In my attempts to obtain acorns of American Oaks and nuts of the American Hickory-trees in a state of vitality, for raising these noble trees here in our southern latitudes, various modes of packing were adopted. You may be interested in the result, as many cultivators would gladly secure the seeds of these valuable trees for distant localities. Packing in dry sand succeeded always best; for not only the seeds of the American species of Juglans, Quercus, and Carya came thus safely a voyage of fully three months, but in a similar manner I secured Assam Tea seeds fit for germination, the seeds being more than two months on their way. I need scarcely add, that Mediterranean and Indian acorns travelled in the same manner quite safely. I cannot conclude this brief note without a public acknowledgment of the great generosity of the illustrious Asa Gray in arranging for the transmission of copious collections of these American seeds.
FERD. VON MUELLER
Melbourne, March 28th, 1869.
Carya
Juglans
Quercus
Letter not found. For the text given here see' Importation of American Seeds to Australia', Journal of botany, British and foreign, vol. 7, pp. 212-3 (B69.07.02). Seemann was Editor of the journal.
Please cite as “FVM-69-03-28a,” 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