15/12/76
It would be interesting, dear Dr Woolls, if the supposed poisonous properties of Craspedia could be really proved.
I am astonished how any professional man can advance such absurdities about forests, such as I have lately read.1 Surely water may fill a river from rain yet, but what good does it there as we have no means to bring it up to tops of hills to serve irrigation by gravitation.
Indeed the water is lost by being swallowed up by the ocean, while trees would have kept much of it and cooled by evaporation the air and generated new clouds, such as you see hang about forests. I hope our rev. friend2 will read once more my "Forest-lecture".3
Regardfully
Ferd. von Mueller
I was not aware that Mr Fairfax was here until after he had left.4
Craspedia
A lecture by W. B. Clarke in which he advocated better conservation of forests, published in the Sydney morning herald on 4 November 1876, attracted fierce criticism from L. Fane de Salis, MLC, and a controversy in the pages of the newspaper ensued.
W. B. Clarke.
B71.13.03.
John Fairfax arrived in Melbourne on 19 November (Argus, 21 November 1876, p. 4) and left on 9 December (Argus, 11 December 1876, p. 4).
Please cite as “FVM-76-12-15,” 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