained over 100 plants many very large [2] of some of the finest Indian & Burmese Dendrobiums & other genera, and I have been ever since hard at work cleaning, sorting, & potting them. They arrived mostly in excellent condition. I am therefore now pretty full, and will not trouble you to send me any more unless you should happen to receive a lot of some rare & fine species like the Siamese Saccolabium celeste or any of the [3] fine Dendrobiums of Borneo.

I have also at length succeede<d> in getting roots of the blue water lily from S.[outh] Africa and have arranged are outside warmed tank for it. & it is already forming buds, and I expect will succeed.

I suppose you have not formed the prehistoric man or missing-link yet.

Believe me | Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]