WCP3995

[1] [p. 370]

22^nd June 1891

Many thanks for the orchis purpurea (fusca)…. Should you meet with anymore in an easy situation for getting up I shall be glad of one or two…. It is not at all necessary to send the flower stem, as that is always cut off when planting…. The great thing is to have the tubers, perfect, with a bit of the stem. They can be packed with a little fresh moss tied tightly around them, and they come in quite a small parcel…. Almost all plants travel best quite free from earth, and with a little slightly damp moss tied closely round their roots, the foliage being kept dry.

I read Mr. Prestwich’s paper with great interest, especially with regard to the rude type of implements, which I had never seen represented before. They are certainly very distinct from the well-formed Palaeolithic weapons, and their having a separate area of distribution is strong proof of their belonging to a different and earlier period.

I send you by parcel post a book of mine which may perhaps interest you.¹