CHAPTER ONE

The First Ten Years

The first meeting of the Central AgriculturalBureau took place on 10 April 1888 in the office ofthe Conservator of Forests.

Present were:

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Albert MolineuxAlbert Molineux, the instigator of this scheme,

was born at Brighton, on the English coast, on 11July 1832. He arrived in South Australia on theResource in January 1839. He first worked on afarm at Klemzig before being apprenticed as aprinter. In 1851 he moved to the Victorian goldfields where he dug for four years. He returned toSouth Australia and worked on his father's farmon the River Gilbert for a year. He then returned tohis trade as a printer, but his love of rural life didnot abate. He resuscitated the old publication The

Farm and Garden under a new title — the firstissue of The Garden and Field appeared on 10August 1875. He continued to publish this journaluntil 1891 when he was forced to give it up inorder to devote himself full-time to the Agricul-tural Bureau. His influence on South Australianfarming was enormous, as shall become clear inthe following history of the South AustraliaAgricultural Bureau. Among the innovations herecommended were co-operative dairying, spray-ing of fruit trees and the use of superphosphateas a fertiliser. He was made a life member of theRoyal Agriculture Society of South Australia andof the South Australian Zoological Society. Hisinterests encompassed all of the natural world,and he constructed the first trawl net used forscientific purposes in South Australia. During thefirst week of its use 40 species of fish new to SouthAustralia were discovered. The specimens securedby him led to the first exploration of the methodof reproduction of the native porcupine lEchidnahystrix), and he helped secure the first perfectspecimen of a pygmy whale (Neubalacnamarginata) for the South Australian Museum. Hewas elected a Fellow of the Linnaean Society ofGreat Britain and belonged to the MacUonnellLodge of Freemasons, Glenelg.

The Honourable F.E.H.W. Krichauff, M.P.

The Hon. F.E.H.W. Krichauff, M.P., was made thefirst chairman of the Central Bureau. Born atSchleswig, Germany on 18 December 1824, hegraduated from the University of Kiel beforecoming to South Australia in 1848. His diploma inHorticulture and Floriculture was an asset whenhe took up farming near the Bugle Ranges. Thenin 1854 he became a member of the first Maccles-field District Council. From this time on hedevoted his energies to public life. He was electedas a Member of the Legislative Council. His work

there related to his original agricultural pursuits;his understanding of life on the land proved to beextremely useful in legislating to protect theinterests of fanning people. He assisted Sir R, R.Torrens in securing the passing of the RealProperty Act. One of his major concerns was forestconservation. In 1870 he managed to gain Parlia-mentary sanction for his proposal to grant landorders to the value of two pounds per acre forthose planting not less than five acres of foresttrees. Soon after this he also managed to introducea Bil] whereby the Government could createreservations of forest lands and appoint a ForestBoard (which later became the Forest Depart-ment). Throughout his career, Krichauff was astrong supporter of the Roseworthy AgriculturalCollege, and was a member of the College Councilfor several years. He remained on the CentralBureau until it was dissolved in 1902 to form theCouncil of Agriculture, of which he was made alife member. During this time he was always astrong advocate for improvements in methods ofcultivation and the use of fertilisers in SouthAustralian farming; by the time of his death on 29September 1904, he had seen great advances inboth.

Sir Samuel Davenport

Sir Samuel Davenport was born on 5 March 1818in Oxfordshire, England. He came to SouthAustralia in 1843 and settled at Macclesfield wherehis brother had previously bought land and giventhe area its name. Here he engaged in agriculturaland horticultural pursuits. He also ran sheep on

his land in those early days. In 1845 he was one ofthe first settlers to cross the River Murray, takingup the Rivoli Bay run of 110 square miles. In 1846he was appointed to the first Legislative Councilof South Australia, and spent over 20 years inSouth Australian politics. During this time he wastwice made a Minister of the Crown. His publicduties ranged far beyond that, however. He was aprominent member of the Royal Agricultural andHorticultural Society and was President of thisbody for a number of years. He was also the firstPresident of the Chamber of Manufactures, contin-uing in that role for nearly 20 years. His particularinterest lay in growing vines, olives and other fruitin South Australia. To this end, he started avineyard and olive plantation at Beaumont in theAdelaide foothills. In 1850 he accompanied anexploring party headed by Major Warburton. Theexpedition took in the area between Streaky Bayand Lake Gairdner on Eyre Peninsula, and theGawler Ranges inland. He travelled extensivelyoverseas in order to represent South Australia atinternational exhibitions. Through such efforts,the resources and potential of South Australiabecame known in the outside world. At the age of68 he was made a K.C.M.G. in recognition of hisservices to his adopted country. His ability wasalso recognised by Cambridge University whichaccorded him an LL.D. Although his officialconnection with the Agricultural Bureau of SouthAustralia was severed in 1902 with the formationof the Council of Agriculture, Sir Samuel Daven-port's devotion to the interests of agriculturecontinued until his death on 3 September 1906.

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William Austin HornWilliam Austin Horn was one of the few native-

born Australians on the Central Bureau. He beganlife in New South Wales in 1841, and came toSouth Australia with his family at the age of nine.He was educated at St. Peter's College, Adelaide,then Worcester College, Oxford. On returning toSouth Australia, he had a sheep run for 10 years,and eventually became one of South Australia'sbiggest pastoralists. In 1861 he was intimatelyconcerned with the discovery of copper atMoonta, and was an original shareholder in theMoonta Mine. He also held extensive interests inthe Silverton Mines on the Barrier, Broken HillProprietary Co. and the Mutooroo Copper Mines.He entered political life in 1887 as the representa-tive for Flinders in the House of Assembly. Fromthat time he spent six years as a member ofParliament. During his terms, he was concernedwith the introduction of coloured labour onplantations and other semi-tropical industries inthe Northern Territory, but his Bill was defeated.His philanthropy was never more evident thanduring the terrible drought of 1892-3. The Govern-ment refused to provide a subsidy for seed-wheat,so Horn decided to supply the same to all theneedy in his constituency. He also equipped theHorn Scientific Exploration Expedition to CentralAustralia in 1894. In a further act of generosity, hedonated his own collection of 11,000 coins, someof them dating back to Roman times, to the SouthAustralian Museum. From 1894-1907 he spentmost of his time in England where he was aDirector of the Bank of Adelaide in London. He

finally returned to Australia where he remainedfor the rest of his days His contribution toagriculture was just one part of a life devoted tothe progress of the whole of South Australia.

R. Homburg, M.P.

R. Homburg, M.P. was bom at Brunswick on 10March 1848. His family was of German extraction,but he was himself a British citizen. In 1854 hisfamily emigrated to Victoria, and then moved onto South Australia in 1857. He began his legalcareer in 1868 when Sir J. P. Boucaut offered hima position as an articled clerk. Later he moved toTanunda in the interests of his profession,believing that here he would have greater oppor-tunities than in the city. Homburg was admittedto the Bar in 1874 and began a very admirable lifein South Australia's legal world. Ten years later hewas elected as the representative of the District ofGumeracha. His Parliamentary work continueduntil 1905, during which time he was elected sixtimes as Member of Parliament, first for the Districtof Gumeracha, as already stated, then for theDistrict of Murray when the electorates merged in1902. He was given the portfolio of the AttorneyGenera] in the Playford Government of 1890-92,and the Downer Government of 1892-3. Then hewas a member of the Jenkins Administration fromJuly 1904 until his judicial appointment. Uponbeing made a judge in February 1905 he wasobliged to give up his Parliamentary work. Duringhis time in office, Homburg was involved in manysignificant decisions. Most importantly, hisachievements included Acts amending the Real

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Property Act, Bills of Sale Act, AgriculturalHoldings, National Parks, Partnership, CompaniesConsolidation, School of Mines and Industries,Probate and Administration Acts. Although he wasnot a practical agriculturalist, Homburg spentmuch of his life in rural areas and in representingcountry people had come to a sound under-standing of the difficulties they faced. Hisexperience in legislation was of undoubted benefitto the Central Bureau as they set about improvingthe lot of those on the land.

Mr R. Schomburgk

Three of the men on the Central Bureau wereappointed by virtue of their positions in the PublicService. Dr R. Schomburgk, also of Germanbackground, was Director of the Botanic Gardensat the time. He was born at Frieburg in Saxony in1811. He studied Botany in his native country, andon completion of his formal education wasattached to the Imperial Gardens at Potsdam. Herehe became proficient in his field, but the call ofthe pioneering spirit was too great for him toresist, and in 1848 he emigrated to Australia. Hesettled on the Gawler River and pursued hisinterests in farming and viticulture there for 17years. His talents were soon recognised by othersin the new colony, and he was appointed Directorof Adelaide's Botanic Garden in 1865. He retainedthis position until his death in 1891, when Mr M.W. Holtze took over the responsibility. During histime as Director, Schomburgk was instrumentalin introducing many new species to South

Australia, for both agricultural and domesticpurposes. Experiments were carried out to deter-mine which species were suitable for the climatehere. New varieties were developed under hissupervision. Perhaps one of the most importantaspects of his experimental work, as far as theCentral Bureau was concerned at any rate, was inrelation to rust-resistant wheats. Some advanceswere made, but due to limited space these exper-iments could only be considered of preliminarysignificance. It was necessary to run trials on alarger scale before conclusive evidence wasguaranteed. Later this role was absorbed by theGovernment Experimental Farms set up indifferent parts of South Australia. In the meantime,however, the Botanic Gardens served as a place tobegin experimental work, pointing the directionfor further trials which were likely to prove profit-able on a commercial scale.

John Ednie Brown

Mr John Ednie Brown was Conservator ofForests when the Bureau was formed, so he wasappointed to the Central Bureau. Educated inEdinburgh, his interest in forest trees began at anearly age. He chose to follow a career in thepractical management of nurseries and forestry.In order to do this, he obtained a position atInvergould Estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.Here he learned his profession as assistant agentand forester. He travelled extensively in the U.S.A.and Canada before settling in South Australia,arriving here in September 1878 on the Garonne.

In many publications on his subject, Brown devel-oped a fine reputation. He was awarded a GoldMedal by the Highland and Agricultural Society ofScotland for his article Report upon Trees foundin California. His writing continued uponreturning to Australia; two of his most admiredworks were Tree Culture in South Australia andThe Forest Flora of South Australia. In 1878 he wasappointed Conservator of Forests for SouthAustralia. He continued in this position until 1891when Walter Gill took over from him. Brownaccepted the position of Director General ofForests in New South Wales. In his public role hetaught South Australians to take care of theirnatural forests, stressing their importance inprotecting the land from erosion. He was instru-mental in the planting of Government forests fortimber sources. Clearly South Australia wouldsoon run out of good building wood if measureswere not taken to replace natural timberresources. In 1895 the Bureau of Agriculture inWestern Australia engaged him to examine itsforests in order to determine the quantity ofmarketable timber there. The following year hebecame Western Australia's first Conservator inthe Department of Woods and Forests His contri-bution to his field was recognised by the LinnaeanSociety which made him a Fellow, as did the RoyalHorticultural Society.

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Professor William Lowrie

Professor William Lowrie was appointed as thethird official member of the Central Bureau. He

was born in 1859 near St Boswell, in Roxburgshirein the UK. Lowrie was recognised as a brilliantpupil during his education at Edinburgh Univer-sity. On completing his degree he took a positionas lecturer in Natural Science and Agriculture atGordon College, Aberdeen. At the age of 29 hearrived in South Australia on 29 December 1897 toreplace Dr John D. Custance, South Australia'sfirst Professor of Agriculture. Lowrie immersedhimself in his work as Principal of RoseworthyAgricultural College and the Professor of Agricul-ture. Over a year had passed between DrCustance's leaving and Professor Lowrie's arriving,and the College had been allowed to go to ruin.However, Lowrie's enthusiastic work soon hadeverything running smoothly once again. Unfor-tunately for South Australia, a better opportunitypresented itself in New Zealand, and Lowrieresigned in September 1901. In the following 10years he lectured in New Zealand, then went toWestern Australia when he was offered theposition of Director of Agriculture there. The SouthAustralian agricultural community realised theyhad let an excellent teacher and administratorescape from them, and determined to makeamends in 1911. Professor Lowrie was invited tobecome South Australia's first Director of Agricul-ture. He accepted with pleasure, and once againtook up his duties in South Australia on 1 March1911. He remained in this position until July 1914when he retired and Professor Perkins took hisplace. During his career in the public service,Professor Lowrie had been concerned with allbranches of agriculture. He wrote many influentialpapers on a variety of subjects, and was instru-mental in bringing about the introduction of newtechnology. However, despite his advancedapproach to agricultural methods, he was alwayscareful to maintain a certain amount of caution,insisting that innovations be commercially viableand more profitable than the old ways, beforeallowing their introduction.

