London
5th March 1836
Dear Sir
I enclose a cheque for the amount <1> of the Texas plants –
I give a gardener 35£ <2> with a house & fuel, also vegetables out of the garden ad libitum. <3> I want a man who understands the management of a kitchen garden, wallfruit, etc. and who is himself a hardworking man – There is a good deal of pleasure ground to take care of. I do not want him to possess much botanical knowledge, but I should prefer a person of intelligence for then it is easily acquired as much as is wanted for common practice. I do not want him to understand hothouses or greenhouses, or forcing. – I should be glad to hear more particulars of the one you speak of, from Bothwell gardens, <4> but the difficulty is that if I should not like him when I see him, I shd have to pay his journey to & from Scotland. This makes it desirable to have him more particularly recommended before I send for him.
I keep 3 or 4 men always at work in the garden –
Believe me Yours very truly
H. F. Talbot
Notes:
1. See Doc. No: 00262 and Doc. No: 03211.
2. See Doc. No: 00262.
3. ‘At pleasure’, that is, ‘as much as he wants’.
4. See Doc. No: 00262. Bothwell, Lanarkshire, is southeast of Glagow.