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Biological Department. Professors: C. E. Bessey, M. Sc., Ph. D. Botany. F. E. L. Beal, B. [Sc.,] Zoology. M. Stalker, B. Sc., V. S., Anatomy. D. S. Fairchild, M. D. Pathology. Assistant: H. Osborn, B. Sc., Entomology
Iowa Agricultural College. Ames, Jany 14 1881
Dr. [Vasey?] My dear Sir,
I have made inquiry in regard to the matter of specimens of wood sections, and think that without much doubt the application you refer to must have been made by Professor Budd, our Professor of Horticulture. He has been out of town so that I have been unable to see him personally. President Welch does not know anything about any such request for specimens.
Had I known that any one here contemplated asking for specimens I should have been tempted to have
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C. E. Bessey. Ames, Iowa. Jan. 14/81.
made a suggestion or two as to the matter. I shall see Professor Budd in a few days and will write you again. In the meantime we shall be glad to have you hold the specimens for us, as no matter what department they go to they will be very useful.
When sent the package or packages should be labeled distinctly for the particular department (or Professor) for which it is designed.
I will write more definitely as soon as possible.
Very truly Yours [?]
C. E. Bessey.
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Biological Department. Professors: C. E. Bessey, M. Sc., Ph. D. Botany. F. E. L. Beal, B. [Sc.,] Zoology. M. Stalker, B. Sc., V. S., Anatomy. D. S. Fairchild, M. D. Pathology Assistant: H. Osborn, B. Sc., Entomology
Iowa Agricultural College. Ames, Feby 2d 1881
My dear Dr. [Vasey?]
I just [leave?] definitely that Professor Budd of our Dept. of Horticulture and Forestry sent in an application for specimens of woods. They should be sent by freight consigned as follows
"Iowa Agricultural College Ames Iowa. Care Prof. Budd"
Hoping you can send the specimens I [?].
Very truly [??] C. E. Bessey
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In sending specimens of plants for investigation, it is desirable to have the leaves, flowers, and fruit; and in the case of bulbous plants, the bulbs also. When they are sent from a distance it is best to prepare the specimens by drying them under pressure between folds of [?] paper, otherwise the parts shrink and break so as to be hardly recognizable. When the dried plants are sent they should be protected from breakage in the mail by being [inclosed?] between pieces of stiff [posterboard?]. Packages weighing less than four pounds can be sent by mail at the rate of one cent per usage. Write the name of the sender on the [?]. In the letter accompanying the specimens state where collected, the date, and any other particulars of the plant, whether reputed poisonous, [pestiforous?], medicinal, or useful.
Department of Agriculture, Division of Botany, Washington, D. C., Sept. 14th, 188 .
Prof. C. E. Bessey Ames, Iowa.
My dear Sir
Your note of the 10th [inst?] is at hand. In reply I would state that there is left only a broken set of the Southern plants, between 2 and 3 hundred species and only a small part of them distinctively Southern.
But I would inform you that my son has been doing the past season, (or perhaps I should say present season as he has not finished work yet) making a collection of plant in Southern Cal. Arizona & N. Mexico. The sets will comprise about 500 species and will be sold at the ten dollars per hundred. I have seen specimens of most of the species thus far collected and will say that I consider it the most valuable collection that has been made in that region in a long time. I believe you would be gratified with the appearance of these plants.
If you wish for a set of them, I will add also