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93.07.22Preferred Citation:
Ferdinand von Mueller to the Editor, Port Fairy Gazette, 1893-07-22. 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/1890-6/1893/93-07-22-final.odt>, accessed June 9, 2026
1
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'The Port Fairy Marum Grass',
Port Fairy gazette, 28 July 1893, p. 2 (B93.07.04). Most of the letter was reprinted in the
Leader
, 5 August 1893, p. 5 (B93.08.06).
A
section of the letter commencing 'It is quite a triumph' was reprinted in
Bendigo independent
, 12 August 1893, p. S 2 (B93.08.04).
In the issue of your valuable publication of yesterday y
ou
refer in
most
generous terms to the introduction of
th
e
marum
grass through some initiating action
of mine.
While
most
gratefully recognising
the most kind sentiments of yours
, I
would like to say that
I carried out also in this instance, after personal inspection there, merely a duty
devolving on me in the official position which I have the honour to hold. But I avail
myself of this opportunity further to add, that very high
praise i
s due to the enlightened measures of yo
u
r local council to
giving pra
c
ti
c
al eff
ec
t
to
this particular
intro
du
c
tion,
and,
further,
ample
re
c
ognition
i
s du
e
to th
e
intelligent and
pe
rs
e
vering
e
fforts of so
a
ble a
cultivator as your Mr
Sa
m
u
e
l Avery.
Had it
n
ot been
for his exertions, the little I hav
e
done
would have be
e
n of no avail to my fellow
colonists th
e
re.
It is quite a triumph
to Port
Fairy to help other parts of Australia
,
and even
other southern lands, from your now exten
sively established resources of this in
c
omparable
grass for
c
oast sands.
Allow me to send you
som
e
few pods of a
"
burr-
c
lover without burrs,”
not deteriorating fle
eces,
whi
c
h plant I introduced as of great
promise to Australian sheep
pastures, as auxiliary through
its c
opious
scattered and dropping fr
u
its for summer sustenance
.
From one plant at my
little
dwelling
here, I obtained
the exceptional number of 1400
seeds.
2
marrum?
3
The article to which M is responding appeared in the
Port Fairy gazette
, 21 July 1893, p.
2
,
and included the following remarks:
The bare,
shifting sand hummocks of our coast range have in a few years by means of this wonderful
gra
ss [marram grass]
be
en for miles transformed into hills
of verdure,
and influential visitors to the town have been
greatly impressed
by this transformation of sand
wastes into beautiful green rolling downs. T
he
cons
e
quen
ce
has been that intelligence concern
i
ng the alteration effe
c
ted has been disseminated
far and wide, one of the principal factors in th
e
transmission of the information having been th
e
Government Botanist, Baron Ferd. von Mueller,
under whose enthusiastic direction the grass
was first introduced to the colony and planted
on Port Fairy seaboard. Through the Baron
'
s
agency, t
his
s
eason, applications for a supply of
th
e
grass hav
e
reached the local borough
c
ouncil
from
Nat
a
l, in South Africa, and from Albany,
in
West Australia;
whilst at the last meeting
of this coun
c
il
, on Wednesday evening,
a whole batch of letters
were
read, all preferring requests that some of the
remarkable gras
s
might be forwarded to th
e
writers, th
e
quant
ities asked for ranging from 1
ton to a single pou
n
d. These communications
came from th
e
most remote parts of th
e
con
t
inent, ranging from
C
hart
e
rs Towers, in North
Queensland, to Goolwa, in South Australia,
r
e
sid
e
nts in Tasmania likewise joining in the
demand for the plant
.
4
See M to S. Avery, June 1893 (in this edition as 93-06-00b).
5
See M to C. Neylon, June 1893 (in this edition as 93-06-00a); 'Rural topics',
Australasian, 24 June 1893, p. 1149, values the export at 25 shillings per ton delivered to railway station or wharf.
6
Medicago scutellata
?
See M to N. McKay, 1893 (in this edition as 93-00-00d), and B91.09.01, p. 273.
7
Editor's note: 'We shall be pleased to hand seeds referred to to any resident desirous of cultivating same.'
Yours, &c.,
Ferd. Von Mueller.
South Yarra,
22nd July, 1893.
8
Melbourne.