Document information

Physical location:

H72/23262, unit 750, VPRS 44/P inward registered and unregistered correspondence, VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey, Public Record Office, Victoria. 72.10.24

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to James Casey, 1872-10-24. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id/72-10-24>, accessed September 11, 2025

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MS written by Georg Luehmann and signed by M.
Melbourne Botanic Garden
24th October 1872
Sir
I have the honour to inform you that, in accordance with the instructions conveyed by your memorandum of yesterday, which I received this day, gardeners J. Watters, W. Lumsden, R. Morrison, T. Bourke, H. Hendrick, C. French,
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Charles French Snr.
H. Moran, Th. Gulliver, W. Smith and the youth Pitcher have been informed, to place themselves immediately under the order of the Inspector of Forests for work in the Government House Reserve.
When requested by your communication D1404. I submitted a list of those employees who, in consequence of the vastly reduced vote for the Botanic Garden, were to be transferred to the Government House Domain, the name of Thom. Morrison was also included. As he is not mentioned in the memorandum just received, I have kept this gardener here until further orders, although the Botanic Garden vote will no longer admit of the payment of his wages.
Twenty of the forty orphan boys are only retained now, in conformity with your instructions, in the Botanic Garden, a number far too small for the multifarious duties in the various branches of my department, a very few having formerly been employed in Govt. House Reserve.
I avail myself of this opportunity to draw again respectfully your attention to the fact, that the remaining number of the employees cannot possibly perform all the duties which were hitherto expected to be carried out by my department, the employees retained being:
J. G. Lühmann, Clerk & Accountant
L. Rummel, Operator in Laboratory
A. Neate, Storekeeper, performing also town work, clearing consignments &c &c.
C. Schlipalius, in charge of seeds department
C. Richards, Mechanical Assistant in Botan Museum
S. Cottrell, Artizan for carpenters and glaziers work, also painter & signwriter and in charge of birds &c
J. Sullivan, Carter
D. Coller, Gardener in charge of Forcing Pits and of Nursery for select plants
G. Schneider, Gardener in charge of Victoria house and Nursery for industrial plants &c
E. Soues, Enginedriver (half time)
From this it will be evident that only two gardeners for regular horticultural work in all the open ground, all the conservatories, all forcing houses and nurseries remain available, and thus the very scanty labour left for the office, the literary branch, the museum and the laboratory will have largely to be withdrawn from special work, to supplement the garden labor, and even with such auxiliary aid, involving the discontinuance of many important researches and also the reduction of supplies, a struggle against difficulties will issue with utterly inadequate means, particularly now while the hot season is before us, while no Yan-Yean water is granted, and while the garden work has largely to be brought up again from the arrears, into which it largely sunk during the three years, when the outdoor labour was extensively withdrawn from my control.
I have further the honour to point out, that while nominally the wages vote for the current financial year provides £100:— for each month, in reality an expenditure for about 4 months at nearly the rate of the last two years has been incurred, viz.
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MS marginal annotation by unknown: 'although the men in question were employed during July, August September, and part of October in the Botanic Garden proper and not in the Government House Domain, and that consequently the former reserve had the benefit of the mens services during such period it is understood that these men's wages are to be charged to the vote for Govt House Domain. In reality therefore the actual expenditure for wages of employés in the Botanic Garden will be very much greater than the amount in estimates [say] £1200. | [...]'.
Total of Wages paid for July
£210:7:6
" " " August
214:8:9
£424:16:3
Deduct pay of Th. Gulliver, employed in Govt. House Reserve
18:18:—
£405:18:3.
Wages for Botan. Garden for September
171:17:6
Liabilities for October (approximately)
166:4:3
£744:—:—
Vote for the year
1200:—:—
Thus leaving for the ensuing 8 months
£456:—:—
or per month
£57:—:—
for payment of all the employees in my whole department, of which the Botanic Garden is only a branch.
In the triangular enclosure planted with fruit and other trees, next to my office building, which like the whole Govt. House Domain, the Laboratory ground, the ground near the stables and other portions of the Botanic Gardens Domain, is to be withdrawn from my administration, is contained, in a shelter shed, a large number of potted plants, seedlings in frames and boxes &c., which all require now to be moved to the central nursery of the garden. I have the honor to request that gardener Moran, who since several years had charge of this triangular portion of the ground, may be allowed to assist in removing these plants, before he enters on any other duties in Govt. House Reserve.
I still hope that you will recognize the advisability of causing the votes for the Botan. Garden to be augmented again, as solicited in my letters of the 4th Sept. and of 16th September, by an additional wages vote of £1150:— and a supplemental store vote of £150:—, in order that the important obligations of my carefully organized department may be fulfilled as heretofore in all the various directions as well for the benefit of the city as for the country districts,
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as well ...districts underlined and annotated in margin by unknown: 'Baron Von Mueller has lost sight of the fact that the Cabinet adopted my suggestions with reference to distribution of young trees from the State nursery under Mr [William] Ferguson, and that the distribution of ornamental plants from the Botanical Garden should be discontinued'.
and that I may regain the command of the labour of the now transferred employees, who during so many years service became experienced for the various divisions of the work.
The two questions submitted to me during my last interview with you, when I fully explained again the requirements of my establishment as a whole, have been to me over and over the subject of anxious consideration, but I find it impossible to fix the extent of area needed for special botanic cultivation, more particularly as in this clime the number of plants which can be reared in the open air is many times greater than in Middle Europe, and in the interest of the general community and of the next generations I can fairly assert, that, the larger such area is, the better it will be, and that the ground originally under my control was not at all too large for locating accessibly all the numerous plants, which I contemplated to bring together, and here again I wish to remark that such scientific plantations will carry also simultaneously the ornamental and scenic elements with them.
As regards the second question, what monetary means for the strictly phytologic work might be required, I would again respectfully observe, that in a botanic institution it is utterly impossible to draw a line of demarcation between any supposed strictly scientific work and plain horticultural, and that the results of scientific researches must mainly depend on the financial means available, which means whether large or small will necessarily produce also greater or lesser proportionate results, as the scientific operations would accordingly be more or less extended.
May I also hope that the public works vote, so urgently wanted for a tank connected with the steam engine, for raising the roof of the palmhouse, for providing a large additional room at the phytologic museum, and for furnishing garden seats, as set forth in my original estimate, may be early utilized for the purpose for which it was destined.
In conclusion I wish to assure you, that whatever means are placed at my disposal by the Government and Legislature, they will be utilized also henceforth in the same conscientious, economic and disinterested manner, as during the many years of my unimpaired directorship in time passed by.
I have the honor to be,
Sir, your obedient servant
Ferd von Mueller,
Director botanic Garden.
The Honorable the Minister of the Lands Department
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The Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey, C. Hodgkinson, responded to M's letter in a memorandum to the Commissioner, J. Casey, dated 2 November 1872, a copy of which was forwarded to M on 4 November; see C. Hodgkinson to M, 4 November 1872 (in this edition as 72-11-04a).