Henry KellyHenry Kelly came to South Australia in 1840

with his widowed mother, five brothers and sixsisters from Glasgow, Scotland. At the time he was14 years old. The family took up land at MountBarker. Despite knowing nothing of farming, thebrothers put in one of the first wheat crops in thedistrict. They paid 30s/bushel for Tasmanian seedwheat at the Port Adelaide wharf in September1840. It was a good year and they reaped areasonable crop, but were forced to wash off thesmut covering the grains before it could be sold.The following year they tried pickling the wheat,

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Charles J.Valentine was bom in Sussex, Englandin 1834. He emigrated to Victoria in 1852, butdecided to settle in South Australia the followingyear. He chose the South-East and embarked on alife as a pastoralist. In 1865 he was appointed tothe position of Chief Inspector of Sheep, for whichhe was eminently qualified after his years ofexperience in Australia. He was also an officialmember of the Government enquiry into the lossessustained in the terrible drought of 1864-5, alongwith the Hon. C. Bonney and Mr WentworthCavenaugh, M.P. Then, when the Brands Act waspassed in 1879 he became the Registrar of Brands.South Australia had several Stock Acts, which werefinally consolidated by a Parliamentary BUI passedin 1888. Under this new arrangement, Valentinewas made Chief Inspector of Stock, a position heretained for many years thereafter. In July 1905 hewas obliged to retire from the Public Service underthe Septuagenarian Act. Despite a petition askingthat his services be retained for another year, hefelt he had spent enough time on his public dutiesand bowed out.

but used such strong chemicals that the cropfailed to come up. In 1846 Kelly imported athreshing machine from Scotland which saved thebrothers a lot of hard work. He was also closelyinvolved with John Ridley who developed thestripper for harvesting wheat in 1846. Henry Kellybought the first one for £160. Within five years,these machines would be used by nearly everyonereaping wheat in South Australia. Then in 1851 hevisited the Crystal Palace Exhibition in Londonand returned home with a McCormack mowingmachine. These machines would becomestandard equipment on many South Australianfarms in following years. In 1856 Kelly bought landat Kapunda and farmed there for 21 years beforemoving to Glenelg. In 1858 he was made a Justiceof the Peace. With a reputation as a hard workerand innovator, Kelly was an obvious choice for theCentral Bureau. He could balance the opinion ofscientific experts such as Lowrie and Schomburgk,and was capable of sorting out significantproblems from minor ones. His exposure toordinary farms in the course of his own work lefthim in good stead to explain these concerns tothe experts. It was by including such a practicalfarmer that the Central Bureau hoped to be of realservice to agriculture in South Australia.

Later in the first year of its existence, two moreappointments were made to the Central Bureau.Thomas Hardy, 4 March 1889 and C. J. Valentine,Chief Inspector of Stock, 10 September 1888.

Thomas Hardy was born in 1830 in Devon,England. He came to Australia on the BritishEmpire at the age of 20 and spent his first yearhere working for John Reynell. When the oppor-tunity to work on a cattle property at Normanvillepresented itself, he eagerly accepted the positionand later joined a butchery business. Then goldwas discovered and he drove cattle to the Victoriandiggings, no doubt making a handsome profit forhis trouble. On returning to South Australia in1853, he bought a property at Bankside on theRiver Torrens, about three miles from Adelaide.Here he planted three-quarters of an acre of Shirazand Grenache grapevines and two acres of fruittrees. In 1857 he sent the first vintage to England.Hardy had hit upon a very successful venture andwas to become one of Australia's largest producersand shippers of wine. In 1863, he enlarged hisplantings to 35 acres of vines, then in 1874, boughta disused flour mill at McLaren Vale. Two yearslater, he acquired the adjoining Tintara vineyard,and in 1884, enlarged the holding by a further 480acres. By 1885, Hardy had 40,000 gallons of winematuring. His business continued to expand, andin 1901 he owned 540 acres of vineyards, stores atMile End and cellars in Currie Street. He pioneeredthe growing of currants and raisins in SouthAustralia, encouraging others to follow hisexample. He was deeply committed to theadvancement of his adopted land and took a rolein public life to assist its progress. In 1889 hejoined the Phylloxera Board and was President of

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the Wine Growers' Association in 1891. He alsoheld the position of Vice-President in the SouthAustralian Horticultural Society and the Chamberof Manufactures. When the Bureau of Agriculturewas formed, he intimated that he would beinterested in helping their work by answering anyqueries related to vinegrowing and wineproduction.

Together these men hoped to encourageimprovements in all forms of agriculture in thecolony now 52 years old. The aims and constitu-tion were reported to the public.

The Bureau shall consist of nine or moremembers, and be designated The Central Agricul-tural Bureau of South Australia.

The Bureau shall have power to nominatecorresponding district bureaux.

The Bureau will collect and publish by meansof the Press, and with the aid of the districtbureaux, information of every kind calculated toprove beneficial to the colonists engaged inagricultural, horticultural, pastoral, and otherpursuits connected with the cultivation of the soil,such as -

(a) The suitability of the various districts of thecolony (in regard to soil, situation, elevation,aspect, etc.) for the growth or production ofplants, animals, etc.

(b) Information obtained respecting plants,animals, products, etc., likely to prove of valueto cultivators.

(c) The best methods of cultivating various kindsof crops, and of breeding and feeding domesticanimals, and of improving the same.

(d) The methods of preparing and preservingvarious products for market, and discovery ofmarkets for the products of the soil.

(e) The collection of agricultural statistics,particularly as affecting the area under cultiva-tion in each district; the number and breeds ofanimals; the nature and condition of cropsduring each month; the time of sowing orplanting and harvesting; the average yield peracre of fruits, cereals, etc.; the cost of cultivatingeach kind of crop; and all information thatmight serve to guide intending settlers.

(f) The collection of information respecting allkinds of pests affecting the farm, forest, garden,orchard, and vineyard.

(g) To ascertain and suggest the best means oferadicating poisonous plants, and of combatingthe effects of disease of the ailments of domesticanimals.

(h) To prevent as far as possible the introductionand spread of such pests, and to inducecolonists to give the earliest informationconcerning the appearance of previouslyunknown plants, or parasites upon plants, or ofdiseases of animals, in order that the same maybe at once identified and dealt with.

(i) To publish when necessary bulletins,abstracts, and reports containing all such infor-mation as may be deemed desirable.

(j) The district bureaus to be asked to give everyassistance in their power in aid of the objects ofthe Agricultural Bureau. (South AustralianParliamentary Papers 1889, Vol. 3, No. 96, p. 1.)

The weekly meetings soon became too much,and the Central Bureau decided to meetfortnightly. Later this was altered to monthlymeetings.

Soon branches of the Agricultural Bureau ofSouth Australia were formed in rural areas, underthe supervision of the Central Bureau. All branchesand proposed members had to be approved bythe governing body, and could have a maximumof nine men on the committee, although visitorswere welcome at all meetings. On 21 May 1888;the Central Bureau officially approved thebranches applying from Burra, Mannum,Nuriootpa and Stansbury. Many others soonfollowed - Millicent on 6 June, Gumeracha andKanmantoo on 9 July, Gladstone on 13 August,Davenport on 17 September and Mt Gambier on 8October. By the time the Agricultural Bureau hadbeen established for 12 months, the number ofbranches had risen to 12 with the addition of PtGermein on 1 April 1889 and Naracoorte on 6 Aprilof that year. [Of these, Gumeracha is the only oneto have continued to the present day withoutbreaks or alteration. Millicent and Nuriootpa (nowknown as Angaston) are still functioning.] At thisrate it looked as if the Agricultural Bureau was tobe a success, filling a gap in the education offarmers and answering a great need. Withbranches forming across the State it would bepossible to disseminate information throughoutthe colony of South Australia, realising the primaryaim of the Bureau. It is interesting to note thatmost branches arranged to meet on a particularday "on or before the full moon" each month. Inthe days of horse-drawn vehicles travelling atnight was difficult. The extra light shed by a fullmoon made all the difference. This arrangementcontinued until cars with powerful headlightswere in common use.

In that first year a great many topics werediscussed by the members of this new organisa-

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tion. Seeds of both native and imported plantswere sent out to the branches for experimentalpurposes. Some were successful, others acomplete failure. In August the Central Bureausent packets of hemp, Soja hispida (for producingsoy sauce), lupins, sa in t fo in , buckwheat,Ornithopus sativus, lentils and tagosaste (a fodderplant from the Canary Islands). Supplies of seedfor the grass Napier Fescue were also available forthose requesting samples. In return, the branchessent back reports on the success or otherwise ofthese introduced plants, as well as plants andinsects they did not recognise and would like tohave identified. Branch members also describeddiseases they observed in their crops and stock,in the hope that the Central Bureau could supplynames and remedies for them. In many ways, theCentral Bureau was more like today's Departmentof Agriculture than the current Advisory Board.

In working to establish the best species forfarming in South Australia, the Bureau also recom-mended diversification on farms. It seemedessential in remote areas, and in times of uncertainreturns, for farms to be as self-sufficient aspossible. With room to grow fruit trees, plantvegetable gardens and keep hens and a cow, itseemed only sensible to supply the family's needsas far as was practicable. And who knows, theremay have been a little left over for sale to supple-ment the rather meagre income which was the lotof most early settlers. A number of different jobsabout the farm also had the added attraction ofcreating a bit of variety in the year's work.

Beekeeping was particularly encouraged, to theextent that lecture tours were arranged. In October1888 Mr A. E. Bonney spoke on the subject atClarendon, Willunga, Meadows, Macclesfield,Strathalbyn and Mt Barker. He continued forseveral months, spreading practical informationin the hope that farmers would take up this usefuloccupation.

Farmers were also encouraged to grow wattletrees, since it had been discovered that the timberand bark of this native was very good for tanningleather. Mr A. L. Thrupp gave an informative paperentitled Notes on Wattle Culture in May of 1888,and the Burra Branch also discussed this topic inJune of the same year.

One of the earliest stock diseases to bediscussed by the Bureau was coast disease. At theJuly meeting of 1888, Sir Samuel Davenport recom-mended a mixture of one part sulphate of iron to20 parts salt placed in a trough or similar containeras a successful remedy. Later that year a Mr W.Thompson of Victoria wrote to the Bureau

promising a cure for the same disease on paymentof a reward.

However, no action was taken and the sameremedy (though at double strength) was recom-mended by the Colton Branch in 1892, when theyalso suggested washing the heels of animals withsoap and water then keeping them dry as a furtherprecaution.

