To William Thiselton-Dyer   20 August 1891

20/8/91.¹

Somehow, dear Mr Dyer, I feel very tired from an accumulation of extra-work. I have initiated and sustained an effort, to carry rural culture into the Austral. Alps, to which railways have now approached closely, so that fruit and vegetables may be obtained from elevations of 4000' and above when in the lowlands they are out of season. Then the governments² new “College of Horticulture” gives me also some new work.

I am quite surprised to learn from your letter of the 8th July,³ that Dr Cooke belongs to your regular staff[.]⁴ I was under the impression until now, that he was engaged only to a very limited extent at Kew; your letters never said anything about his holding at Kew a position, similar to Mr Baker’s, Mr Hemsley’s, Mr Rolfes Mr Brown’s⁵; - nor did I ever see any note in the Gardeners-Chronicle, which gives always new botanic and horticultural appointments, that he had become fully attached to your establishment. His extensive publications, such as the Grevillea, the British Fungs &c must induce in any one, who lives far away, the persuasion, that he keeps up a large private literary establishment of his own.⁶ The arrangement for the volume on Australian fungs was not made in my Department, but by the four Agriculture-Departments of QL., NSW., V. & S.A., altho’ I had formerly with Dr Cooke some correspondence on the subject, and was consulted in this instance also. You will give me credit, that I have supported Kew whenever and wherever I could so far as local responsibilities allowed me;⁷ indeed I have done so for 40 years, and ever since, - except when I was out on extensive explorations, - I hardly ever missed a mail to write to Kew or to send something. - As this mycologic affair now stands, all I would ask is, that my Department gets due credit for what came from it directly or through Berkely⁸ or through Cooke to Kew As regards my sending odd numbers of the S. Science Record, such as I had in duplo, if I rightly recollect, you asked for this periodical. But more, I induced the publisher, to get together yet a set for Kew. To do this, he had to make time-taking special efforts after so long a time, and this set, purchased by me at a premium, followed the fragmentary one to Kew.⁹ I hardly thought, that you required this periodical, as I always sent an extraprint of the descriptions of plants elucidated therein¹⁰ to Kew. I am thankful for your allowing Faradaya to appear in the Bot. Mag.¹¹ Unfortunately, not having fruits at first, I placed it in a wrong order.¹² But RBr was equally unfortunate in refering Diplanthera (also in the absens¹³ of fruits) into a wrong genus, an error first corrected by me.¹⁴ So I did with Leucocarpon, Tarrietia &c.¹⁵ The spathaceous calyx of Faradaya proved to me very deceptive. Let me hope, that your health is now quite restored.

Always regardfully your

Ferd von Mueller

The 8th Edit. of the Select plants is now almost through the press, much enlarged.¹⁶ So I can now devote again a share of my time to Papuan plants.

I have never written in all these years a letter to any regular Assistant of Kew, unless some few exceptional cases of botanic importance, and then such letters went open to the Kew-Director.

I hoped, to hear from you, that you had pleasurable news from Halle. So I must write again to Prof. Kirchoff with whom I am much in geographic communication.¹⁷

Diplanthera

Faradaya

Leucocarpon

Tarrietia