From John Colby 9 April 1877
Pantyderi— Blaenffos R.S.O | South Wales.
9 Ap 77
Dear Sir
I am much obliged to you for your letter anent the blue bell.1 In this part of the country the tendency of the dioecious principle to win the race of life is very marked. This place has, from time unknown, been called Pantyderi (Vale of Oaks) and there are still some good old oak trees standing. But very rarely now do I find a seedling oak tree, though ash seeds itself in abundance & grows up like a weed— It seems to push all other trees out of the premises.2 The only one which holds its own against it being sycamore. This beats ash on the higher grounds, exposed to the S.W & W winds off the Sea.3 But is beaten by ash in sheltered places. Of other trees, Alder does well along rivers; wild cherry formerly seeded itself freely, but seems now to get less common; Holly grows freely; Mountain ash fairly; Beech seedlings are occasionally found; Elm never seeds itself but young trees occasionally grow up from root suckers.4 Laurel, & Silver fir occasionally grow from seed without assistce.. But Spruce fir, scotch fir, larch, poplar, aspen would I believe soon die out but for artificial care. Rhododendron occasionally grows from seed.5 I knew of one which grew high up in the hollow of an oak branch, near this—
But as I said before nothing comes near the ash for taking care of itself in the lower grounds— In some places they grow up like corn & could be mowed with a scythe—
By the way, turning from plants to animals, do you know if the Brown Owl has been known to build in chimneys? For this morning a nest with four young owls was taken from our kitchen chimney, although a “culm” fire burns in the kitchen without intermission day & night.6
I had seen the old owls about the house but had no idea they were chimney builders.
The other chimneys are frequented by jack daws, perhaps the owls thought the young daws would come in handy for feeding the owlets.7
This is a famous winter resort for birds for there are plenty of evergreens, & running water which I have never known to freeze over, the birds however are mostly small the largest wild bird being the heron.8
Hoping these brief notes may be of interest to you & that you can tell whether the owls are singular in their chimney predilections I am yours faithfully | John Colby—
Footnotes
Bibliography
Cross and self fertilisation: The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1876.
OED: The Oxford English dictionary. Being a corrected re-issue with an introduction, supplement and bibliography of a new English dictionary. Edited by James A. H. Murray, et al. 12 vols. and supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1970. A supplement to the Oxford English dictionary. 4 vols. Edited by R. W. Burchfield. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1972–86. The Oxford English dictionary. 2d edition. 20 vols. Prepared by J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1989. Oxford English dictionary additional series. 3 vols. Edited by John Simpson et al. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1993–7.
Summary
Notes on competition among tree species in South Wales.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10924
- From
- John Colby
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Pantyderi
- Source of text
- DAR 161: 208
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10924,” accessed on 24 May 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10924.xml