Another problem faced by the Bureau in itsearliest days was the damage caused by increasingnumbers of sparrows. The "Sparrow Pest atKapunda" was on the agenda for the CentralBureau meeting of 25 June 1888, then Molineuxgave a paper on the subject in July. Much of hisinformation and advice was gleaned from thework of Miss Eleanor A. Ormerod, the ConsultingEntomologist to the Boyal Agricultural Society ofEngland. She had recently visited the colony andwas a rich source of information. Poisoned wheatappeared to be one of the fastest ways of dealingwith the problem.THE TRUE REMEDY FOR SPARROWS

By the Adelaide Poet Laureate.What means this sadly plaintive wail,Ye men of spades and ploughs and barrows?Why are your faces wan and pale?It is the everlasting sparrows.We may demolish other pestsThat devastate the farm and garden;But spoiled by these voracious guests,Our prospects are not worth a farden.We can't defeat a foe like thisWith gunshot or with bows and arrows;We must resort to artificeTo cope with enemies like sparrows.Our level best we all have triedWith scarecrows, nets and cunning cages,Our utmost efforts they deride,And spoil our fruit in all its stages.Lift up your heads, your hearts lift up,Resume your spades, your ploughs andharrows,And while you drain the genial cup "I'll tell you how to lick the sparrows.No more your wasted fruits bewail,Your crops destroyed of peas and marrows,A cure there is that cannot failTo rid you of the hateful sparrows.The remedy is at your feetSlay them and wheel them out in barrows,Poisoned by FAULDING'S PHOENIX WHEAT,The one great antidote to sparrows.(Garden and Field, September 1888 p. iii)

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However, it did not take long for people torealise that this method also killed other birdswhich were in fact useful for controlling the insectpopulation. It was not until April 1894 that thefollowing amendments to the Sparrow Act wererecommended by the Central Bureau on behalf ofall Bureau members. "The Act should be compul-sory, and not permissive; and also that it shouldapply to all buildings and erections, public as wellas private", also that "provision should be madeto apply the Act to starlings as well as sparrows,and for payment for their destruction at minimumrates of one halfpenny per head, and 2s 6d per 100for eggs." (Garden and Field, May 1894, p. 362.)

On 28 January 1889 A. Molineux became thefirst permanent, paid General Secretary of theCentral Bureau. It was a position he was to holduntil 1902, despite several threats of resignation.In fact, the first of these occurred in February,only a fortnight after accepting the office. He wascriticised for continuing his own private work,that is, as editor of the Garden and Field whilstbeing employed as a Government officer. However,his connection with the journal was useful to theBureau. Previously the business of the Bureau hadbeen reported in the columns of this magazine,but in January 1889, the rapidly growing organi-sation was sufficiently active to warrant its ownpublication, The Journal of the Bureau of Agricul-ture, which was to be distributed as a supplementto the Garden and Field, Copies of the new journalwere also sent to all members of the Bureau. InOctober it was discovered that this was not inaccordance with postal regulations and the formatof the Journal was altered. Instead of being aninsert, it was published as a portion of the normalpaper.

In January 1889 the idea of establishing an ArborDay was discussed by the Central Bureau. Mr J. E.Brown, the Conservator of Forests, suggested 20June as a suitable date, and recommended that"everyone able to work should plant a tree uponthat day". (Journal of the Bureau of Agriculture,May 1888, p. 42 hereafter referred to as JBA) Theidea was received with enthusiasm by thebranches, although the date was altered in someareas to a more appropriate planting time.Working in co-operation with district councilsand schools, the Bureau was responsible for theplanting of many trees in public places. This wasto become part of every schoolchild's year.

A perennial topic of conversation amongstfarmers is rainfall and in South Australia thisgenerally tends towards the lack of it. So it waswith the earliest members of the AgriculturalBureau. In September 1888 the Central Bureau

reported that "A Danish savant had formulated atheory to account for the existence of drought incertain districts as owing to a lack of trees andplants, which evaporate a sufficient quantity ofmoisture to lighten the atmosphere." (JBA,October 1888, p. 53). The idea was elaborated byMr W. Brown, a Professor of Agriculture fromOntario, U.SA, which was also reported to theCentral Bureau, "I am of the opinion that leavesnot only exhale, but act as sponges under givenconditions" he stated in his paper "Evaporationof Plants". (JBA, November 1888 p. 66) He recom-mended the planting of limes, sycamores, maples,oaks, beeches, elms, ash, birch and catalpa. Thetrees of least benefit are walnut, spruce, pines,gums and all indigenous varieties, which is tanta-mount to listing all trees that grow readily inSouth Australia. The search for means of artificiallycreating rain continued, and an interesting paperat the Third Congress in 1891 points to thephenomena of heavy rains observed after battles.Molineux read a paper by Mr J. Miller of Adelaideoutlining the method for putting this to a practicaluse.

I have great pleasure, as being the inventor ofthe system now being tried (and said to besuccessful) in America, in calling your attention,briefly, to some very important facts . . . I foundin the course of my reading that it had beenobserved from the first use of gunpowder onthe field of battle that whenever there was muchcannonading, heavy rains almost invariably tookplace, either at the time or immediately after-wards, even when there were no previousatmospheric indications of rain . . . The methodI suggest is to construct small balloons of cheap,light material, such as calico or thin glazedpaper, capable of carrying say 20 Ibs ofdynamite, fitted with a time fuse, to explodewhen attaining any desired altitude. A balloonto carry this weight to a height of say two mileswill probably have to be seven or eight feet indiameter, by some fifteen feet high, if chargedwith hydrogen or coal gas. (Garden and Field,October 1891, p. 109.)If only it were possible to break a drought so

easily!Linked to the effects of rainfall is the threat of

summer bushfires. South Australian farmers wereaware of the possibility of devastation from thebeginning of life in this land, and looked for waysof combating this danger. In answer to a circularsent out to branches by the Central Bureau in thesummer of 1891-92, most felt it necessary toplough a firebreak around wheat crops, a practicecontinued to the present day. The Melrose Branch

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echoed the sentiments of many settlers in itsdistrust of Tandsticker and wax matches.

The Melrose and some other branches havecalled attention to the dangers arising from theuse of matches other than those termed"safety", and urge that the use of suchdangerous matches should be discouraged bylegislation and other means. The sale of waxmatches in the streets of Adelaide by childrenis a source of danger to women, because thechildren and others frequently throw thematches on the pavement, where they ignitewhen trodden upon, and set fire to the under-clothing. Bushmen and smokers object to safetymatches, because they will not strike on theirtrousers, and it would be necessary to carry thebox upon which to strike them; but thedangerous nature of the Tandsticker and waxmatches should justify the Legislature insubmitting smokers to the slight inconvenienceof using safety matches only. (JBA, February1892, p. 181.)The following summer, further recommenda-

tions were suggested by the Hahndorf Branch. Itseemed more useful to allow District Councils todeclare fire ban days rather than making a state-wide decision, since conditions varied so muchbetween areas. Today District Councils declarethe start and end of the burning offseason in theirown areas, but fire ban days are decided by acentral body.

The question of harvest leave for schoolchildrenwas brought up at a Central Bureau meetingtowards the end of 1890. Since children wereobliged to attend only 35 days of school perquarter, it was considered that they should beable to arrange enough time off to help on thefarm without taking special time off as well. Severalyears later it was suggested that the school termsshould be rearranged to allow children holidaysduring the busiest times on the farm.

Molineux tendered his resignation again inOctober 1890. His complaint was one often utteredby secretaries since - there was too much workfor too little recompense. Recognising hisenormous contribution to the successful runningof the Bureau, the Government of the day managedto find extra funding. His pay increased from £140to £400 per annum. His lot was not to be an easyone, for a few months later he was again criticisedfor his connection with the Garden and Field. Inreply, Molineux sent the following letter to theBureau Chairman.

I have most respectfully to inform you that theGovernment in Cabinet have decided not to

allow me to conduct the Garden and Field. Ibeg most respectfully to draw your attention tothe following facts:1. The Garden and Field is purely and distinctly

an auxiliary to the work of the Bureau.2. The proceedings of the Bureau and its

Branches are published in the Garden andField free of cost to the Bureau, except thecharges made by the printers for mechanicalwork.

3. All the valuable information collected andpublished each month is collected andwritten out of office hours, much of it beingwritten by specialists.

4. None of the commercial part of the work isconducted by myself. Clerks and collectorsdo all the bookkeeping and collecting.

5. The present value of the Garden and Field is£1,000.

6.1 have conducted the paper for sixteen years,and as it is the only one of the kind inAustralasia it is much valued by agriculturistsand horticulturists. (Garden and Field, March1891, p. 149.)

The decision was final, and Molineux wasobliged to hand over the Garden and Field. Mr W.C. Grasby became the new Editor from June 1891.The Central Bureau attempted to keep in closecontact with all of the branches, not only throughcorrespondence, but also by visiting differentagricultural areas. Thomas Hardy visited the PtGermein Branch in October of 1890 and recom-mended the cultivation of vines and dairying inthe area. He then went to the South-East inFebruary of the following year. Here he foundcountry between Penola and Naracoorte whichhe thought looked very suitable for growingchampagne grapes. The good rainfall, water nearthe surface and limestone rises were ideal. Herecommended planting "Pineau Noir . . . CabernetSauvignon, Malbec and Shiraz". (JBA, February1891, p. 133.)

In March 1891 the Central Bureau visitedsouthern Yorke Peninsula, and then in June ofthat year they travelled to the newly settled areasof Renmark and Mildura. Another journey, thistime to Angaston and the surrounding district,was undertaken by the Central Bureau in January1892.

Their purpose was to inspect the results ofspraying experiments carried out by Mr F. C.Smith, Mr A. B. Robin, and Mr W. Sage (membersof the Nuriootpa Branch) in order to destroy appleand pear scab (Fusicladium), shothole fungus

18

iPhyHostictal and curl-leaf lExoascusi on apricotsand peaches. The Central Bureau inspectedMessrs Fowlers' fruit factory, Mr E. Sailer'svineyard and cellar and the Yalumba winery. Theyalso visited the orchards owned by a Mr Sibleyand Mr J. Trescowthick. The general impressionreceived by the Bureau was that the area was idealfor grapes and also fruit trees, provided the treeswere sprayed against fungal diseases, A meetingwas held in the evening at Angaston to discussthe agricultural potential of the district. Thefollowing day, the party proceeded to Evandale toinspect the fruit evaporators, installed by Mr H. A.Evans, where apricots were being dried. The fruitwas subjected to sulphur fumes and the resultdeclared to be of a very superior quality. The winecellars of G. F. Cleland and Co. at Tanunda, andMessrs S. &. W. Sage near Nuriootpa were viewed,as well as the orchards and gardens of Mr A. B.Robin and Mr C. B. Domeyer.

The Mediterranean climate of South Australiaencouraged settlers to grow grape vines. In 1889the Stansbury Branch recommended plantingCurrant, Muscatel and Sultana vines, along witholives on stony ground and pines on sandhills.Members predicted the area would become asecond Malaga (a Spanish province famous for itsgrapes).The same year the potential of the MurrayRiver Flats as a grape vine and fruit tree area wasrecognised, particularly since easy transport forproduce existed via the river. Unfortunately, eachcrop comes with its own threatening diseases,and vines are no different. Vines are affected byOidium tuckerii (Downy Mildew) and anthracnosein particular. Sulphur seemed to be the answer toboth problems, and a little copper added as welldealt with anthracnose effectively. Cut wormsappeared in January 1894, but could be destroyedby placing, at the base of the vine, balls of a mixtureof 30 Ib bran, 1 Ib Paris green (aceto-arsenite ofcopper), 3 Ib brown sugar/treacle/molasses andwater.

Since the very first meetings of the CentralBureau the committee had been concerned aboutthe introduction of phylloxera to South Australia.Vines in New South Wales had been discoveredwith this disease. Since it was believed that thedisease could be transported in the soil on vineroots, the Central Bureau decided to encouragethe prohibition of imports fmm affected areas. Alaw had been passed in 1886 prohibiting importsof fruit trees and other plants from New SouthWales, but the Central Bureau felt it was necessaryto recommend further amendments in the Vine,Fruit and Vegetable Protection Act in 1891.

They felt some soil of compensation was dueto owners of fruit trees that had to be destroyedbecause of disease, provided reasonable attemptshad been made to control that disease TheCentral Bureau also deemed it necessary fortransportation of fruit trees and vines to be closelysupervised; no vines or trees from diseased areasshould be allowed into South Australia.

