The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: Melbourne bot. Garden ¶ 2/5/70. ¶ Sir ¶ I have the honor to solicit, that you will be pleased to bring under the consideration of the honorable the President of the Board of Land and Works, that the m...

Document information

Physical location:

W70/4377, unit 464, VPRS 3991/P inward registered correspondence VA 475 Chief Secretary's Department, Public Record Office, Victoria. 70.05.02

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to James McCulloch, 1870-05-02. 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/1870-9/1870/70-05-02-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

Melbourne bot. Garden

2/5/70.

Sir

I have the honor to solicit, that you will be pleased to bring under the consideration of the honorable the President of the Board of Land and Works, that the metropolitan Parks under the control of the Board have been supplied since 1859 with specified 17450 plants from the botanic Garden, for which supply I hold in this establishment the receipts under existing regulations. These plants contained a very large proportions of the Himalaian and Californian Pines, now towering up in all Directions, and frequently these could not have been received in masses elsewhere. I believe, that I am right in saying, that a very large share of the trees now growing in Fitzroy Park, in the Treasury Reserve, Flagstaff Hill, Parliament House Reserve and South Park came as young plants directly from the botanic Garden, not to speak of several hundred plants, which bodily of large size were removed. I further have the honor to submit , that the only gravel pits on my ground, which can be worked profitably, have largely supplied the gravel for Fitzroy Park, Treasury Reserve and Parliament House reserve, and that these pits are therewith exhausted. I have also rendered supply of some iron fencings, once directly and once indirectly, and besides these Parks acquired access to good soil from the Yarra banks within the Reserve under my control. In all these supplies the interest of the botanic Garden itself has been for years to me of less consideration, than to serve other institutions, and indeed institutions all over the country. But as in the numerous unfair comparisons between the botanic Garden and the metropolitan Parks, the interest of my institution and the dignity of my position have been deeply injured

M was under pressure in the press about the overall cost of the Botanic Garden, its appearance and overall plan. These complaints often made comparison with the Fitzroy Gardens; see for example 'A model botanic garden for Melbourne', a letter signed 'Pro Bono Publico' in Weekly times (Melbourne), 12 March 1870. In its 'Garden' section, the Leader (Melbourne) published a series of six articles, 'The Melbourne State Gardens and surroundings'. The series was a litany of complaints about inappropriate planting and wasteful expenditure on high-level reservoirs—'the water holes in the domain'—and the laboratory which seemed to 'simply furnish billets for the needy'. M was described as an amateur gardener [not] practically conversant with arboriculture', planting trees in inappropriate places. The content supported the changes that William Ferguson had made and praised the parts of the gardens established by John Dallachy. The series concluded that funds had been 'frittered away by such bodies as the pretentious but hollow Acclimatisation Society, and by individuals who, like the Government Botanist, care only to build up at the colony's expense a fortune and a European reputation' ( Leader , 5 February 1870, pp. 9-10; 12 February 1870, p. 9; 19 February 1870, pp. 7-8; 26 February 1870, p. 8; 12 March 1870, p. 7; 19 March1870, p. 7). The theme of the articles was that M was responsible for failing to produce a picturesque public garden, the inappropriate attempts to introduce tea and cinchona, and growing plants for distribution.

For an overview of the pressures that saw M eventually removed from the gardens, see Cohn and Maroske (1996).

I venture to ask as an act of justice, that the supplies rendered since a dozen years to the Reserves under the Board of Land and Works may be considered worthy of some public record, which, as far as I am aware, they never received, altho very small donations of a few plants from private Donors have been publicly acknowledged. I should not have asked for this act of graceful recognition, were I not anxious to protect the interests of the Garden, especially as it did not enjoy for years always free water-supply, security against floods and other advantages of the metropolitan reserves, and had to serve also largely scientific purposes.

I have the honor to be,

Sir,

your obedient servant

Ferd. von Mueller

Hon. Chief Secr.

Occasional small lots of minor plants have not been taken into account in this calculation. The majority of the 17450 plants were in pots. Through my foresight plants of new Californian and Hi malaian Pines are already exten […] […] my nurseries for the supply in 1871 and 1872.

McCulloch initialled the file, but no further response has been found .