Ferdinand von Mueller

Melbourne botanic Garden,

21. Aug. 1864.

Sir

In compliance with the instructions conveyed in your circular N. 3261.

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Circular not found.

I have the honor of submitting to you my propositions in reference to the estimates of the expenditure, likely to be needed for the maintainance of the scientific and horticular

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horticultural?

branches of the botanical Department during the year 1865.

This vote admits in 1865 of no reduction, as the general progress of improvements during the current year has been much impeded by the necessity of devoting all available spare-labour for repair of the damages caused in the lower Garden by the two last Yarra floods. Out of this vote moreover the trees already planted in the Government House Domain between the City bridge and the botanic Garden (amounting to 7000-8000) have to be maintained; and it must further be considered that all the smaller repairs to the various buildings, fences, gates &c have to be defrayed out of this vote, as well as labor to raise the vast number of plants still annually demanded from this establishment for the Gardens and reserves of public institutions throughout the Colony.

This latter sum comprises not only the means of continuing the publication of "the plants of Victoria" and the "fragmenta phytographiae Australia" (both works property of the Government) but also the subsidy of £100.- .- guaranteed for each volume of the general work on Australian plants, which the President of the Linnean Society under my assistance is publishing in London, and towards the issue of which also the Governments of New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland are contributing monetary grants.

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Bentham (1863-78).

This last item is a nominal one for the consumption of water from the Yan Yean System. I would solicit, that I may be allowed as an equivalent for the benefit of this establishment an unlimited supply of water at least during certain hours of the day, or that otherwise the vote may be increased to £300.- .-.

To successive Governments I ventured to point out, how desirable it would be to acquire such additional material for our already important phytological Museum, as would not only render us independent of great similar institutions of Europe, but would also save time in the execution of those scientific works for which this office has become central in Australia; and indeed the above sum was on a former occasion actually placed on the printed estimates, but not reappeared after some political changes.

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The purchase of Sonder's herbarium was mooted in M to W. Nicholson, 1 November 1859. M to W. Nicholson, 30 June 1860, included in his requested funds for 1861an amount of £1600 'Towards the formation of a botanic museum', with the rationale given in M to W. Nicholson, 3 July 1860. In his submission for funds for 1862 he reiterated the request for £1600 for 'a judicious purchase of prepared extra-Australian plants' (M to R. Heales, 19 August 1861 (in this edition as 61-08-19a), and renewed his request, but for £1200 'for the purpose of securing the Sonderian collections of plants, now at Hamburg, for our botanical Museum' (M to J. Moore 3 October 1863). The estimates for 1861, ordered to be printed 11January 1861 during the Heales ministry, contained a sum of £1600 'towards formation of a Botanical Museum' (Parliamentary Paper B 1, Estimates of the expenditure of the Government of Victoria for the year 1861, p. 14). There was no such amount in the estimates ordered to be printed on 29 October 1861, just before Heales ministry was replaced by O'Shanassy's on 14 November (Parliamentary Paper B 5, Estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the Government of Victoria for the year 1861, p. 11). It was not restored in the supplementary estimates brought forward by the O'Shanassy ministry. No provision was made in estimates for 1863 (Parliamentary Paper 1862/63 B 3, Estimates of the expenditure of the Government of Victoria for the year 1863, p. 13), or for 1864 ((Parliamentary Paper 1864 B 2*, Estimates of the expenditure of the Government of Victoria for the year 1863, p. 11).

For the purpose of acquiring vast additions to our collection a favorable opportunity presents itself by the intended private sale of the Sonderian collections in Hamburg, which is extremely rich in the authographed plants of numerous celebrated botanical authors. The accumulation of these collections has involved the expenditure of almost a life's labour and very extensive financial sacrifices to its owner; yet the original price of £1800.- .- for the total of these collections has now been reduced to £1200.- .-. If the honorable the Chief Secretary decided to add these treasures to those we already possess, our Museum would be second only to that of Kew and Paris, bear fair comparison to those of Vienne Berlin and Geneve, and would prove probably richer than any other in existence, whilst its material would be available under proper care for the continuation of independent local researches in phytology for all future generations. May I therefore beg leave to suggest, without thereby involving the Government to any distinct pledge for the future, that half the purchase sum (vize £600.-.-) might be kindly granted in 1865, and the moety could then perhaps at any future period, when perfectly convenient, be provided. The remainder of the sum indicated under the item 11, I would solicit to be devoted to the purchase of the private portion of the botanic Library now in use at this office. No distinct vote being ever provided for the purchase of books in this Department, it became necessary for the holder of the office to purchase them out of his private slender means, whereby his income during some years became reduced from £600 to £400, an income, I may be allowed to say, barely adequate to maintain the dignity of the office and to meet the calls of scientific men on its occupant and certainly out of proportion to the emoluments of all other scientific positions upheld by the Government in this Colony.

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The Government Astronomer had a specific allocation of £50 for Books (1864 estimates).

Salaries for government scientific officers from 'Blue book' (Parliamentary paper 1864 no. 3 Statistics for the colony of Victoria for the year 1862, pp. 331-409):

Chief medical Officer (W. McCrea): £900,

Director Magnetic Survey (G. B. Neumayer): £400,

Director National Museum (F. McCoy): £300 (in addition to Professor of Natural Science, £1000 plus quarters at University of Melbourne; Selleck (2003), p. 30),

Government Astronomer & director Geodetic Survey (R. L. J. Ellery): £600 (with quarters),

Government Botanist (M): £600 (with quarters),

Government Geologist (A. R. C. Selwyn): £800,

Surveyor General (C. W. Ligar): £1000.

Perhaps the Government will therefore take into favorable consideration whether it is not desirable and equitable that so valuable and unique a collection of books carefully gathered during many years should be permanently secured to the establishment; if so I should be most willing to accept for them whatever valuation by Mr Tulk, Mr Jam. Smith or any other appointed judge of books may fix on them, altho' such necessarily must fall far short of the original outlay incurred for these books. But a small sum, which might in future be saved out of the store vote, would be needed for the subsequent annual supply of new and to us important works of botanical literature.

The honorable the Chief Secretary