Letter from J.D. Hooker [Joseph Dalton Hooker] [to George Maw]
Information
Title
Letter from J.D. Hooker [Joseph Dalton Hooker] [to George Maw]
Record type
Archive
Original Reference
MAW/1/51
Date
6 Dec 1868
Scope & content
Written from Royal Gardens, Kew. Manuscript
The tallies arrived safely and the large Parians [Parian ware, a type of biscuit porcelain imitating marble] mounted on iron shanks seem perfect for trees; the only obstacle is the expense, though they should be able to use them for conspicuous plants and for ‘Natural Order’ tallies in the herbaceous grounds; for ordinary trees and herbaceous ground plants they are too large and expensive; they prefer the upright tallies for outside as slanted ones will accumulate bird droppings; the stencil plates are a good idea, as well as the terracotta tallies, though Mr Smith [John Smith, curator at Kew] thinks the shank too short and that the gardeners will complain of their friability, and careless workers may break them while moving; he would like to try a shelf of them as they are, and some of the mounted Parians to determine if they are frost and weather proof before ordering a larger quantity; he suggests that iron tallies could be enamelled and written on, which would work for all outdoor purposes, and Maw’s ‘handsome’ mounts could be used for certain plants to make them stand out; he may write to Baugh of Birmingham about enamelled iron, and asks if Maw knows anything of him; Mr Bentham [George Bentham, botanist], who is at Kew daily, will give Maw the best information about the Pyrenees; esparto is the ‘alpha’ [halfah] grass which has two kinds, Stipa tenacissima and Lygeum spartum, both used in the arts; Stipa tenacissima is used extensively to make paper in England; he suggests that he and Maw always meet at the Linnean Society when Maw is in town on the evening meeting days