From the beginning of settlement in SouthAustralia, wheat was a major product of farmers,so it was an important concern of member's of theAgricultural Bureau. John Lewis, Chairman of theBuira Branch, presented a paper to his bureau oncrop cultivation in June 1888. Most importantly,Lewis recommended combining cropping withgrazing. This allowed farmers to rest the croppingland without loss of income by running sheep onit. He suggested cropping one third of the arableland each year, leaving another third fallow, andputting sheep on the rest. This "3-course" rotationwould result in the same wheat yield as puttingall the land under crop every year, but wouldrequire far less labour. He advised ploughing from5-7" deep. The reaper and binder was consideredsuperior to the stripper', since the grain could beharvested earlier and the straw was collected foruse as horse fodder.

m *

HayStooks at McLaren Vale1!)

Wheat growers were beset with problems. InSeptember 1888 the Stansbury Branch reportedcrops ruined by cockchafers; the remediessuggested were:

1. To roll the ground.

2. Spray with Paris green or London purple.

3. Harrow crops in order to bring the grubs tothe surface in the hope that magpies andcrows would eat them.

Then in November 1890 locusts appeared indroves and devoured the crops over vast areas ofthe colony. Branches as far apart as Stansbury,Locheil, Burra, Renmark and Kanmantoo reportedthe devastation caused by this pest. It was neces-sary to find some way of destroying the insects.The Central Bureau suggested dragging harrowsinterlaced with bushes over the areas where eggshad been laid, then burning straw over them orspraying the grubs with a weak solution of arsenic.It was recognised that castor oil and larkspurplants were poisonous to them; planting themmight help to keep the grown locusts away fromthe area. It is easy to imagine the heartbreak offarmers watching helplessly as the locust plaguedescended upon crops almost ready for harvest.

As if that wasn't enough, there was also theproblem of rust in wheat crops. The search forrust-resistant wheats was a major concern ofBureau members. A great deal of experimentationand very useful work was carried out by two menin particular. Mr Inglis of Georgetown (Pine ForestBranch) and Mr Marshall of Templers (WasleysBranch) contributed an enormous amount ofpractical help to the search.

Thomas Hardy, Henry Kelly and AlbertMolineux inspected Richard Marshall's experi-mental plots on 3 December 1892. Marshall hadover 180 different varieties of wheat growing onhis property, Hope Farm. Of 2,200 acres, he had500 under crop and ran a few sheep and cattle aswell. "His system is to crop one year, leave it toNature next year, then break up for fallow, turnsheep on to it, clean off weeds, and then cropagain with some cereal." (Garden & Field, January1893, p. 211.) One of his promising crops was KingsJubilee which, although not rust-proof, escapedbeing attacked by rust by ripening very early, justas Leak's Rust-proof did.

In order to test the rust-resistant qualities of thevarious wheats, the plots are sown late in theseason, side by side, in soil of even character,and as nearly at the same time as circumstanceswill permit. They are sown in drills, betweenthe end of June and the end of July; wet daysinterfered with the more rapid sowing. About

100 varieties are now being experimented withfor the first time, and the others are those whichhave been regarded in former seasons as beingworthy of further trial. About 50 varieties arerust-resistant — that is, not likely, so far as hasbeen ascertained, to be seriously injured by redrust; and of these 50 varieties there are 20 whichare resistant in a high degree. But there areconsiderations other than rust-resistance thatare required — such as liability to shake out thegrain when ripe, quantity and quality of grainproduced, stooling, strength and value of straw,etc., which make a wheat more or less valuable,and therefore a good number of these 20 willoccupy a low place in the estimation of farmerswhen the typical variety has been discovered.The nearest to the ideal, in Mr Marshall'sopinion, is one of his own "selection" namedMarshall's White, which has a large head, good,soft, plump grain, strong upstanding straw, andprolific yield. So far no rust whatever has beendiscovered on this, whilst several varietiesgrown close beside have been very rusty. Thiswas a single plant selected from a crop of Ward'sProlific (or Ward's Rust-proof, as it is sometimescalled, though it is not rust-proof).

First, Mr Marshall named it Ward's White, butafterwards attached his own name to it. He hasnow had it four years, and last season sowed 14acres with the produce (5 bushels 32 Ib), andexpects to get 10 bushels per acre. The appear-ance is deceptive, because the ears are filledwith grain from the heel to the point, and thereare four to five grains in each row.

Other most promising wheats are Nos. 2, 3, 8,and Hercules, a variety found amongst anothercrop by Mr Marshall's son, who shows a keenand intelligent interest in his father's work.Another rust-resisting wheat (though slightlysubject to rust) is Leak's Rust-proof, of whichthere are 140 acres growing here, and likely toyield 10 bushels. Last year it went 19 bushelsper acre. It has a large head, yields well, grainexcellent, and does not shake out. Blount'sLambrigg, 180 acres, is yet a better kind, andwill probably yield 12 bushels. (Garden andField, January 1893, p. 211.)

Marshall's No. 2 became a very popular wheatin later years.

Then on 7 December, Henry Kelly and SamuelGoode accompanied Molineux to the Kadina area,where they inspected 200 varieties of wheat inorder to accentuate various qualities. Mr Ingliscompiled a record of his experiences during the1892 season, which is presented in the Marchissue of the Garden and Field in 1893. He used

20

some of Marshall's varieties as well as his own. Inhis opinion, Marshall's Hercules, Marshall's No. 4and Leake's Rustproof were good varieties. Of hisown wheats, he recommended Inglis Rustproofand crossed this with other well-known varietiesto strengthen its qualities. Mr Oskar Zeigler alsoworked hard in this field. His paper at the Bureau'sThird Congress in September 1891 is veryinteresting.

I do not believe any more in chemical or mineralpreparations applied to the wheat beforesowing, nor do I believe in spraying rusty wheatcrops, though in both cases something may yetbe discovered to check the disease, more orless; but I am getting more doubtful from yearto year. If the farmers of Australasia wish toconquer the pest, quite a different plan must beadopted, and I have come here today to explainit to you.

Squatters and farmers have imported, and stillare importing, first class horses, cattle, andsheep for the purpose of improving their live-stock. Well, gentlemen, we must get our Agricul-tural Bureau to import samples of all rust-resisting wheats from all parts of the world, andso far as possible quickly ripening wheats . . .

We want a wheat that ripens in 16 to 18 weekslike the Steinwedel, and is at the same time asrust-resisting as Ward's Prolific. And I maintainthat with careful hybridization it is not only apossibility, nay, a perfect certainty, to producesuch a wheat

. . . I now beg to ask you, after considering thefrightful losses of three and a half millionpounds during the last two seasons in SouthAustralia only, whether it would be a step in theright direction if our paternal Governmentkindly provided the means for a small rust-experimenting farm. If we succeeded in raisinga fast growing and rust-resisting wheat, we neednot fear the red rust nor the ravages of thelocusts any more, for the crops will be reapedbefore the latter pest appears. (Garden andField, October 1891, p. 112.)

Some of the wheats which did prove to be fairlyrust-resistant were also rather flinty, a character-istic over which much debate raged with respectto milling and baking qualities.

Now that most of the suitable agricultural landshad been taken up by settlers, it was no longerpossible simply to clear new land to grow morewheat. It was necessary to discover ways of makingthe old country more productive per acre,especially since prices given for wheat weredropping. One of the useful discoveries of this

period was that less rust (and consequently higheryields) occurred in crops sown more thinly thanfarmers were accustomed to sow them. Unfortu-nately, this was still not enough to make wheat-growing a very profitable crop. Droughts in 1892and 1893 combined with low prices to put manywheat-growers in a desperate position. In August1893 a report from Mundoora Branch listed thefollowing costs:

Ploughing 4sHarrowing and Sowing Is 2dSeed (40lb) 2sReaping 2s 6dCleaning 5sShort distance Cartage 5dRent at lowest rate (Is 6d) 3sRates (incl. water 4d) lOd

TOTAL: 14s 4d/acre

Two years later this was adjusted by theKanmantoo Branch. According to them, it cost£.1 2s 3d to cultivate one acre. With an averageyield of 6 bushels in that area it would earn 10s 6d(the current price was Is 9d/bushel). At a deficit of11s 9d per acre it was not worth the back-breakinglabour required to sow and reap a crop in thosedays. At the same time, the Woodside Branchreported the following prices —

Wool 7d/lb Butter lOd Cheese 6dnone of which left the farmer with any profit. Tomake matters worse, yields continued to drop.Progressively worse crops are recorded in theCentral Bureau minutes.

March 1894 Punyelroo1895 Kadina1895 Eudunda

Arden Vale1896 Mundoora

8.5-9 bushels/acre6 bushels/acre4.5 bushels/acre4 bushels/acre3 bushels/acre

Although these figures are not from the samearea, they clearly indicate a general decrease inaverage yields across South Australia. It was essen-tial that more efficient means of production befound.

The Bureau made attempts to introduce fertil-isers from its earliest days. Guano (bat dung) foundin the Naracoorte caves was expected to producethe desired results. It was very expensive to cartany distance from the area, however, and sincethe samples were rather inconsistent, its use onany large scale was soon abandoned. Anotherwell-advertised manure was Kainit from Germany,but that too had a limited success. The mostimportant advance in wheatgrowing was theintroduction of superphosphate.

21

Once the wheat had been reaped, there was thefurther problem of storing it free from weevils.This interesting method of dealing with them wasrecommended by Mr J. Page, the French ConsularAgent:

get fresh sheepskins from the butcher and laythem wool downwards on the bags of wheat,etc. The insects would flock in to them. In themorning the skins should be taken away andspread in the sun, when the weevils would clearoff. (Garden and Field, March 1889, p. 13.)

The less dramatic methods were perhaps morethorough. Members of the Bureau suggesteddestroying weevils by kiln-drying the wheat orfumigating it with burning charcoal, or by storingit between layers of lime. In December 1890 theanswer was to burn sulphur and charcoal in asealed warehouse.

The First Congress of members of the CentralBureau and branch members was held in March1890 to coincide with the Royal Agricultural andHorticultural Society Show. Over four days theydiscussed every area of agriculture. It proved tobe too much to absorb in the given time, so inSeptember, fewer subjects were discussed in thesame amount of time. The date was changed toSeptember when more branch members were freeto take time off from their farms. A resolution waspassed at the second Congress requesting thatthe Government supply free passes for peopletravelling by railway to attend the Congress. Thisway more members of the Agricultural Bureaucould afford to participate in the Congress,contributing their own knowledge and experi-ence, learning from others, and taking newinformation Jback toutheir own districts. Unfortu-nately, the Railway Authority would only allowmembers half fares, not free passes.

The Third Congress was held on 17-19September 1891, and this time 30 of the 53 existingbranches were represented. The AgriculturalBureau was establishing itself as a well-respectedorganisation that was here to stay. The Chairmanof the Central Bureau, Krichauff, addressed theassembled group and gave a very interestingdescription of the Bureau's work to date.

The exhibition of produce is a new interestadded to our Congress. I hope to see it in futureeven more complete, and especially with regardto cereals and fruit. This may give us an oppor-tunity to compare the advantages which somedistricts have over others for the growth ofparticular varieties of cereals, fruit, or vines, thetime of their ripening in these, and enablepersons to identify and classify varieties, whichonly too often go under wrong names, and lead

to so much confusion in the nomenclature .. .our Journal becomes increasingly useful.Although reports have been frequently conden-sated, they were, I think, left in a sufficientlyintelligible form. Besides the Journal, manyhundreds of copies of the lectures by Mr Purserand by Mr West have been distributed, alsocopies of the Victorian Handbook of Viticulture,and other printed matter, which, doubtless,have been found useful. Some co-operative dairyfactories and creameries have been established,after encouragement had been given by visitsfrom the Secretary and members of the Bureau;but the condensation of milk does not yet seemto find favor with any of the Co-operativeCompanies. In connection herewith, I maymention that the Bureau has not lost sight ofthe necessity for making arrangements withOcean Steamship Companies for cool chambers(not freezing) for dairy produce and f ru i t . . . Butunless we can arrange for definite monthlyquantities, it is useless to approach the agentsof any Steamship Company. The matter will bespecially brought before you later on.

