Botanic Gardens
(North) 5/1/67
Sir
I have the honor to inform you that the Cattle which graze in Yarra Park are becoming very troublesome here. — The animals swim round the ends of the fences projecting into the Yarra and at night especially do much damage to the young trees, planted in the avenue lines of this reserve to the Willows on the river bank and to the young native trees which have sprung up thickly since the removal of the Govt Horses and the disuse of this reserve for depasturing purposes. The further lengthening of the fences, will be of no avail as unless these were extended right across the Yarra the Cattle would still swim round them.
The mischief done is greatest in the night time, when constant watch is not possible, nor if it were could one person do much in the way of driving out a lot of hungry cattle which are feeling the benefit of the good herbage of this reserve, as contrasted with the outside of it. As several Ash and Poplar trees have already been injured it is evident that unless the ingress of the Yarra Park Cattle can be prevented then the Govt Horses might as well have remained here, as of the two, the least destructive to trees, and shrubs.1
I have the honor to be Sir
your most obdt Servt
W. Smith
Dr Mueller F.R.S.
Director Botanic Gardens
See also M to E. FitzGibbon, 7 January 1867.
Please cite as “FVM-67-01-05,” 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