94
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
The following year he suggests that part of all the seeds
gathered should be sown as there are many curious seeds that
"lose the property of vegetation by a sea-voyage." The second
autumn or the following spring the plants could be put into
boxes of earth and sent so as to arrive the third or fourth month
and would then succeed very well.
Later he wrote (29. x. 1768): "In respect to the seeds and
"plants to be sent in future, please to keep this general order in
"view, viz.:—To send me any new plant that occurs to thee,
"that thou hast not sent me before; and of the more curious
"flowering plants or shrubs, I shall always be glad to receive
"duplicates of the plants, when occasion offers. The Magnolias,
"Kalmias, Rhododendrons, &c., are always acceptable." He
asks for American Martagons and Lychnoideas [Phlox]. "The seeds
"of Pines, and acorns15 of all sorts, may be promiscuously thrown
"amongst them. We take care of all the earth we receive
"plants in, spread it carefully in a border, and oft receive some
"curiosity which perhaps our correspondents did not know
"was contained in their present." Meanwhile Fothergill
continued to correspond with John Bartram. In 1768 he
employed John's son William to draw all the Land, River and
Sea Shells and in 1769 gave him a commission to draw American
tortoises. In a letter after the death of Collinson he writes:
"In inquiring into the value of those drawings, I do not so much
"want to know at how low a price he can afford them, as what,
"in his own opinion, will be a proper compensation for his
"labour and his time." In the same letter he says: "I have not
"leisure to become a perfect Botanist. I love the vegetable
"creation. I love its rarities, and cultivate it as an amuse-
"ment. Every new plant is an addition to my pleasure. I
"have most of the common produce of America, and they
"flourish with me, more than anywhere else."
In 1772 he mentions his garden: "My garden is pretty
"large, well sheltered, and a good soil. The North American
"plants flourish with me exceedingly. I have most of the
"common plants usually sent over; but have room for every-
"thing. I am fond of the Ferns. I have several from America,
19 In a previous letter he had said, "Of all the seeds sent over, there are scarce any so perish-
''able as acorns."