Letter from Jos. D. Hooker [Joseph Dalton Hooker] [to George Maw]

Information

Scope & content: Written from Royal Gardens, Kew. Manuscript

Maw’s tallies have arrived snapped; this brittleness is their greatest drawback; he, Mr Smith [John Smith, curator at Kew] and Professor Oliver [Daniel Oliver, librarian of the Kew Herbarium] have discussed the matter and they all like the grey tint, but think that the heads are too heavy and will break easily; the best plan is to have a metal frame with a shank and a groove into which to slide the earthenware tally, so it is well protected by the frame, though it must have space for water to run off; tin frames would do for indoor use, but iron is better for outdoors so any blow from a tool will not break the earthenware; Maw’s tallies are excellent in form, shape and writing but are too large for the majority of pots; copper clips will probably be best to hold the tallies; he will have a tin frame made for garden pots and consult Maw on tallies for it; he will not trouble Maw with names until they have settled the tallies

Credit Line: Courtesy of David Symonds Hooker / The Descendants of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker / RHS Lindley Collections