Letter from Robert Fortune to Dr Lindley [John Lindley, assistant secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]
Information
Title
Letter from Robert Fortune to Dr Lindley [John Lindley, assistant secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]
Record type
Archive
Original Reference
RHS/Col/8/1/9
Date
21 Dec 1842
Scope & content
Written from Kelloe, Ayton [Berwickshire, Scotland]
He wishes to send 'a few memoranda concerning the Chinese expedition'; he was told he could take boxes filled with plants, and would like to include different kinds of cacti in one box, roses in another box ('perhaps you would take the trouble to get Mr Munro [Donald Munro, gardener at the Horticultural Society garden at Chiswick, London] to procure in pot as many kinds as would fill a box [...] I should like to plant them in the box myself when I return'), and possibly fruit trees in a third box, which Mr Thompson [Robert Thompson, gardener at the Horticultural Society garden at Chiswick, London] can prepare, and the fourth box filled with soil, according to Lindley's suggestion, for studying the effects of different types of soil; if Lindley wants Fortune to study air plants during the voyage, there should be another case, but those plants might not be as useful in China, although studying the effects of the climate and the voyage would be interesting; he asks for 'some little tools, which will probably be almost indispensable'; he will take the majority of the seeds with him in the 'most approved way' in loose canvas bags, but would like to take others in sealed bottles and other containers 'which are generally thought bad'; Donald [Munro] should be asked to get some dry soil to put in the shed, which Forbes will then mix and prepare himself; he hopes the Society will procure subscribers for his dried specimens, 'if this is customary', or give him instructions on how to proceed with them; he intends to spend a few days around Edinburgh before returning to London, and 'for reasons with which you are acquainted, I am anxious to remain at Kelloe as long as is consistent with your plans [Fortune's wife was pregnant with their second child, John Lindley Fortune, who was born on or around 31 Dec 1842]'; 'you must excuse the various suggestions in this letter, they are only my own ideas on the subject'; he asks to tell Mrs Lindley [Sarah Freestone Lindley, wife of John Lindley] that they had an 'excellent passage', and his wife [Jane Penny Fortune] and daughter [Helen Jane Fortune] arrived safely in Scotland
Extent
3 page letter (1 sheet)
Is part of
RHS archive: plant collector papers
Repository
Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library
Copyright
Royal Horticultural Society
Credit Line
RHS Lindley Collections
Usage terms
Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)