Ferdinand von Mueller

Melbourne bot Garden,

22/5/69

1

Letter marked: 'To Mr Wells. T. H. 25/5/69'.

Sir

In reply to your letter received yesterday,

2

See T. Higinbotham to M, 21 May 1869. See also T. Higinbotham to M, 21 July 1869 (in this edition as 69-07-21a) and T. Higinbotham to M. 29 July 1869.

I have the honor to inform you, that at present no seeds of the Blue Gumtree and the Blackwood trees are available in this establishment. These seeds are however an ordinary article of trade, as regular supplies are brought at the autumn to the seedshops from the ranges. The extremely limited means of this garden admit however not of any purchases of such seeds.

I should gladly supply miscellaneous young plants of trees for the railway reserves, and if you will be so good to submit to me sketches of the ground prepared and protected , I will do my best to supply what I can, altho the mainsupplies of my nurseries have been exhausted already by the demands made by public institutions during the last three weeks. It is of course anticipated, that arrangements can be made on these reserves for the maintenance and protection of the young plantations.

The Engineer in Chief of the Railway Department.