[[1]]
Hooker *1
Royal Gardens Kew
Oct[ober] 29/[18]76
My dear Grant Duff *2
I have a letter from the Comte de Paris most strongly requesting me to find another
place for his late gardener at York House (Needles) -- If you have not yet arranged
with a man I should like to say a word for Needles, whose character is well known in
all this neighbourhood, & whose
[[2]] very rare skill in cultivating hardy plants, & his love for such things, might prove
the means of gratifying your love of plants in a very high degree. I would give any
thing for such a man at Kew.
Till next Saturday
Ever your | Jos D Hooker [signature]
ENDNOTES
1. Annotation added in pencil, presumably at a later date. Not written in Joseph
Hooker's hand.
2. Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff (1829--1906). Scottish politician, author
and administrator. He served as the Under Secretary of State for India from 1868 to
1874, Under Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1880 to 1881 and the Governor
of Madras from 1881 to 1886. Letters from Grant Duff to RBG Kew can also be found
in our online collection of Directors' Correspondence hosted at http://plants.jstor.org/
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