From William Greig and others to Charles Duffy   14 December 1871

Report of the Board upon the Botanical Gardens.

To the Hon. C. G. Duffy

Chief Secretary.

We, the Board appointed by the Governor in Council "to inquire into and report on the Changes that may be necessary to bring into operation an organisation which will secure the Gardens being kept in the best possible condition, without in any way interfering with the valuable services rendered to the Colony by Dr von Mueller as a Botanist", have held twenty two regular meetings; we have obtained information as to the cost and system of management of Botanical Gardens in the neighbouring Colonies, & we have endeavoured to ascertain the opinions of those in Victoria who are most interested in the welfare of the institution, from some of whom many valuable suggestions as to the plan to be pursued in future have been received. We have also taken much vivâ voce evidence, and have made repeated personal examinations of the several branches of the Department.

The long and fatal illness of Wm. Hammill Esqr, the late Chairman, has occasioned much delay in the proceedings of the Board, but as the result of our inquiries we have now the honour to present the following report.

1. Judging by what was done in early years, the Gardens appear to have been designed rather as an ornamental than as a botanic & scientific establishment, but when the present Director obtained the control of the Department he, as a learned botanist, seems to have almost exclusively devoted his attention to science, and he accumulated a very extensive and valuable collection of plants from all parts of the globe; he also from time to time introduced and distributed numbers of plants valuable in connection with industrial pursuits, and he established a laboratory to test the applicability of our indigenous products for manufacturing purposes.

2. We have not been able to ascertain what was the annual cost of the Department in its early years, but from 1857 to 1870 inclusive there has been voted.

for the Botanical Gardens Dept	£79181
& received from Public Works Dept	£16019
Total.	£95200
an average of £6800 per annum.

These amounts cover the scientific work of the Department, as well as the management of the Grounds, construction of conservatories &c.

3. The Gardens themselves have not however been so managed as to give general satisfaction, and from the evidence we have taken and our own personal examination of the ground we find this to be traceable to the following causes.

I.   That the Director holds views as to the object of the establishment entirely different from those held by the Public.

II. That the Director, although possessing very high scientific abilities, has not the requisite practical skill to enable him to design, lay out or maintain Gardens in a proper state of culture; — that there has been an absence of all taste, and an apparent inability to recognise and meet the requirements of the institution in this respect.

III That the system of managing the Garden labour introduced by him has been unsuitable and unsuccessful.

4. Upon the first point, we find that in the desire to make the establishment "Botanic", other objects have been suffered to remain comparatively undeveloped. We are strongly of opinion that with the large sums of money that have annually been placed at the disposal of the Director, much more might and ought to have been done, and a more extended sphere of usefulness given to the institution. Such a Garden should have more than a scientific object —; it should also be the place where the whole colony could study horticulture, arboriculture, floriculture & landscape gardening in their most perfect forms —: it should especially be a model of careful and thorough cultivation, of well planned scenic effect, and of art skilfully applied to the embellishment of nature.

5. The second point is fully borne out by the grounds themselves: —. A great part of the Garden was laid out by the former Curator Mr Dallachy, but the planting of the Reserves has been the work of the present Director alone. The portion called the Government House Reserve contains 176 acres, and there are "about 20000 trees" (nearly all forest conifers) which in the opinion of the Director are "permanently established" here: — this shows an average of more than 113 to the acre. Surrounding as it does the site of the future Government House especial care should have been devoted to rendering this reserve perfect as a park, but on the contrary it has been planted as a dense forest, apparently without regard either for its general effect or for any of the purposes for which it was intended. We find on inspection that the trees themselves are in an unsatisfactory condition; — the only parts of the reserve where they are growing well are the Yarra slopes, where, owing to the favorable nature of the soil they are most luxuriant, and at present extremely ornamental; but if they continue to thrive as they have hitherto done, they will become a thick wood in a few years. In the remaining portion of this reserve the trees are generally sickly; but a small proportion will ever attain their proper dimensions, & in some parts whole patches are dying.

The soil is very indifferent, but if instead of expending the labour in putting a multitude of young trees into small undrained holes where they can never thrive, attention had been devoted to the proper management of a limited number, to thorough preparation of the ground around them, and to their careful culture as they grew, the reserve would already have become an ornament to the city —.

We cannot but regard the laying out and planting of this reserve as an injudicious expenditure of public money.

6. In the Garden itself we find the same want of taste, unnecessary multiplication of specimens, and absence of proper and thorough culture, resulting in a languid growth in the plants; and even after the extensive and on the whole beneficial thinning made by the Inspector of Forests during the last two years, it still remains in many places too thickly planted.

We find here, as in the Reserve, that sufficient attention has not been paid to such preparatory measures as subsoil-draining, trenching, and manuring, to omit which is to condemn the ground to permanent mediocrity.

