Ferdinand von Mueller

W. Odgers to M, 30 May 1870.

The regulations governing 'Distribution of plants, etc., from the Melbourne Botanic Gardens', dated 29 September 1862, included, 3. 'Donors, or gentlemen who have rendered services to the Botanic Garden, may, on their special request, be supplied in a proportion not exceeding the approximate value of their contribution, or in a ratio approximate to the service rendered, with plants, cuttings, seeds, or cut flowers, but cannot obtain plants of the ordinary kinds of florists' flowers, or pines, avenue and fruit trees, from the garden.' 6. 'Plants or seeds of any species promising to be of extensive utility to the colony, may, when available, be distributed in small quantities to private gardens, without restrictions.'

MS annotation by McCulloch, 3 June 1870: 'To be considered with the Memorial from the Nurseryman'.

On 1 June 1870 Thomas Lang forwarded a memorial on behalf of a number of nurserymen to the Chief Secretary: 'That the Subscribers have devoted their time, their energy, and their Capital to the carrying out in this Colony of a useful business: | that the successful prosecution of their business has, for some years past, been much interfered with by the annual distribution of plants from the Botanic Garden to Public Institutions and others free of expense: | that hundreds of thousands of plants are thus distributed from the State Gardens annually: | that such a practise does not exist in the Public State Gardens of Great Britain, or the Continent of Europe, or in any of the other Australian Colonies: | that if such a system did prevail there or elsewhere they respectfully submit that there is no necessity for following a bad precedent, and thereby doing an injustice to those engaged in this particular business: | that the Subscribers consider it is unjust that their business, and theirs alone, should be selected by the Government for this peculiar interference | that in consequence of the valuable national results and benefits arising from the development and extension of their business, they would expect encouragement from the Government of the country rather than what must be called an unfair opposition: | that the nurserymen profess to be able to supply plants at a much cheaper rate than they can be grown in the Government Gardens: | that they believe that it would be a positive saving to the State if the money thus spent on the State Nursery was distributed amongst the public institutions as a Grant for Plants; | that the Public Institutions would then receive more value for the money by buying from the nurserymen: | that this free distribution of plants stands in the way of the continued successful prosecution of the Nursery Business; that it checks enterprise: for the nurserymen have already experienced that any extraordinary effort on their part to introduce large quantities of plants valuable to the community, have been thwarted by the free distribution of the very plants, which were being introduced by them: and they know not but that similar results would follow their future attempts: | that the nurserymen do not claim any privilege for themselves, but merely to be put on the same footing as all other people engaged in business in this country: | that Public Institutions have to buy and pay for all other goods required by them, and the nurserymen do not see the reasonableness of the Government supplying free those articles of merchandise which it is the special business of the nurserymen to provide: | that the Subscribers respectfully request the Government to reconsider the present system of free distribution of plants with a view to remedy the injustice of which the Memorialists complain'. The memorial was signed by: William Taylor, Joseph Harris, George Brunning, John Charles Cole, Nathaniel Ronalds, James Scott, B & S Johnson, Wm Adamson, Law Somner & Co, Daniel B Roulton, Thomas Lang & Co, Taylor & Sangster, Grant & Cameron, George C. Reynolds, David Noyes, C. F. Creswell, R. W. Nichols & co of Ballarat p. T.L., George Smith of Ballarat p. T.L., Francis Moss of Buninyong p. T.L. (V70/5901, unit 468, VPRS 3991, Public Record Office, Victoria).

On 9 June 1870, the Undersecretary, W. Odgers, wrote to Lang, saying that the Chief Secretary would receive a deputation of nurserymen on the following Monday afternoon, i.e. 13 June (No. 1405, unit 20, p. 163, VPRS 1187 outward correspondence, VA 475 Chief Secretary's Department, Public Record Office, Victoria).

W. Odgers to M, 15 June 1870 asked for suggestions for modification of the regulations. As M asked for clarification about retrospectivity in M to J. McCulloch, 13 June 1870 (in this edition as 70-06-13a) it appears that possible new regulations had been discussed on 13 June, either with the deputation, where M was present (Argus, 14 June 1870, p. 4), or privately with McCulloch.