Letter from Robert Fortune to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Alexander Henderson], 21 Regent St, London

Title

Letter from Robert Fortune to the secretary of the Horticultural Society [Alexander Henderson], 21 Regent St, London

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/8/2/10

Date

20 Sep 1844

Scope & content

Written from Ning Po [Ningbo, Zhejiang, China]

The letter includes an opened seal. Written on onion-skin paper. Annotated on the reverse: 'Via Southampton'

Letter No 10

He sailed for Ning Po a few days after his last letter, and continued after a week to his 'old quarters' in the temple of Tein-tung [Ningbo, Zhejiang, China]; the seeds he marked on his previous visit were still unripe, and he left them for a few more weeks; he heard reports from Shanghae [Shanghai, China] about large, fine peaches sold at the markets, possibly 'the celebrated Pekin peach, which has been so much talked about lately'; although he had had no intention of returning to Shanghae so soon, he was anxious to see the fruit and learn more about where it came from, but could find no fruit on his arrival, as the season only lasts a few days, but he was able to ascertain that it was the Shanghae variety, of which he had sent plants to the Society last spring by the Cornwall; the English residents in Shanghae considered the fruit 'remarkable both in size and flavour, and many of them affirmed that they never saw any to equal these in England'; if the plants reached England alive, Mr Thompson [Robert Thompson, gardener at the Horticultural Society garden at Chiswick, London] will see that they are grafted, as he has learned from experience that the plants otherwise die easily during the long sea voyage; when he returns to Shanghae to collect his plants, he will make sure that more of the peach trees are procured and sent to England; he would like to hear how the plants he sent earlier fared; he is sending seeds by this mail, including three kinds of Chinese vegetables, 'which will probably be found useful in England'; he finally found specimens of Nankin cotton [Nankeen, pale yellow cotton originally manufactured in Nanjing, China]; he will enclose a full list of the items sent with notes for the garden [enclosures not present]

Fortune's expenses for 6-31 Aug 1844 include 'personal expenses in Chusan [Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China]' $18, 'coolie [indentured worker] hire for shipping at Chusan and landing at Ning Po' $2, 'paid for plants in Ning Po, coolie hire &c' $6.50, 'paid my artist for drawings to send to the Society' $4 and 'sundries' $2 [here the list includes 11 more items]. Includes a note, signed by R.F. [Robert Fortune], relating to withdrawing 'small sums of money' from Messrs Dent & Co

Enclosed is a loose slip of paper entitled 'Way of dressing the hoosung [Chinese stem lettuce]', in a different hand, with a recipe for preparing the vegetable: 'Pare off the outer skin, cut off the leaves, taking the stalk. Either simply boiling it with salt, and eating it with pepper, or stewing it with a few spoonsfull [sic] of soup, if you are making any, or with a little soy, salt and pepper. The last is the more preferable way of dressing this vegetable'. Includes a note in Fortune's hand: 'I have received this note from Mrs Lockhart [Catharine Parks Lockhart], lady of Dr Lockhart [William Lockhart, British missionary and physician in China], medicine mission, Shanghae. R.F.'

Extent

5 page letter (2 sheets)

Is part of

RHS archive: plant collector papers

Repository

Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library

Copyright

Royal Horticultural Society

David Vickers

Credit Line

Courtesy of David Vickers / RHS Lindley Collections

Usage terms

Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)