Mortons Hotel
Milswyn St
S Yarra
28/10/74
It will only be necessary for you, dear Mr Pye, to apply to the hon. Rob. Ramsay for a set of my "educational collection" for your school, and it will be transmitted to you.1
Your laudable efforts of instilling information on our native plants to the children under your care, I can but support by naming the species gradually, as they are collected. You should form a standard collection of dried plants of the Geelong vicinity2 for your school. Such example would soon find followers. Even rarities may yet be discovered in your proximity, as the ground towards Queenscliff is not yet carefully examined, particularly the extensive Grasstree country.
The best mode to aid you would be this. Collect each species in two specimens (if possible both in flower & fruit.) Make then two sets numbered correspondingly, and send one set to me. I then return the names with the numbers and keep the one set here for reference. I am working on a school-book of Victorian plants;3 but it will take some time before the woodcuts will be completed. We have in Victoria about 2000 species of plants. So it is not an easy task to write a work, by which they can be readily examined and named. At present I am elaborating the sedges, rushes and allied plants. So include also these (in good fruitbearing specimens) in your collection.
Regardfully your
Ferd. von Mueller
On 15 April 1875, W. Pye, Honorary Secretary, Christ Church School, Geelong, wrote to R. Ramsay, Minister for Public Instruction: 'I have the honor to request that you will have the goodness to grant us one of Dr. Mueller's Education sets of dried plants for the use of the Technological school. One of our students took the Silver Medal, at the last Exhibition held by the Commissioners of Techl Education, for a design from Victorian plants. | I enclose Dr Mueller's letter, having applied to him for a set of his "Educational Collection"'. On 17 April, the file was referred to the Chief Secretary's Department, which replied: 'There are a few copies yet on hand. the rest have been presented to public libraries & cognate institutions.' On 21 April 1875, Ramsay instructed: 'As this is a special case I have much pleasure in complying with the request'.
Vic.
M was planning a Victorian school flora, but publication was stopped by the Chief Secretary in November 1876 (Lucas et al. (2006), pp. 36-9).
Please cite as “FVM-74-10-28,” 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