Description

Bourne acknowledges receipt of the 89 packets of seeds so generously sent. He has distributed the extra in Hill's name to where it will be most appreciated. He will personally plant and raise the 'Park allotment' himself. In addition to the seed from RBG Kew, he will add 50 more plants purchased from various firms. He discusses the problems of buying plants from such firms and agrees with Farrer, that the only way to secure desired varieties is to spend a lifetime buying everything offered and rejecting the spurious. Suspect plants the Park has purchased include; Androsace sarmentosa, a Laggeri, Primula bulleyana, and Saxifraga burseriana. Bourne also has three queries for Hill. Firstly, he has a report of two small colonies of Cypripediums in the central valley at 2,000 feet elevation. Described as 'Mocassin flowers', Bourne has asked for flowers and leaves of both, describes them to Hill, and asks if he might have a record of them. Secondly, he asks if Sagina decumbens is now included in the Arenarias. Thirdly, he enquires after the loss of odour in the musk plant following cultivation, and how this relates to evolution. Bourne wishes to conduct an experiment on this matter out of personal interest [see folio 40 for information on the musk plant provided to Bourne by 'S.A.S']. His other experiments are mostly related to soils and he believes that for the establishment of plants, the acidity of the soil is secondary to its other components. He believes it should be possible to greatly simplify the problems of establishing exotics, and re-forestation, by a soil inoculation derived from the plants or trees at hand. Pages one and two contain notes in another hand initialled 'T.A.S' [Thomas Archibald Sprague] addressing Bourne's queries. Page 1 of 2.

Description

Bourne acknowledges receipt of the 89 packets of seeds so generously sent. He has distributed the extra in Hill's name to where it will be most appreciated. He will personally plant and raise the 'Park allotment' himself. In addition to the seed from RBG Kew, he will add 50 more plants purchased from various firms. He discusses the problems of buying plants from such firms and agrees with Farrer, that the only way to secure desired varieties is to spend a lifetime buying everything offered and rejecting the spurious. Suspect plants the Park has purchased include; Androsace sarmentosa, a Laggeri, Primula bulleyana, and Saxifraga burseriana. Bourne also has three queries for Hill. Firstly, he has a report of two small colonies of Cypripediums in the central valley at 2,000 feet elevation. Described as 'Mocassin flowers', Bourne has asked for flowers and leaves of both, describes them to Hill, and asks if he might have a record of them. Secondly, he asks if Sagina decumbens is now included in the Arenarias. Thirdly, he enquires after the loss of odour in the musk plant following cultivation, and how this relates to evolution. Bourne wishes to conduct an experiment on this matter out of personal interest [see folio 40 for information on the musk plant provided to Bourne by 'S.A.S']. His other experiments are mostly related to soils and he believes that for the establishment of plants, the acidity of the soil is secondary to its other components. He believes it should be possible to greatly simplify the problems of establishing exotics, and re-forestation, by a soil inoculation derived from the plants or trees at hand. Pages one and two contain notes in another hand initialled 'T.A.S' [Thomas Archibald Sprague] addressing Bourne's queries. Page 1 of 2.