A trial has been made with Mr Bobbie's sprayerupon a rusty crop at Port Germein, with morethan doubtful success; and on the appearanceof young locusts, Professor Lowrie will attackthem with the same implement . . . Ensilagedoes not seem to have been made in such largequantities as is desirable. The cost need notprevent farmers, if they will follow the extract Iread on November 5th, at the Central Bureau,or still simpler, the experience of H. W. Hughes,of Booyoolie, and others.

The question of licensing stallions has beenremitted to the Branches, and the opinionsexpressed are of the greatest diversity. Thosethat are favorable to such licenses are by nomeans recommending the same licence fee.Some apparently wish to prohibit unlicensedstallions from travelling unless their owners paya very small charge which would pay theveterinary surgeon; others demand a high fee.It is difficult to come to a decision, but, as thematter is certainly one of great importance, toprevent the increase of scrubbers and weedyscrews, and to multiply useful horses for homeuse and exportation, I think something oughtto be done. The Bureau might open a register ofstallions. A stallion should be registered if acertificate from an authorised veterinary sur-geon is shown, declaring that he is free fromhereditary unsoundness, and that he showssuch other qualities which make it likely that,with a sound mare, stock will be produced

22

making superior roadsters and strang but activeharness horses. No doubt, if the charges forserving are reasonable, manv of our smallfarmers, who make it a point to rear yearly a fewfoals, will inspect such register before decidingwhere they will bring their mares.Once again I wish to call the attention of theSouth Australian farmers to the American sulkyploughs. You sit on a comfortable spring-seatdriving the horses, and without any hard laboror difficulty you regulate the ploughing bymeans of levers close at hand, or lift the ploughout of the ground. To be sure the work donedoes not look smooth and shining for aploughing match. The soil is, on the contrary,in a somewhat broken condition, all the betterfor the harrowing. You can turn over a furrow of15 inches, and do as much work and better,than the two-furrow plough, which has beenneglected since by all who have tried the sulkyplough. The horses have no additional weightto carry, although the driver sits on the plough,thus enabling old men or young boys to easilydo the work. (Gai^den and Field, October 1891,pp. 93-94.)

A further discussion of ensilage, only touchedon here, was provided by Mr James Bell ofMorphettville in his paper Silos and Ensilage. Heclaimed

Cape oats, wild oats, or wheat are the best if youhave not got suitable land for growing tares ormaize. I think the latter is the best of all. Silageproduces more milk and of a better quality thanbran and chaff.

The next point is the system of filling the silo. Icut with the common mower, rake it up, cart inat once - the greener the better . . . I have two orthree men always tramping the silage as it islifted into the pits with an elevator. When onepit is full, let it settle for a few days while theothers are filling, and then fill up again; so goon until all are heaped up. Cover the top withboards 11 x H/z inch. The first year I weightedwith cement casks filled with clay, but findingthem too heavy to put on and off, I replacedthem with square kerosene oil-tins filled withclay, which I find much more handy. These oil-tins can be got at the Government yards inabundance at about one penny each. I aminclined to think that screw pressure is betterthan anything else. It would be quicker to openup and more convenient should you want to fillthe pits after they had settled for a week or two. . . The milk produced by silage is richer incream, butter is sweeter and of a better color,and the cost of feeding on silage is about onehalf as compared with bran and chaff. Bear inmind, I am not telling you what can be donewith silage, but I am telling you what I havedone and what the result has been. There is nogetting away from the fact, dairying cannot becarried on in this diy climate without silage.(Garden and Field, October 1891, p. 107.JThere was a great deal of discussion at the

Congress concerning the relative merits of theStripper and the Binder for reaping wheat.

Mr H. Kelly - Mr J. L. Thompson, late of DookieCollege, has arrived at the same results. Stillthey all knew what the stripper could do when

Members of Virginia Branch inspecting ensilage pits ai Roseworthy Agricultural College, c 1905.

23

•Making Ensilage

put into wheat just at the time it was ready. If itlies for a week or a fortnight, as some wheatshave to, then a great loss often takes place. Thecrop is liable to storms, fires, and winds, butyou should not forget that the binder gives youstraw. A year or two ago Mr Wm Freebairn, ofthe Alma Plains, made trials, taking 200 acreswith the stripper, and 200 acres with themowing machine. The result was in favor of themowing machine to the extent of four bushelsto the acre. He got a clean sample. It is possibleto have the steam thrasher and the mower andbinder at work on the same farm, if they areused at the proper time, and straw when mownearly is capitally sweet, and may be used forstock, and that would be of great benefit to everyfarmer this side of the Burra this year.

Mr Davey (Yorketown) - I made experimentslast year. They were not so successful as Ianticipated, as some sheep broke into one ofthe paddocks and destroyed some of thesheaves. In the other plots the binder yieldedtwo bushels per acre more than the stripper.Last year was not a good year for the trial,especially on Yorke's Peninsula, where theweather was so cool. I waited for a blazing hotday to put the stringbinder into the wheat, andwhen I did put it in, the wheat was going down.The binder lost no wheat. I do not know thatmuch wheat was lost by the stripper, but some

of the heads had gone down, and I lost throughit. The wheat taken before the crop was fullyripe was a brighter and plumper sample thanthat from the fully-ripe crop. The straw was verygood and sweet when cut green. The binder ismost expensive. The two bushels would notcover the extra cost. It would take three poundsof twine to the acre. I cut a ten bushel crop, andat lOd that would be 2s 6d per acre for twine.To stook the sheaves two more men werenecessary. Then there was the cost of threshingand winnowing. In a season like the present,though, it should be remembered that the strawhad a certain value. The binder could be usedin the first part of the season; and say a man has200 or 300 acres, after he had taken off 100 acresthe rest would be ready for the stripper. (Gardenand Field, October 1891, p. 95.)

Since the binder could be used earlier than thestripper, when the wheat was not quite so dry aslater in the season, it decreased chances of losingcrops in hail, wind or fire during the later weeksof summer. A few years later, Mr Marshall reportedthe relative profits of using the binder and headeror the stripper. In an average year, he estimated£5 4s lOd/acre for the former and only £3 6d/acreusing the stripper.

However, at the Congress no conclusivedecision was made about which was really thebest machine. Both had advantages, and would be

,

best used together, the stripper following thebinder later in the season. Professor Lowrie, thePrincipal of Roseworthy College, gave an illumi-nating paper entitled Theory and Practice ofManuring, and Mr H. S. Denn of Kanmantooprovided an informative description of how aFarmers Cooperative Union might be organised.

On 1 February 1892, the Central Bureauacknowledged the recent appointment of aMinister for Agriculture, the Hon. William Copley.They hoped this would result in the Bureaureceiving greater Government support in thefuture

It was not always possible for Bureau membersto attend the annual Congress held in Adelaide.For some, it was impossible to spare the time,others could not afford the travel costs. Repeatedrequests were made to the Railways to provide atleast one free pass per branch specifically for thispurpose. This way a representative from eachbranch could be present at the central gatheringand report on the proceedings to his local groupon returning home. But the Railways maintainedthat it was enough tor them to allow all memberstravelling on Bureau business to purchase returntickets at single fare. However, they also chargedcarriage of any samples of produce membersearned with them to exhibit at meetings or shows.

Unable to attend congresses, the Northernbranches banded together and held their own

A binder at work-

conference at the suggestion of the Appila-Yarrowie Branch. MrC. G. F. Bauer, the HonourableSecretary of the Appila-Yarrowie Branch, organ-ised the first of these at the Gladstone Institute on15 March 1892. There were 28 members presentaltogether, representing his own branch, Yacka, PtGermein, Pt Pirie, Petersburg, Clare, Narridy andGladstone. The day began with a visit to BooyooleeStation where they inspected the silo pits, lucernepaddocks, stallions and brood mares. An exhibi-tion of produce was mounted by Mr J. Brayley,including grapes, mangolds and other fodderplants.

In the afternoon Molineux addressed theconference and papers were read. Molineuxconcentrated on the necessity of planting vinesand fruit trees in the area in order to provide asupplementary income to that earned from wheat.He also discussed the value of ensilage as feed forstock. Mr C. G. F. Bauer then gave a paper entitledWhen is the Proper Time to Plant Trees? Herecommended planting a little late rather than tooearly, for a tree transplanted from the nurserybefore its natural growing season will not establishitself as well as those put out about 10 to 12 daysbefore new growth appears. A paper sent by MrKrichauff was read by the Secretary. In it hestressed the importance of a farmer's cottagegarden. Mr Lawson read the paper on dairyingwhich had been delivered at the Third Congress

25

in September of the previous year. This wasfollowed by a lively discussion of related topicssuch as the value of co-operative butter factoriesand, again, the importance of making ensilage toensure a good fodder supply for cows. The generaltone of the conference was one of the practicalimprovements in farming; the message - diversi-fication. Farmers simply could not rely on wheatas their only source of income. Seasons in SouthAustralia were too unreliable; coupled with lowprices, it was impossible to make a reasonableliving out of wheatgrowing alone.

The disappointing closure of a branch occurredat Snowtown in June 1892. The current droughtand pressure of work caused by it, allowedmembers little time for outside activities. Evensomething as important to farming as the Agricul-tural Bureau had to be sacrificed.

However, the Bureau was to receive a boost thefollowing month with the arrival of Mr A. J. Perkins.He was introduced to the Central Bureaumembers on 18th July and attached to RoseworthyCollege as the Government Viticultural Instructor.His name had first been put to the Government asa suitable candidate for the position in December1890. M. de Foex of Montpellier AgriculturalCollege in France sent the following reference:

To-day I have, I think, in one of my formerpupils, Mr Perkins, found the man you require.He is twenty years old, but of very strongconstitution, which gives him the appearanceof a much older man. He entered our College in1887. He there proved himself an excellentstudent, and having gained his diploma left theCollege at the end of his last collegiate year.Well-educated, intelligent, energetic, and veryearnest, he has a complete knowledge of viticul-ture, and is well able to give instruction, boththeoretically and practically in all that relatesto the culture, plantation, grafting, andsicknesses of the vine, as well as winemaking.Indeed, Mr Perkins seems to me to unite inhimself the conditions you rightly look for, andI therefore do not hesitate to recommend himbeing persuaded that if you confide to him theduties you have described to me he will acquithimself to your entire satisfaction. (Garden andField, February 1891, p. 134JLittle did the Bureau realise just how influential

this man was to become in establishing a thrivinggrape industry in South Australia.

The Gladstone Branch was very active in theseearly years, introducing many innovations intothe Bureau. On 16 August 1892, a pruning lessonwas organised at Booyoolie Station, home of Mr

H. W. Hughes. Thomas Hardy had also arranged apruning competition on his property at McLarenVale on 10 July 1892. Many local people tookadvantage of the opportunity to learn from hisexperience and enthusiasm, taking part in thecompetition to promote good productionpractices in the district.

The possible establishment of a frozen meattrade with England was discussed at this time,and the South-East looked like the obvious area toprovide produce for the export market. In August1892, "Mr Ellis, a South-East pastoralist, had statedthat arrangements could be made for ships to calland cany the meat at 1 penny per pound". SouthDown breeds of sheep were known to sell best onthe Liverpool and London markets, and thedemand for frozen beef was also steadilyincreasing. While best English mutton realised6d/lb and Scotish 6V4/lb, New Zealand meat wasbought for only 4d/lb and Australian for 23/4/lb.Although Australian mutton could not hope tobring prices as high as the locally grown meat, itstill looked like a good proposition.

