MELBOURNE BOTANICAL GARDEN,
July 25th, 1870.
It needs not my assurance, dear Mr. Miller, that I will be very happy to afford any information to aid in so important an object as arresting the sand drift of your coast, and to utilize those spots by covering with vegetation. The plants which I employ here for similar purposes are Casuarina quadrivalvis, Pinus Pinaster, Pinus Halepensis, Melaleuca parviflora, several species of Mesembrianthemum, Cynodon dactylon, Agrostis stolonifera, Arundo arenaria, Araria pyonan,1 Festuca litoralis, Spinifex hirsutus, Araria laphantha,2 Tetragnia3 expansa, Leptospormum4 (Fabricia) laevigatum, several species of Broom plants.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 5
It will require, to raise many of the plants indicated, at first in nurseries, and then to plant them out in places where by brush, and branches of any kind, the ground is sufficiently protected to allow any young plant to develop itself. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that all traffic, particularly that of goats, cattle, horses, etc., must be rigorously excluded from the sand, which is to be checked; fencing of the ground becomes therfore requisite.
Your letter arrived6 just at the eve of the departure of the mail for America, so I may not have time to get ready any seeds for you. * *7 I will be very happy to enter with you into direct interchanges, for which purpose the newly established line of steamers affords such great facilities. With my best wishes,
Your friend,
VON MUELLER, M.D.
The Blackwood, or Lightwood (Acacia melanoxylon), grows chiefly in rich Basalt.
Acacia melanoxylon
Agrostis stolonifera
Araria laphantha
Araria pyonan
Arundo arenaria
Casuarina quadrivalvis
Cynodon dactylon
Fabricia laevigatum
Festuca litoralis
Leptospormum laevigatum
Melaleuca parviflora
Mesembrianthemum
Pinus Halepensis
Pinus Pinaster
Spinifex hirsutus
Tetragnia expansa
Typesetter's misreading of Acacia pycnantha?
Typesetter's misreading of Acacia lophantha?
Typesetter's misreading of Tetragonia?
Typesetter's misreading of Leptospermum?
Ellipsis indictated in source by a complete line of * .
Letter not found.
Ellipsis indicated in source by two *.
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Letter from Dr. Von Mueller, Melbourne', California horticulturist and floral magazine, vol. 1, p. 49, December 1870 (B70.12.02). The letter was introduced by:
We call the attention of our readers to the following letter from Dr. Von Muller, Director of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, Australia. It is upon a subject of considerable interest to us, and points out a number of trees, and shrubs, whereby we can arrest the continual drifting of our sand hills. Dr. Von Mueller is a scientist of world-wide reputation.
Please cite as “FVM-70-07-25,” 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