Augustin Ehrensvärd thanks Linnaeus for the plants that were sent to Finland, remarking that the delay in replying was a result neither of laziness nor lack of gratitude but solely because Ehrensvärd had hoped to be able to sent Linnaeus a leaf of rhubarb as evidence of a successful result.
Ehrensvärd continues, remarking that the plant had developed large shoots. Cassevia, Poa aquatica L, had grown in the garden and that now several stands had been planted out in the meadow and pasture. Ehrensvärd admires the plant and, remarking that as it is not native to Finland, he wishes to introduce it everywhere. It has nothing that looks like seeds but numerous shoots.
Ehrensvärd thanks Linnaeus profusely for the seeds that would be sown both in the autumn and in the spring. The summer had been wet and cold so almost no seeds had ripened, not even the common garden seeds. Ehrensvärd asks Linnaeus, being the good patriot he is, to send some more seeds.
Ehrensvärd is worried about the rhubarb that Linnaeus had sent, as it has given nothing but trouble. He had sown seeds indoors on 10 March and planted them out in the garden on 19 May, but they all died. Then he sowed 16 seeds in the garden, of which 12 germinated. Of these six or seven had grown reasonably large, a couple had died and the remainder were stunted and none had grown.