In 1892 members of Nuriootpa and Eudundabranches had met to discuss the spraying of trees.In August it was derided tha t the Bureau shouldbuy a Knapsack spray pump for the use of theAngaston Experiment Committee which had beenformed. This committee, consisting of Mr W.Trescowthick and Mr A. Salter, was to test fourdifferent sprays. The first was Bordeaux mixture(prepared by dissolving 10 Ib copper sulphate in 1gallon hot water, then slake 4 Ib fresh lime in 1gallon water, strain and add 20 gallons water, thenadd copper sulphate solution) on apples, pears,apricots, peaches and plums. Ammonia coppercarbonate was to be tried on apples and pears.Sulphate of iron and sulphate of copper alone

Spraying fruit trees near Angaston, 1904.

were to be tested for their effectiveness againstapricot scab, peach curl and plum rust. Bordeauxmixture became a favourite all-round spray at thecost of less than 2d per tree for each spraying.

The Nuriootpa Branch was dissolved on 24October 1892. The Agricultural Bureau did notallow branches to exist closer than 15-20 milesapart unless there were significant differences inclimate and condition. This was not the case inthe Barossa Valley, but there were so many localfarmers interested in the Bureau and keen tobecome active members, that they decided toform two branches. Angaston and Tanunda werefar enough apart to qualify, thus allowing morepeople the opportunity of joining despite thelimitation of 12 per branch.

The closure of the Snowtown Branch hadcaused a certain amount of consternationamongst the Central Bureau members, so inOctober 1892 they sent out a circular to allbranches requesting suggestions on how to makethe Bureau more popular. A flood of ideas cameback, and the branches eagerly discussed ways ofmaking the Bureau and farm life more attractive.

This excerpt from the minutes of the KadinaBranch includes some of the suggestions:

The Chairman thoroughly agreed that socialgatherings would greatly tend to promote theaims of the Agricultural Bureau, and be themeans of exchanging a deal of valuable infor-mation. By holding meetings occasionally ateach other's homesteads, they would enlist thesympathetic interest of the young people and

of the older members of the community. ThePine Forest Branch already held meetings alter-natively at each other's homes, and the systemhad given great satisfaction. If they lookedaround them, they would notice that themarried farmers were more prosperous thanthose who were single. Lectures, arbor days,assisting each other by the American system of"bees", and cooperating generally would helpthe progressive movement that had been sowell begun. These meetings at each other'sresidence would also stimulate experimentalcultivation. He referred to the valuable experi-mental plot cultivated bv Mr J. M. Inglis, of PineForest, where surprising results had beenbrought about in the production by hybridisa-tion and selection of rust-resistant wheats. Ifeach farmer cultivated only ten such experi-ments, a great deal of good would result. It wasresolved to meet during next January at MrRoach's farm. iGarden and Field, January 1893,p.212.)

Branches began holding their meetings atmembers residences, inspecting each other'sfarms and giving papers on practical subjects atmeetings.

The notion of social gatherings held in conjunc-tion with the Bureau was enthusiasticallyreceived, and the beginning of 1893 saw a rash ofsuch events. The Mundoora Branch was the firston 27 January with a show of "fresh and manufac-tured products of the farm, field and garden".IGarden and Field, February 1893, p. 271.) Women

SOUTH EAST

Display of local produce.

and children were also invited to the show.Nantawarra followed on 15 February with a showof local produce, then Naracoorte on the 22nd.

The Mt Pleasant Branch also held an exhibitionof local produce and manufacture with muchdiscussion by the exhibitors and spectators alikeon how best to grow, treat or manufacture thesamples. Mr J. A. Naismith delivered a well-received paper on poultry keeping. All in all; itsuccessfully realised the original aims of the social,and of the Bureau at large, namely,

to promote in every way the social, moral,intellectual, and material progress of the ruralpopulation of the colony; to establish upon theland a population contented, industrious,thrifty, and moderately prosperous; to make therural life so attractive by means of a variedoccupation, allied with a moderate amount ofrecreation, that the young people of the countrywill never be anxious to leave home for a citylife, but rather that the city youth will be alwaysanxious to get out into the country. (JEA, March1893, p. 265.)

The Mundoora and Pt Broughton Branchescombined for a social and show on 25 February. Itwas such an enjoyable day that members decidedto hold another in conjunction with the PineForest Branch as well, this time on 23 Septemberwhen the spring produce would be available forshow. Later, it became the custom for branches ofthe Agricultural Bureau to stage massive exhibitsof local produce at district shows. Artisticallyarranged to show off the finest produce from thearea, these displays were greatly admired. Socialsbecame a firmly established part of Bureau life inthose early years when rural people were moreisolated than today and had fewer opportunitiesto meet for pleasure as well as education.

The Central Bureau had encouraged the dairyindustiy in South Australia from its earliest daysand had spoken frequently on the benefits of co-operative butter and cheese factories. It was alsorecommended that members of branches bandtogether to invest in good breeding bulls toimprove their dairy herds. The Petersburg (later tobecome Peterborough by an act of Parliament in1917) Branch acted on this advice, purchasingBonnie Laddie, an Ayrshire bull which was adefinite advantage to the district. In its first twoyears it had serviced 66 cows resulting in 34 heifersand 28 bull calves. The Minlaton Branch had alsobought a bull, a Jersey in their case, and bySeptember 1893 negotiations were under way forthe Cherry Gardens, Meadows and TatiaraBranches to do the same. The qualities desired in

good dairy cows were listed by Mr S. Potter in hispaper read before the Lyndoch Branch.

The first point in a dairy cow is her capacity forstorage of food for conversion into milk. Theudder should extend well forward on the belly,and out behind the legs, and the nearer theudder behind comes to the root of the tail thebetter the cow for milk. The head should belight and clean; and the tail thin and long.(Garden and Field, October 1893, p. 143.)

Richman's Creek also purchased an Ayrshirebull, Argyle, which was to be used by Bureaumembers and would also be offered to a fewoutsiders at a fee of five shillings.

There was a great deal of discussion in thebranches the following year about the branding ofcattle. Under the current Brands Act it was oblig-atory to place identification in places whichdamaged hides in inconvenient parts. It would bemore sensible if this could be altered and thebrands placed in less conspicuous places, e.g. onthe neck or low down on the shoulder or thigh.Such recommendations were made to the Stockand Brands Department, but it was some timebefore alteration could be made to the Act.

On 27 March 1893, the Central Bureau visitedA. W. Sandford's refrigeration works in GrenfellStreet where they were given a demonstration ofbutter making and an estimation of costs.

The party inspected the dry air refrigeratingengine at work, and from the snow in the snowchamber were taken a bottle each of lager beerand English beer, frozen solid. Some of themembers experienced the novel sensation ofeating solid lumps of beer, which were obtainedby breaking the bottles, and then chipping offchunks with the aid of pocket knives.

The cool chambers, of which there are five, arechiefly used for storing butter and perishablefarm and dairy produce sent down previouslyto the auction sales on Tuesdays and Fridays.Some of them are used to cool the cream, whichis sent by rail and otherwise from distancesmore than 300 miles from the city. Cream is sentby rail on the same tariff of charges as for milk,and the cans are returned free of charge. As therates for cream are much lower than those forbutter, this is an important concession from theRailway Commissioners, who find themselvesjustified, no doubt, for the lower charge in thefact that butter must be carried separately inspecial refrigerator cars, whilst cream can becarried in ordinary trucks. During transit thecream undergoes the process of ripening, and

28

the heat that would destroy the quality of thebutter improves the cream. Upon receipt inAdelaide, the cream is at once placed in therefrigerator, and the temperature is reduced to45 degrees F., when it is ready to be churnedinto butter.The disadvantages of sending butter longdistances by rail are numerous. Additionally[sic] to the expense of providing ice and specialcars, it is well known that the first "bloom" offresh butter will be lost between the period ofleaving the dairy and its arrival, say 24 hoursafterwards, in the city.The party then proceeded downstairs into thecellar, which maintains an even temperature ofbetween 58 deg. and 62 deg. F. Here Mr Rule,the dairy expert, showed practically how thebutter is made. Some 25 gallons of cream hadbeen reserved for the demonstration, and thiswas placed in a large square concussion churn.The temperature of the cream had beenreduced to 50 deg. F., and the butter camewithin 20 minutes. Several stoppages were madeduring this time, in order to open the churnand let out the gas, which would be liable toburst the churn otherwise. About five secondssufficed to open and close the churn. When thebutter granules were about the size of radishseeds the buttermilk was drawn off, a bucketfulof clean cold water was put into the churn,which was then turned gently four or five times,and the water was drawn off and replenishedby more clear cold water. This operation wasrepeated three times, the last water being saltedstrongly. Next the butter was strained off andput aside for a time to "toughen". When thebutter is toughened it is placed upon a butter-worker, flattened out, salt at the rate of half anounce for each pound applied, and then thebutter is made up into rolls, branded Alpha inthe butter press, wrapped in grease-proof paper,and packed in boxes for the auction producesale, being in the interval between making andsale placed in the refrigerator rooms until soldon account of the producers.The whole cost — carting the cream, churning,making, papering, packing, and storing in thecool chamber - amounts to Id per pound onthe butter made. The cost of carriage of creamper rail is determined by the distance, and theusual commission is added for sale of theproduct. (Garden and Field, April 1893, p. 306.)The Central Bureau had also been to visit

Shaw's dairy at Woodville to inspect a new milkingmachine which was pronounced perfectlysatisfactory.

Producing large quantities of milk was impor-tant in establishing the dairy industry, but thatalone was not enough. There must be an efficientmethod of dealing with the produce, either bytransporting it to a central factory as cream, orproducing butter and cheese in local factories.The Mt Gambier Branch complained that therailway authority did not provide a refrigeratedcar for their butter; by the time it arrived inAdelaide during the summer months it wasspoiled and certainly no good for export toEngland as anticipated. This was eventuallyresolved, and the butter was transported toAdelaide in one day by refrigerated car.

The Bureau continued to attract public atten-tion. The Mt Gambier Branch held a publicmeeting and show on 10 May which severalCentral Bureau members attended. Particularlyimpressive was the display of 56 distinct varietiesof apples.

1893 saw branches everywhere talking ofpruning competitions and demonstrations. Thefirst of these occurred in the first week of July atTanunda. The judges were Thomas Hardy fromthe Central Bureau, Mr Sobels and Mr Mazure.The first prize of £5 for best pruned vine wasawarded to Mr J. C. Gelly. Second place was takenby Mr H. Basedow, followed by Mr J. C. Jacob. Thenext pruning match was held at Stansbury on 12July. Held at Mr P. Anderson's orchard, it wasorganised in conjunction with the local Farmers'Club. About 250 people were present to observethe lesson on fruit tree pruning provided by MrJames Cornish. The judges of local pruning abilitywere Mr C. Pitt of Felixstow, Mr G. Quick ofMarden, and Mr J, Western of Marion. Points wereawarded for selection of wood and shape of vine(60), clean work (20), disposal of cuttings (10), andtime (10>. The winners of the men's competitionwere Mr H. C. Pitt with 84 points, then Mr D. C.Lamb with 78 points and Mr E. Lawrence with 73points. A boys' section resulted in the followingpoints being awarded:-

A. Latty 74 A. Eichoff 66A. Wurm 69 C.Anderson 57

A show of garden implements, spray pumps,etc, held on the same day attracted a great deal ofattention. Of particular interest was the PlanetJunior horse-hoe which was to become verypopular.

The Watervale and Auburn Branches togetherorganised another pruning competition on 24July. Here the winners were:—

1st - Mr T. Brooks of Auldana29

CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCYPRUNING

nUgts of tfa« total m*rks obtainablePruning Csm petition* he

.BI«TKK of the Arkukurai Bu

Pruning Competition Certificate.

2nd - Mr A. Bartlett of Watervale3rd - Mr B. Bartlett of Watervale.The first session of technical classes organised

by the Gumeracha Branch closed on 13 July 1893Thirty-seven students had been involved, learningmechanical drawing, arithmetic, bookkeeping,geology and chemistry bearing upon agriculture.The teachers for this first term were Mr T. W.Martin and Mr J. Mclnerney. The AgriculturalBureau clearly saw itself as an educational insti-tution, catering to a wide range of interests,although it generally concentrated on morepractical farming topics.

