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96.06.00d

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Ferdinand von Mueller to the Bureau of Agriculture of Western Australia, 1896-06 [96.06.00d]. 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/1890-6/1896/96-06-00d-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

1
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Salt-bush seeds', Inquirer and commercial news (Perth, WA), 19 June 1896, p.8.
[Baron von Mueller, of Melbourne, is forwarding to the Bureau of Agriculture in Perth a parcel of salt-bush seeds of four varities.
2
varieties? 'Fare Fac.' in 'The salt bushes of Australia', Western mail (Perth, WA), 10 July 1896, p. 40, listed the species as Atriplex halimoides, A. leptocarpum, A. semibaccatum, and A. nummulanum (although some names were mis-transcribed by the typesetter or editor).
These will be distributed among several persons in the eastern districts for experimental purposes. The seeds will be sown on rapidly expanding alkali patches, and it is expected that they will have the effect, in the course of time, of reducing the alkali in the soil, and rendering these patches fit for cultivation. Australian salt-bush has, during the past few years, been extensively cultivated on alkali lands in California, with most beneficial results.]
3
See, for example, E. Hilgard to M, 26 March 1896. 'Fare Fac.' commented
Here in its native habitat [salt bush] has never, until very recently, been appreciated. We have simply accepted it as one of the native plants of the continent which, being so common, was little understood or prized, and it is only when its worth has been demonstrated by our American cousins that we awake to its real value.'