Melbourne State-Garden
1/5/67
Sir
In reply to your letter of the 27. Apr.1 I have the honor to inform you, that I shall be happy any morning at 9 during the next days to supply for the Reserves of the St Kilda Municipality such plants as are available for distribution in my establishment this season. Several of those plants mentioned by you I regard not at all desirable for planting in your locality and others you enumerate are this year not available, as it is not possible to secure of every kind of desirable tree every year fertile seeds &c. The system of distribution from this garden consists not in carrying out specified orders, but to supply such plants as within its slender means for the purpose the Department can render annually or rather in any particular year available. It would be far better to leave to myself the selection & if you will be so good to direct your Gardener to call any morning a 9 at my office with the plan of the ground to be planted & with indications thereon of the area actually prepared for the reception of the plants I will use my best discretion in the selection.
I should be also glad, if you would favor me with a record of the number of the plants now established on the St Kilda Municipal Ground from the very valuable contributions supplied according to the books of this Department for a series of years, as this will be a guidance for my selecting & also otherwise interesting.2
On the plans to be submitted you will please to cause to be marked what lines of trees are to be established & the ground prepared therefore, that a judicious selection of the kind of trees needed & their number may be made. 3
I have the honor to be
Sir,
your very obedient
Ferd. Mueller M.D.
The townclerk
St. Kilda.
E. Bradshaw to M, 27 April 1867 (in this edition as 67-04-27a).
E. Bradshaw to M, 22 June 1867 (in this edition as 67-06-22a) explains why this information was not available.
The report of the meeting of the St Kilda Council on 13 May at which this letter was read indicates that it was referred to the public works committee, and the town clerk was instructed to convey to M the thanks of the Council (Age, 14 May 1867, p. 7), done in E. Bradshaw to M, 11 June 1867.
Annotated: ‘Dr Mueller | 1 May 1867'.
Please cite as “FVM-67-05-01,” 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