Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Letter not found. For the text given here, see Talbot leader, 7 October 1862, p. 2 (B62.10.05), a follow-up to a story originally published in the same paper, 26 September 1862, p. 2. The letter is introduced by:

Could we have foreseen the enormous amount of correspondence with which we have been troubled by the paragraph we translated from a German paper relative to the destructive effect upon flies of the apocynum androsaemifolium, we should have hesitated a long time before we gave it publicity. Within the last fortnight we have received no less than forty-seven letters, a portion of which came from Melbourne, Geelong, Warrnambool, and even so far distant as the Beechworth district, requesting to be informed where the plant could be obtained, and adding, we presume as a stimulus to obtain replies, that by furnishing such information we would be conferring a great benefit, &c, on the whole colonial community. It so happened that we could not furnish what was so much desired, albeit we should have been glad to do so had it been within our power. However, a gentleman in Talbot adopted our advice and wrote to Dr Mueller on the subject [letter not found], and obtained the following reply:—.

M's letter was republished, with an accompanying explanation, in, for example, Geelong advertiser, 9 October 1862, p. 2; Herald (Melbourne), 10 October 1862, p. 5; and Examiner and Melbourne weekly news, 11 October 1862, p. 1.

Melbourne Botanical Gardens,

2nd October.

Dear Sir,—

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your note dated the 1st instant,

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Letter not found.

in which you draw my attention to a paragraph in the Talbot Leader in reference to the desirability of naturalising in Australia the apocynum androsaemifolium, for the purpose of destroying flies. Undoubtedly nothing could be more desirable than the introduction of birds and plants calculated to counteract the undue increase of insects, especially in a country like ours, where mostly throughout the year insect life is so active. Under these considerations I am the more sorry to inform you that, as far as I am aware, this species of the apocynum has never found its way yet into an Australian garden. I obtained, previous to the war which now unfortunately rages in North America,

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The American Civil War.

some seeds of the plant from Boston, these however did not germinate; but as the plant extends from the Hudson's Bay territory to Carolina, there could be no difficulty in getting seed from Canada. An old and valuable British authority, W. Curtis, contends however that he never observed the ordinary house fly as a captive of the apocynum, although other insects are attracted and caught by the flowers of the plant.

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Curtis (1787-1826), vols 7-8, second page of text accompanying plate 280.