Ferdinand von Mueller

Letter not found. For the text given here, see 'Occasional notes', West Australian, 28 August 1883, p. 3. The text is introduced by:

An interesting experiment is being conducted at Rottnest under the superintendence of the manager of the saltworks on the island, Mr. Courderot

Observing the large amount which is being paid annually by the Government for castor oil for railway purpose—the tender accepted this year being for £500 worth—it occurred to the officer in question that the plant may be successfully cultivated on the island, and

Courderot, the report continued in the words quoted, had sought expert advice from M and others. In June 1883 he received a hundredweight of seed from the Director of Agriculture at Nahgpur, central India, and planted a hundred acres of ground at Rottnest Island with this seed.

Courderot's letter to M is dated to early 1883 on the assumption that he would have obtained the seeds of the castor oil plant as soon as possible after enquiring about it.

In the ninth edition of Select extra-tropical plants (B95.13.02) M noted of the Castor-Oil Plant (Ricinus communis), 'In warm climes this plant may spread beyond control, and may then become hurtful to pastoral interests; but it may become an important plant also for culture in desert-tracts, and is evidently destined to be in countries with cheap labour one of the most eligible plants to furnish oil for technical uses, particularly for lubricating machinery, irrespective of the value of its oil for medicinal purposes.' M stressed that 'Pastoral animals must strenuously be kept away from the Ricinus. Even a few of the seeds, if swallowed, will produce poisonous effects.'