7. The third point is the labour system. The plan introduced by Dr von Mueller has been to divide the work into 8 or 10 small "departments", and to place a man in charge of each, holding him in some sort responsible for its well being: — the intention was that responsibility should produce mutual emulation, and be a stimulus to increased exertion in all. These men all reported direct to Dr von Mueller, made their suggestions, and received his instructions for the ensuing week. They never heard of any design for producing a general good effect, nor did they study how the work in their different "departments" was to harmonise with that in the divisions adjoining. There was no efficient superintendence beyond what the Director himself could find time to exercise but the men were allowed to report to him whatever they considered capable of improvement in their neighbours' divisions.

We consider this system failed through the head of it not being a practical man, & through the absence of a constant overlooker or Curator to see to the proper carrying out of the work.

8. We may here point to the improvements effected by the Inspector of Forests acting Curator during the last two years, — in the good order, cleanliness, and generally more attractive appearance of the Gardens, as illustrating the advantages of practical supervision: — indeed whatever plan be adopted, the constant presence of a competent Curator is absolutely essential, and the large extent of the ground will afford full employment for his whole time.

9 We therefore recommend that in order to extend the usefulness of the Department, the Gardens be made not only "Botanic" but also horticultural in their character; that the ground be thoroughly prepared wherever it now remains practicable; that trees and botanic specimens be illustrated by displaying one or two well grown trees or groups of allied plants where they can be seen to advantage, rather than by having a large number of specimens; that a portion of the ground sloping down to the Lagoon be specially devoted to ornamental gardening, and that in the remainder care be taken so to place the trees and shrubs as to produce pleasing and congruous effects with a view to the general harmony of the whole. And in making this recommendation we do not intend that the institution should become a mere flower garden, but that on the contrary every assistance should be given toward making it more valuable as an instructive botanic collection, by applying the highest skill to the proper disposition and culture of the specimens.

10. Respecting the Reserves we recommend that the aim be to form a park and not a forest and that indiscriminate thick planting be abandoned; that nothing be planted except in properly prepared ground; that one or two of the main walks be much widened and be shaded with avenues of noble proportions instead of closely bordering with trees each little narrow path; and that more advantage be taken of the great facilities here offered to display in groups and single specimens noble trees for which the gardens themselves afford no room, thus making all the ground under the control of the Department subserve purposes of scientific instruction.

11. To carry out this design we recommend the following alterations in the system of management viz: —.

I. That Dr von Mueller be the head of the Scientific branch with entire charge of the Laboratory, Hortus Siccus and classground, the foreign and general correspondence, and similar matters.

II. That for the practical management of the Gardens and Reserves there be a Curator responsible for their proper design and maintenance. He should undertake the laying out and planting, — have the full control of the labour employed — the hiring and discharging of the men, payment of wages, purchase of necessary stores and plants, and generally the undisturbed management of all cultural matters working out his plans according to his own judgment. He should be a man of large experience and of cultivated & refined taste — possessed of scientific knowledge to enable him to deal with the many rare foreign specimens that have been gathered together and at the same time a practical landscape and flower gardener and we strongly recommend that the Government avail itself of the judgment of competent persons in the United Kingdom to obtain from thence a gentleman having the above qualifications for the position of Curator

12. In financial matters the Curator will submit to the official Head of the Department his estimate for the ensuing year; the Government Botanist will in like manner state what sum he will require for his scientific labours, and by applying to parliament for the amount required divisé — the country has every year an opportunity of indicating whether it desires the Department to apply itself more to science or to other matters.

13. In advising the entrusting of so great an authority to the Curator, we do not wish it to be understood that in our opinion it would in all cases be desirable, but in the present state of the institution we believe it will produce good results. From our personal observation, the evidence we have taken, and especially from the insight we have obtained as to the views of the Director himself we are convinced that it is advisable to relieve Dr von Mueller of the task of managing the grounds. Their unsatisfactory state is in great measure owing to his having attempted to carry out far more than any one man could personally superintend, and to the great unwillingness he has shown to delegate any portion of his authority to practical foremen.

14. Respecting the very extensive distribution of young forest and other trees by the Department we are of opinion that it is no longer desirable to continue it on its present scale.

We find that the plants sent out in pots have been good, and increasingly so of later years; much loss has often happened through negligence on the part of the recipients, but for this Department is in no way responsible.

As we believe that Government has this matter under consideration in connection with the questions of maintaining State Forests and promoting new industries we do not consider ourselves called upon to enter further into the subject, but we may remark that we think it would be desirable if possible to relieve the Department of the work of rearing the multitude of young trees now annually distributed by it and we would also suggest that no plants (except such as are connected with industrial pursuits) be given to private individuals unless for bona fide novelties of equal value presented in exchange.

15.  In reference to the recommendation in Clause II. we would suggest the following well known gentlemen as being perhaps those most competent to assist the Government in the choice of a Curator viz:—

Dr Hooker of Kew

Dr Hogg of London

Wm Thompson¹ Esqr Editor of the "Gardener" &

C. McDonald Esqr Chief Ranger of Phoenix Park, Dublin

With these the Agent-general could communicate specifying exactly the requirements and duties of the post.

We think the Salary should be about £400 per annum with quarters.

William John Greig Chairman

Josiah Mitchell

William Sangster

Melbourne

Decr 14 1871.