The Fertilisers Bill was passed in Parliament in1893, largely due to the efforts of Krichauff. TheBill was intended to provide some sort of qualitycontrol of fertilizers on sale in South Australia. Inthe past, too many farmers had unknowinglybought substances which were adulterated withuseless "filler" or "bulk". Consequently, they spentlarge sums of hard-earned money with noimprovement in their crop yields. By January 1897

Pruning competitions continue to attract interest in the1980s. Pictured here is Mr Trevor Keil, a contestant inthe iMne Pine-Tanunda Branch Pruning Competition,1980.

the heat that would destroy the quality of thebutter improves the cream. Upon receipt inAdelaide, the cream is at once placed in therefrigerator, and the temperature is reduced to45 degrees F., when it is ready to be churnedinto butter.The disadvantages of sending butter longdistances by rail are numerous. Additionally[sic] to the expense of providing ice and specialcars, it is well known that the first "bloom" offresh butter will be lost between the period ofleaving the dairy and its arrival, say 24 hoursafterwards, in the city.The party then proceeded downstairs into thecellar, which maintains an even temperature ofbetween 58 deg. and 62 deg. F. Here Mr Rule,the dairy expert, showed practically how thebutter is made. Some 25 gallons of cream hadbeen reserved for the demonstration and thiswas placed in a large square concussion churn.The temperature of the cream had beenreduced to 50 deg. F., and the butter camewithin 20 minutes. Several stoppages were madeduring this time, in order to open the churnand let out the gas, which would be liable toburst the churn otherwise. About five secondssufficed to open and close the churn. When thebutter granules were about the size of radishseeds the buttermilk was drawn off, a bucketfulof clean cold water was put into the churn,which was then turned gently four or five times,and the water was drawn off and replenishedby more clear cold water. This operation wasrepeated three times, the last water being saltedstrongly. Next the butter was strained off andput aside for a time to "toughen". When thebutter is toughened it is placed upon a butter-worker, flattened out, salt at the rate of half anounce for each pound applied, and then thebutter is made up into rolls, branded Alpha inthe butter press, wrapped in grease-proof paper,and packed in boxes for the auction producesale, being in the interval between making andsale placed in the refrigerator rooms until soldon account of the producers.The whole cost - carting the cream, churning,making, papering, packing, and storing in thecool chamber - amounts to Id per pound onthe butter made. The cost of carriage of creamper rail is determined by the distance, and theusual commission is added for sale of theproduct. (Garden and Field, April 1893, p. 306.1The Central Bureau had also been to visit

Shaw's dairy at Woodville to inspect a new milkingmachine which was pronounced perfectlysatisfactory.

Producing large quantities of milk was impor-tant in establishing the dairy industry, but thatalone was not enough. There must be an efficientmethod of dealing with the produce, either bytransporting it to a central factory as cream, orproducing butter and cheese in local factories.The Mt Gambier Branch complained that therailway authority did not provide a refrigeratedcar for their butter; by the time it arrived inAdelaide during the summer months it wasspoiled and certainly no good for export toEngland as anticipated. This was eventuallyresolved, and the butter was transported toAdelaide in one day by refrigerated car.

The Bureau continued to attract public atten-tion. The Mt Gambier Branch held a publicmeeting and show on 10 May which severalCentral Bureau members attended. Particularlyimpressive was the display of 56 distinct varietiesof apples.

1893 saw branches everywhere talking ofpruning competitions and demonstrations. Thefirst of these occurred in the first week of July atTanunda. The judges were Thomas Hardy fromthe Central Bureau, Mr Sobels and Mr Mazure.The first prize of £5 for best pruned vine wasawarded to Mr J. C. Gelly. Second place was takenby Mr H. Basedow, followed by Mr J. C. Jacob. Thenext pruning match was held at Stansbury on 12July. Held at Mr P. Anderson's orchard, it wasorganised in conjunction with the local Farmers'Club. About 250 people were present to observethe lesson on fruit tree pruning provided by MrJames Cornish. The judges of local pruning abilitywere Mr C. Pitt of Felixstow, Mr G. Quick ofMarden, and MrJ. Western of Marion. Points wereawarded for selection of wood and shape of vine(60), clean work (20), disposal of cuttings (10), andtime (10). The winners of the men's competitionwere Mr H. C. Pitt with 84 points, then Mr D. C.Lamb with 78 points and Mr E. Lawrence with 73points. A boys' section resulted in the followingpoints being awarded:—

A. Latty 74 A. Eichoff 66A. Wurm 69 C. Anderson 57

A show of garden implements, spray pumps,etc, held on the same day attracted a great deal ofattention. Of particular interest was the PlanetJunior horse-hoe which was to become verypopular.

The Watervale and Auburn Branches togetherorganised another pruning competition on 24July. Here the winners were:-

1st - Mr T. Brooks of Auldanali'.i

it became possible to have samples of fertilisersanalysed by the School of Mines "Public Analyst",Mr G. G. Goyder. This service was offered at a feeof 3s per "definition", that is, for each compoundor element tested, such as nitrogen or potash.

With the growth of the Agricultural Bureau, theCentral Bureau decided it would be an advantageto increase its membership to 12 unofficialmembers in November 1893. It was also consid-ered useful to include on the Central Bureau theDirector of the Botanic Garden, the Professor ofAgriculture, the Professor of Viticulture, the ChiefInspector of Stock and the Conservator of Forestsby virtue of their position. To retain an active andlively participation of members of the CentralBureau, it was considered only fair that anyonewho missed meetings for two consecutive months(four meetings altogether) must forfeit his seat onthe Bureau.

By this time, codlin moth was causing a lot oftrouble for fruit growers. Although remedies hadimproved since 1890 when the Port Elliot Branchrecommended lighting smouldering or smokyfires under the trees to destroy the moths, therewas still a real problem. In 1893 the standardprocedure was to spray with a mixture of 1 Ib Parisgreen in 200 gallons of water with 1 Ib molasses/gallon. This was applied directly after the petalsdropped from the flowers, and then once or twicemore at two week intervals. This was moderatelyeffective, but codlin moth was by no meanseradicated through the use of this spray. This was

partly due to neglected trees on abandonedgardens. Even those who conscientiously sprayedtheir trees found the moth reintroduced inreturned fruit boxes from other orchards. Anothercontributing factor was that the Paris green onsale from many outlets in South Australia wasadulterated with other chemicals and thereforesold at a much cheaper rate than the purecompound. The weaker strength solution wassimply not sufficient to deal with the pest. MrGeorge Quinn was appointed the Codlin MothInspector during 1894 and submitted thefollowing report in August 1895 after one vear inthe position.

I have the honour to report for the informationof the members of the Central Bureau mvproceedings since June 28.The inspection of the gardens and orchards inthe southern suburbs has been carefullycontinued, though hampered considerably bythe rainy season. Most of the plantations aresmall, and consequently the area inspected hasnot been great. The principal pests met withhave been codlin moth (winter larvae), orangered or round scale, black peach aphis, and woodboring caterpillars. In Unley, Unley Park, HydePark, Millswood, and Goodwood Park, 218gardens, containing about 1,816 apple, pear,and quince trees, have been found infested bycodlin moth larvae. This list includes nearly allthe trees of these sorts of a fruit bearing age inthe localities. The usual printed precautions

Delegates at 1894 Congress

3.1

Spraying fruittrees at'Craigburn',Blackwood.

and explanations on treatment have been given.The orange red scale lAspidiotus aurantii/ is notpresent to an injurious extent, excepting in afew plantations. I have been recommending theuse of resin wash of the following strength: -Resin, 10 Ib; caustic soda, 4lb; fish oil, 1V2 pints,or 2 Ib of soft soap. The majority of the peoplewho have used both say the caustic soda ismore effectual than soda carbonate for thisdifficult scale, and I think the resin wash ifproperly made is not so liable as keroseneemulsion to injure the trees.The black aphis of the peach has begun to makean active start, and this troublesome pest hasbeen also found on apricots pretty frequently inthe localities named, more particularly in theneighborhood of peach trees, generallyclustering in little masses beneath the darkdormant buds, and the interesting sight of theinsect ascending the trunks of the trees fromthe roots has been carefully noted. In some ofthe small gardens strong soapsuds fromwashtubs, and ashes from wood fires, have beenused very successfully. These are cheap andsimple remedies, and combined with an attackon those on the limbs with tobacco, resin, orkerosene washes before the leaves open, will nodoubt prove most effectual, for by the time thefoliage expands an immense quantity of sap willhave been extracted, and the difficulties oftreatment increased. Wood-boring caterpillars

find special opportunities for their depreda-tions in the small gardens containing neglectedtrees of peach, plum, apricot, almond, and otherstone fruits. If a good watch is kept, and a searchmade as soon as "sawdust" excreta is seen, thelarvae is usually found beneath the bark, as theyoung larvae always seem to work amongst thesoft cambium layers before burrowing into thetougher fibres of the trunk. When they haveentered the solid wood, an injection of weakkerosene emulsion, or inserting a small bit ofrag or cotton saturated in carbon bi-sulphidebefore plugging upon the holes, invariablyproves successful; the outside wounds shouldbe painted with Stockholm tar or limewash forprotection until they heal. I am convinced thatthese borers are the chief cause of the earlydecay of many of our (stone fruit) bearing trees.A visit of inspection has been made to 103 fruitshops and packing stores. Forty-three of themcontained citrus fruits affected bv red scale.[The owners were warned that they would beproceeded against in the future.) Every efforthas been made to educate the police, who havebeen appointed inspectors, into the dutiesrequired from them. Photographs illustratingthe codlin moth in various stages, with fullwritten descriptions of color, size, etc., havebeen forwarded to them, accompanied by fullerinformation in pamphlet form, and suggestionsfor their guidance, so that I hope by next fruit

season to effectually [sic] check the practice ofsending consignments of infested fruits intocountry towns for sale.The suburban police are being also instructedby object lessons, photographs, etc., and afterthoroughly inspecting a district, and servingnotices on occupiers of infested gardens, a fulllist is handed over to the local police constable,with various instructions and suggestions, andsome of the officers are attending carefully tothe matter, as far as time permits.I hope by this means to be in a position todevote more of my own time to the largerorchards in the future.The local inspector at Mount Gambier (TrooperFoote) has sent in returns, showing the orchardsinfested by codlin moth, and what has beendone by the owners for its eradication. Thisofficer has shown great interest in the work, andis making arrangements for the people to gettheir trees effectually sprayed by a competentman when the time arrives. The other portionsof the regulations are being carefully carried outunder his supervision. (Garden and Field,September 1895, p. 89-90.)

Individual branches of the Agricultural Bureaucontinued to approach their involvement in theorganisation with enthusiasm. The stump-jumpparing plough was tested on the property of

Messrs Lomman and Freeman at Arthurton on 21February 1894. Two machines were put on trialbefore the local farmers, with the result that 49were in favour of the plough entered by Mr C.Smith of Ardrossan, and eight preferred the ploughfrom Harrold Bros of Adelaide. The Pt LincolnBranch followed the initiative of other branchesby holding a show on 7 March 1894. On the 25thof the same month, the Pi Broughton Branch helda trial of the stump-jumping skim plough on MrWhittaker's farm.

Many other branches were to see this imple-ment demonstrated in the next few months. InApril the Dawson Branch reported, as part of theirpast year's work, that they had established anexperimental plot in conjunction with a Recrea-tion Ground with help from the District Counciland the Athletic Club. They had also planted over400 trees to celebrate the first Arbor Day on 1August. In the sameyear, the Bute Branch reportedthat it had been responsible for the distribution of1500 vines and 12,000 forest trees in the area. Thisclearly indicates how involved it was with thelarger community, even though the Bureau had attimes come in for criticism as being elitist due toits limited membership (in fact, this was to beincreased to 15 in June).

Mr Hannemann of the Arden Vale Branchoffered this useful advice to Bureau members inthis report from the meeting of 16 April 1894.

Breaking up the groundwith a three-furrowplough was a long andarduous job.

