Report on the labours in the zoological & botanical Gardens & in the Government Botanist's office during May and June 1859.2
A portion of the walk between the river and lagoon has been raised, a stone wall about 4 feet high being built in front of the river. When this work, for which a good deel material is ready at the Quarry, will be completed, the botanical Garden will be secure against the periodical inundations, to which it is now subjected. Basalt-bolders for lining this walk have been brought across the Yarra. The slope below the Gardeners lodge is brought to an equal declivity sown and planted. Many and extensive lines of the edgings around the flowerborders have been renewed, the soil of the old ones being exhausted.
A house for seedlings, to be hardened off, has been completed and a propagating house, of which we stood hitherto much in need, is under progress of building; the material and labor required for it is furnished immediately by this establishment, as no vote for this building was available at the public work office. An interesting acquisition, the Victoria regia, the celebrated huge Water-Lily of the Amazon River is raised from seeds kindfully furnished by J. Th. Smith Esqr. M.L.A., and this plant will find, if we succeed in growing it, a place in the propagating building. A larger lot of cuttings, than planted last year, has been put into our nursery and the latter may gradually be extended each year when the laying out and completion &3 walks has ceased to demand our main labour. Indeed it is likely that after one or two years we are able to supply as many plants to public establishments, as the means of these will be able to dispose of in planting. For it must be born in mind, that it is not merely sufficient to provide for public nursery-gardens, such as is under contemplation for the Survey-Department, but that it incurrs a hundredfold and often a thousandfold greater expense, to transfer the plants to their final destination and to protect them.
A new border has been dug and planted around the Palm house. Many stumps have been eradicated throughout the ground. The close woodfence for forming a small paddock for animals in our reserve, is now nearly completed and also the ironfence enclosing an other portion of the reserve, so that I think we are sufficiently provided whenever the Camels and other animals arrive. There was an increase of one to our Llama flock. But as evidently the breed in our zoological collections is a very inferior one, I take the liberty of applying to His Excellency Sir Will. Denison for the loan or donation of a thoroughbred Alpaca from the flock now belonging to the N. S. Wales Government, and from the tenor of His Excellency's letter4 I am inclined to believe, that this application will be acceded to.
Five of the English pheasants have been shipped to Phillip Island, where Mr M'Haffy has declared himself ready to pay every attention to the protection of the stock and its offsprings. The island being free of native dogs, snakes and other animals destructive to these birds and offering much shrub-cover, is likely to prove a prosperous locality as the first naturalisation point of these animals.
A handsome stable with four partitions has been completed for the Northern Ground.
In the botanic Garden about 60 additional painted labels have been distributed.
During the leave of absence, which the Director enjoyed at Queenscliffe,5 a large lot of Sea-Algae has been secured, valuable for interchange. Our public collection received a valuable addition by the contribution of several thousand species of dried North American plants furnished by Prof. Dr. Asa Gray of Boston and for which we have already reciprocated.
A case with living plants and 1 with seeds arrived from the Royal Gardens of Kew, 1 from the Cape of Good Hope and 1 from Mauritius, whilst we forwarded living plants to New Zealand and Moreton Bay. With various botanic Gardens of the Continent seeds have been exchanged and ample have been the distributions of seeds and plants already at this season, several thousand plants and not less than 32000 papers of seeds having been issued from this establishment, public establishments having absorbed the greater quantity of them.
Dr. Muellers work on the plants of Victoria has been illustrated up to this period with 11 plates either ready or under work and the first portion of the letterpress is in the Government Printers hand. The VI No. of fragmenta phytogr. Austral. is also in print.6
The Office Building is provided with a Lightning conductor an additional surity for the preservation of the extensive and valuable collections which it contains.
Seven prize essays forwarded by the Geelong Horticultural Society have been examined by the Government Botanist.7
The number of Sunday visitors entering the main Gates during the last month has been 8484.
Ferd Mueller, M.D.
Gov. Botanist.8
Victoria regia
Please cite as “FVM-59-07-00a,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on 23 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/59-07-00a