Chief Secretary's Office
Melbourne 24th October 1870
Sir
The Chief Secretary directs me to inform you that on visiting the Botanic Gardens on Friday last he was greatly surprised at observing their neglected state. He observed the boys lately sent from the Industrial Schools apparently doing what they thought fit, not working as they should have been under the eye of an overseer, and in fact there was no appearance of control of any kind being exercised over their movements
The conservatories were not in the condition which he should have expected to find them and the whole Department bore in his opinion unmistakeable evidences of a want of proper supervision and systematic management
I have the honor to be
Sir
Your most obedient servant
W. H. Odgers1
Please cite as “FVM-70-10-24,” 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 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/70-10-24