Ferdinand von Mueller

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Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Original correspondence: Tasmanian ferns', Tasmanian morning herald , 30 July 1866, p. 2 (B66.07.07).

Sir,—

In your most kind remarks respecting the contribution of seeds matured in this garden, and transmitted to the Royal Society’s Garden of Hobart Town, a brief remark occurs,

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M was commenting on the article in 'Town talk', Tasmanian morning herald, 14 July 1866:

A short time ago we noticed the shipment in the Victoria of a number of tree ferns for the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, and we are glad to find that they arc doing well. In return for the ferns the expense of procuring them by-the-bye, being defrayed by the Victorian Government, Dr Mueller, the Director of the Melbourne Gardens, lately forwarded to the Superintendent of the Royal Society’s Gardens here a collection of upwards of 1300 varieties of seeds of plants, trees, and shrubs, wheat, gourds, maize, grass, &c, &c. Among the collection were 185 varieties of plants, 164 varieties of trees and shrubs seeds, 675 varieties of herbaceous and annual varieties of flower seeds, a large number of them being new to the colony, 315 varieties of wheat, oats, barley, maize, gourds, grass and seeds. Among the wheat are the celebrated kinds which obtained the gold medals at the last great exhibitions and which will prove valuable addition to the cereals of the colony. The thanks of the Royal Society in the last meeting were recorded to Dr Mueller for his magnificent collection, and it is no more than he deserved. …

The previous notice in the paper was in 'The events of the month’, Tasmanian morning herald, 24 May 1866, p. 3:

Mr C. W. Holt of Raglans, New Huon Road, has just shipped fifty large tree ferns on board of H.M.S.S. Victoria, for the Botanical Gardens, Melbourne. The trees have been viewed by Mr Heyne, the Curator of the Victoria Botanical Gardens, and pronounced by him to be the finest collection he had ever seen. Mr Hall has also transmitted a large quantity of mosses and lichens, as well as a large number of young ferns. These botanical contributions have cost Mr Hall a great deal of trouble and expense.

which you will perhaps kindly allow me to refer to as possibly leading to misapprehension. When the war steamer Victoria proceeded to Hobart Town I availed myself of the great facility offered by the excellent commander, Norman,

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William Norman.

to secure the transport of half a hundred fern trees for this garden, previously secured under ordinary business arrangements. The expenditure was a trifling one, inasmuch as the obliging and intelligent superintendent of the Royal Society's Gardens took a large share of the labor for securing the trees on himself. When my desire to establish here a fern grove became known to your Tasmanian colonists, some leading gentlemen, among whom I would specially mention the Hon Dr Officer,

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Robert Officer.

the Venerable Archdeacon Davies,

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Robert Davies.

and the Commandant at Port Arthur, exerted themselves, in a manner that could not be surpassed, to provide, as an absolute donation, a further supply, and thus another half hundred of those noble and hardy plants were obtained, the gentleman connected with your Steam Navigation Company having most generously arranged for the free transit, a generosity which cannot be sufficiently acknowledged when the bulkiness of these heavy trees is taken into consideration. I entertain a hope that the new feature introduced by the Tasmanian tree ferns into the landscape of this garden will induce villa residents to imitate these planting operations, and that a brisk trade in these ferns will arise, and substantially reward the generosity which my department experienced.

Botanical Gardens, Melbourne, 24th July, 1866.