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65.08.00b

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Ferdinand von Mueller to the news editor, the Age, 1865-08 [65.08.00b]. 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//letters/1860-9/1865/65-08-00b-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

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Letter not found. The text given here is from 'News of the day', Age, 24 August 1865, p. 5 (B65.08.07). It is introduced by 'We have received the following from Dr. Mueller relative to the growth of coffee at the Fiji Islands:'
About three years ago three young plants of mocha coffee were sent from the Melbourne Botanic Gardens to Nukinnoto, in the Fiji group. At the first harvest one of these trees bore already fourteen pounds of ripe berries, the proprietor, Mr Storok,
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Storck?
thus being enabled to redistribute the plant for actual plantation purposes over the adjoining islands. We learn that in beauty of growth and in prolific bearing, the coffee plants received from Melbourne far exceed the ordinary variety cultivated in the small archipelago. The Chinese tea plant was also first transplanted from our Botanic Garden to the same spot, and thrives remarkably well.
[Dr. Mueller also says, of the various kinds of tobacco raised in Queensland, near Ipswich, from seeds received from the Melbourne Botanic Garden, the Connecticut variety has proved the most preferable, it having been found to be the most adapted to the climate and most prolific in growth.]