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E72/27689, unit 750, VPRS 44/P inward registered and unregistered correspondence, VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey, Public Record Office, Victoria. 72.12.23Preferred Citation:
Ferdinand von Mueller to James Casey, 1872-12-23. 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/1870-9/1872/72-12-23-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026
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MS written by Georg Luehmann and signed by M.
23/12/72
Sir
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication, dated 20th Decbr,
and crave permission in reply to draw respectfully your kind attention to the following
facts:
1, That a division of votes according to mere acreage would be an impossibility in
a department, where the expenditure on a single acre with its museum under proper
and efficient working would be perhaps as great as for 100 acres of mere grassland,
planted already with trees, and simply traversed by walks. Similar would be the comparison
of a multitude of acres of mere parkland with single acres, on which conservatories
stand, or on which forcing pits are placed, or on which nurseries are established,
or on which scientific, literary work and office correspondence is transacted. Indeed,
as I had the honor to point out in former communications, provision was made only
on my own estimates during the last three years for the wages of one gardener in the
extensive Govt. House Reserve after the great departmental reduction in 1870.
2, I may be permitted respectfully to draw your favorable attention to the circumstance,
that the Honorable the Treasurer during the parliamentary discussions on the votes
of the Botanic Garden expressed cheerfully the willingness of the Government to increase
the votes left under my control, should it be found that the sums at the disposal
of the Director (who was not consulted on the subject of the redistribution of the
votes) would prove insufficient for the continuation of the service under his administration.
Thus I hope, honorable Sir, that you will not leave me in the helpless state, in which
I am placed at present.
3, May I ask to bring under your kind consideration, that the final redistribution
of the votes and action thereon took place after nearly 4 months of the financial
year had passed already. While I expected to have at least £100 per month for wages
for the last eight months of the financial year (at the rate of £1200.- .- for the
whole year) I have only £90 left at my disposal.
4, As regards the supply of stores, tools, timber, forage, coals &c I respectfully
submit, that the vote was previously reduced already to the lowest minimum for the
efficient working of the Department; the Garden itself, as easily to be understood,
being only a portion of an integral phytologic institution, just as the department
of Kew in England has, irrespective of its scientific and ornamental garden, also
its branches for literary publication, correspondence, information, researches, supply,
phytographic museum collections, industrial vegetable articles, all closely connected
and inseparable, if the welfare of departments of this kind is the object.
Only a very small sum was estimated for stores, tools &c or use in the reserves, while
now half the vote is withdrawn for them, while no Yan Yean water is available, and
while water must be extensively carted to many valuable plants through insufficiency
of engine supply, or carried by hand to the many thousands of valuable and important
plants during the next three summer months. The supplies of stores, drawn during the
first 6 months of the financial year, are within the limits of my original estimates,
the final alteration of the votes having only taken place at the end of October; and
it can be shown at any time that not a single article was ordered, which was not absolutely
necessary.
5, Assuredly some misapprehensions must exist in reference to the nature of the service
of the employees whom I retained here, as I have only
one clerk
in the whole department, and never had any more; and I may add that no Botanic Garden
in the whole world is without one or even several clerks of special requisite knowledge.
Although I have pointed this out before, I respectfully again submit the names and
occupation of those people whom I kept under my control:
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Not all of the staff named have been identified. Those for whom details have been
found have entries in the Biographical Register.
J. G. Lühmann, Clerk and Accountant &c
L. Rummel, Operator in Laboratory
A. Neate, Messenger for town work, Storekeeper &c.
C. Schlipalius, in charge of seeds-department &c
J. Sullivan, Carter
S. Cottrell, Artizan, also in charge of gates and of birds &c.
C. Richards, Museum Assistant.
D. Coller, Gardener in charge of Forcing Pits, large Conservatory &c.
G. Schneider, Gardener in charge of Nurseries, Victoria house, small Conservatory
&c.
Thos. Morrison, Gardener for outdoor-work only.
F. Pitcher, Youth for general garden work.
E. Soues, Enginedriver, (half time).
6, The sum of £1557.- for the whole financial year for wages, left at my disposal
according to your communication, instead of £1618.- .-, as expected by me, has thrown
me anew out of my calculation, because about £836.- were expended already for wages
from July till the end of October, while the Forest Inspector had still control over
all the outdoor men; and I now hope that you will kindly grant me at least an allowance
of £100.- .- a month henceforth for wages, so as to make the reductions not in any
way retrospective.
7, I find myself now in the position of being without forage for the only carthorse
of the Garden (in the Sydney Garden and elsewhere several horses are kept) for the
next six months, without coals for the Victoria house and forcing pits, where a constant
temperature of about 80° F. must be maintained, without coals for the steamengine,
without paper or pasteboards for the new museum collections, without material for
technologic and phytochemic laboratory researches, without pots for the nurseries,
without glass, tiles, timber, tallies &c.
8, May I be permitted again to add that I continue unable to maintain a botanic collector
in the field.
9, To do my utmost for savingly carrying on the service with the utterly inadequate
means left at my command, I ventured to ask that a transfer of £74.10/— might be made
from the item of awards to garden boys to the Wages vote, so that the third gardener
(left of ten) might be retained during the next six months for the extensive ground
under spade culture, such transfers being of frequent occurrence, as the contingencies
of a department can never be foreseen for many months even under ordinary circumstances.
Moreover in this case, apparently by a clerical error outside of my office, the award
vote was made £74.10/ larger than fixed in my own estimate which was £91.- .- for
the whole area: if such is to be equally divided then £45:10/- instead of £120.- .-
will be required; and under such circumstances I trust that this application will
yet be open for your kind reconsideration, after the full explanation now afforded,
and I may venture to say on this point, that during the twenty years, whilst I was
the professional head of the Department here, none of my many successive honorable
chiefs have ever refused any of the propositions of transfers made by me, so that
a discontinuation of these favors would be to me not without humiliation and pain.
10, To show you, Sir, that I have made the most strenuous efforts to carry on the
service of my Department without unnecessary calls on the Government for monetary
aid, I had since many weeks most of the messenger's work transacted through my private
valet, (ever paid out of my private means), in order that the messenger could help
to clear away weeds &c. In a like manner I have since many weeks withdrawn the trained
mechanical amanuensis of the museum to do garden work, a measure, which as a matter
of course, brings the important museum work for the time to an utter standstill. The
seedsman has likewise been employed since October almost exclusively in ordinary gardening,
all with a view of doing the utmost of my falling in with the views of the Government;
but all this is not sufficient to keep the Garden in a creditable state, although
every fair and just visitor during the last two months has expressed himself highly
pleased with the vast horticultural improvement latterly effected here, even under
such disadvantages.
I have the honor to be
Sir
Your obedient servant
Ferd. von Mueller,
Direct. botan. Garden.
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M's letter was referred to the Secretary of Agriculture, A. Wallis on 10 January 1873
and returned to the Lands Department on 18 June 1873.
The Honorable J. J. Casey
Commissioner of Lands & Survey.