33

Harrowing is often a very unpleasant work inour Northern country, as we have to do such alot of it before the rain comes; the dust issometimes almost unbearable for the driverwalking behind the harrows, and to remedythis, and to make the job a more pleasant one, Ihave adopted for the last few years the followingplan, which 1 can strongly recommend; I harrowmy land with two sets of harrows of four each,with seven horses abreast; six are drawing theharrows, and one in the middle has to carry thedriver. In this way you cannot altogether escapethe dust, but by riding in front you will not haveto swallow one quarter as much as if behind,and you can also drive the horses better, beingso close to them (having three on each side). Bywalking behind, it is often impossible, onaccount of the dust, to see the track. Besidesthe ordinary reins for the outside horses, I usea pair of reins for the saddle horse also, whichare fastened to the stirrups, and can be pulledby the feet when required. People troubled withbad eyes will especially appreciate this style ofharrowing. (Garden and Field, May 1894, p. 360.)It provides us with a colourful insight into

farming last century.The Renmark area was rapidly establishing itself

as a fine fruit growing district. The chairman ofthe Arden Vale Branch, Mr A. Hannemann visitedthe area early in 1894. He reported that apricotsfrom Renmark had brought £100/ton in London,but land here cost £21/acre and in addition thefarmers must pay water rates of £ I/acre. Heconcluded that, impressive as the yields andprofits might be, "Renmark is not the place for thepoor man. A couple of hundred pounds is at leastnecessary to get a start there". (JBA, April 1894,p. 317.).

Observing the success of the Northern BranchesConference over the past two years, othersdecided to do the same. The Autumn of 1894 sawconferences arranged for the South-Eastern, theFar Northern, the Southern, North Yorke Peninsulaand Southern Yorke Peninsula branches.

Approximately 50 people (including a fewladies) were present for the first conference at MtGambier on 7-8 March. Dr F. Ockley, Chairman ofthe Penola Branch, originally suggested they holdsuch a meeting in the area. Representatives fromthe branches at Tatiara, Penola, Mt Gambier,Millicent and Naracoorte attended, as well asMolineux, W. C. Grasby, Lowrie and Perkins fromthe Central Bureau.

A show of products, largely contributed by thePenola and Tatiara Branches, was held in connec-

tion with the Mt Gambier Agricultural andHorticultural Society. The conference was openedby Mr J. Umpherston, Chairman of the Mt GambierBranch, then followed a paper from Krichauff readby Mr E. Lewis. It covered several topics relatingto dairying, including the importance of breeds,good fodder to prevent tainted milk, and the useof aerators to remove any odours that do get intothe milk, Lowrie followed with a long address onRoot Crops and their Cultivation. He recom-mended mangolds as the most useful fodder forcows in their particular area. Since wheat priceshad dropped 30-50% over recent years, but dairyproducts had maintained their value (and facilitiesfor the individual farmer had improved) it seemeda very sensible move on the part of local farmersto plant root crops and keep dairy cattle ratherthan planting wheatcrops. Grasby of the CentralBureau then spoke on Insects and Insect Life, andPerkins delivered a paper on viticulture.

The following day began with impromptudiscussions on a variety of subjects - oidium ingrapes, cattle diseases, fusicladium in fruit andfurther talk on mangolds. The afternoon was takenup with visiting farms in the Yahl and OB Flatneighbourhoods. More papers were given at ameeting in the evening, including another one onroot-growing in the South-East, this time by Mr H.Hart of Millicent. Dr F. Ockley followed with anaddress emphasising the importance of co-opera-tion between farmers to advance their owninterests. Pointing to the South Australian Co-operative Union, he described the value andeffectiveness of such organisations. This wasfollowed by a paper on Marketing and Utilisationof Fruit from Molineux and the conference endedwith a slide show of insect pests presented byGrasby.

The Far Northern branches of Davenport,Woolundunga, Richman's Creek and Arden Valecombined for their first conference on 15 March.Kelly and Molineux joined 19 local AgriculturalBureau members at Quorn for the day. Molineuxspoke to the assembled crowd on Ensilage, afavourite topic of his, then Kelly presented a paperon Spaying Cattle. He explained the advantages ofperforming this operation on milk cows, to extendtheir productivity after the last calf, with animprovement in both the quality and quantity ofthe milk. The afternoon session began with apaper from Mr N. Rogers of the WoolundungaBranch. In a discussion of The Summer Treatmentof the Vine in the North, he warned againstpruning at this time of year, reminding cultivatorsthat, in their part of the world, vines need all theirfoliage to shade fruit from the burning sun and

34

hot winds. Mr E. H. Warren of the Arden ValeBranch spoke about The Farmer of the Future,concentrating on the need for improvements infarming practices to increase yields.

In conclusion, I would say that to combat theadverse circumstances that beset the producer,it is necessary to improve our methods andmultiply the means of money-making. To thisend it is imperative that we sharpen our facul-ties and increase our knowledge. I believe thereis a great future before the Agricultural Collegeof this colony, and that the time is not fardistant, when the majority of farmers willconsider it necessary to the after success oftheir sons that they be previously taught at thatinstitution. Not theory only is taught, and if itwere, all of us know that much of the commonpractice of today was considered the impractic-able theory of a few years back. The farmer ofthe future must be a man of theoretical andscientific instruction, and then having thediligence to evolve by hard practice what it willpay to follow and what to discard. He must bean economist; in which case true economy willconsist of wise expenditure. It is a false idea ofeconomy to imperfectly plough the ground tosave ploughshares, or allow the household chairto be minus legs to save a screw. And he shouldbe self-reliant, depending on his own rightly-directed energy to forge ahead. IGairlen andField, May 1894, p. 371.)

This was followed by a conference of NorthYorke Peninsula branches on 11 April at the KadinaCouncil Chambers. Molineux and Kelly attendedthis meeting as well, meeting with 24 delegatesfrom Arthur-ton, Bute, Kadina, Paskeville, Pt.Broughton and Pine Forest. Mr A. France, jun., lasChairman of the Kadina Branch) delivered theopening address, which was followed by a discus-sion of the Agricultural Bureau itself by Mr R. W.Bawden, Chairman of the Pt Broughton Branch.

As to viticulture, 1,250 acres of best claret vineshave been established in Clare, Watervale,Auburn, and Riverton districts, 400 acres inMaitland district, also thousands of bestvarieties of vine and fruit-trees planted invarious districts. All fruit trees in Angaston,Nuriootpa, and Tanunda were sprayed last year(beneficially} for eradication of fungus andinsect pests. Then the breed of dairy cows hasbeen improved, pure bred Ayrshire and Jerseybulls having been purchased by variousBranches. Through the Bureau's teaching,ensilage is becoming general, and fodder cropsare being grown properly and successfully. TheGumeracha Branch has ten acres fenced andplanted, partly with fruit trees and seeds forexperimental purposes. The Dawson Branchhas ten acres for the same purpose. TheChairman of the Warrow Branch has enclosedand wire-netted five acres for experiments withBureau seeds. Arbor Day has resulted in the

Women and children help with grape picking.

establishing of thousands of trees. Export offrozen meat is being pushed on by the MountGambier Branch and its members. And manyother things that I could mention, but it wouldtake me too long to do so. (Garden and Field,June 1894, p. 39.)Then Mr J. Wearne of the Kadina Branch spoke

on The General Preparation of Seed for a WheatCrop. First, he insisted that good seed be used,not seed that had been shrivelled by red rust orany other disease, then the seed should be cleaneda second time to remove any cracked grain orother seed.

I commence sowing in the early part of April. Ifthe land is dry I continue to sow unpickled seeduntil we have had enough rain to wet the landto a depth of about five inches. If we then havefrequent rains to keep the ground moist I thenpickle the seed in bluestone and water; then,should there be an absence of rain so that thedust rises from the harrows, I discontinue thepickling, and again sow unpickled seed untilthe land is again damp for working. My way ofpickling is as follows: I have two large tubs (alarge grease barrel cut in halves); fill these twotubs about two thirds with water; then havingdissolved in a stone jar about five pounds ofbluestone, I mix this with the water; then put alittle more than half a bag of wheat in a bran-bag and put into one of the tubs; then put thesame quantity into another bran-bag and dip asthe first. Have a third bran-bag and put the samequantity into it. After the first has been soakingfrom ten to twelve minutes lift it out on theother tub to drain; then in with the third bag tosoak. (Garden and Field, June 1894, p. 36.)

Mr A. Wight, Chairman of the Bute Branch,discussed the value of a Farmers' Co-operativeUnion, giving details of the Jamestown organisa-tion which protected the interests of its membersremarkably well. Through this union, farmers soldall their wheat and bought machinery, seed etc. atreduced prices. Mr E. J. Clark of the Kadina Branchrepeated his paper which had been delivered atthe Annual Congress previously, criticising theBureau government. Then Mr Bennier of the PtBroughton Branch described the success of vine-planting and the early ripening experienced in hisdistrict. Mr W. R. Whittaker of the Pt BroughtonBranch gave a paper on the planting and cultiva-tion of fruit trees. He particularly recommendedapricot trees, as the dried fruit retained its flavourvery well, and could therefore always be sold at afair price. The conference closed with this contri-bution from Mr P. Allen of the Kadina Branch.

Toil on, and keep your peckers up,Ye tillers of this thirsty land,For you there dawns a glorious hope,The Bureau has your case in hand.Good times are coming we have heard,Good times like those in days of yore,When you'll receive your full reward,Unless, maybe, you've gone before. (Garden andField, June 1894, p. 40.)

The Southern branches held their first confer-ence on 30 April at Strathalbyn. Again Kelly andMolineux attended, this time accompanied byKrichauff in tow. Thirty-seven delegates fromStrathalbyn, Hartley, Kanmantoo, Woodside, Pt.Elliott, Cherry Gardens, Finniss and Milang werepresent. Interested representatives from Aldgateand Kondoparinga also attended.

The Central Bureau chairman, Mr Krichauff,gave the first paper, reporting on the frozen meattrade. He quoted prices for export, stating that 2dper pound would cover all costs. Mr C. H. Hussey,Chairman of the Pt Elliott Branch reread his paperon the sparrow pest which he had presented atthe previous Congress, and this was followed by adiscussion of the Separation of Milk by Horse-power delivered by Mr J. H. Yelland of the MilangBranch. This method was declared useful fordealing with small quantities of milk but a steamengine was preferable, since it could easily beregulated to run at the correct speed and maintaina steady pace. Mr H. S. Dunn from the KanmantooBranch then read a paper entitled Hints toFarmers. In the face of very low wheat prices, herecommended using wheat for pig feed, thusconverting it into pork which was worth 10 timesas much as wheat, pound for pound. It tookapproximately 5 Ib of wheat to grow 1 Ib of pork.This could then be sold on the English marketwhere demand was high. Dairying was alsoconsidered to be a profitable concern in the lightof demand for milk products on the Englishmarket. The last paper, Ensilage, was read by MrJ. Hutchens of the Woodside Branch. Finally, theBureau members present resolved to hold anannual conference in March or April, a little earlierthan their first conference, so that it could be heldin conjunction with a show of produce.

A conference of Southern Yorke Peninsulabranches followed on 27 July. It was held atMinlaton and included an exhibition of a fewagricultural products as well as a visit to theCorrell Bros' farm in the morning. Here the 28delegates from Minlaton, Stansbury, Yorketown,Maitland and Warooka, along with about 150visitors, watched a vine pruning demonstration

36

by Prof. Perkins and a fruit tree pruned by Mr G. E.Buttfield of Oaklands.

The afternoon session began with a few remarksfrom Krichauff, then Mr R. Higgins read a paperon horticulture prepared by Mr G. E. Buttfield.Some young trees were exhibited to illustratevarious points brought forward in the discussion.The problem of sparrows was raised in a paper byMr Henry Bawden, then Mr H. Kelly delivered aspeech on dairying. This was followed by anaddress on vinegrowing by Perkins. Since therewas little call for table grapes in the colony, herecommended planting varieties suitable fordrying or pressing for wine. The evening meetingcovered several topics, the first of which was take-all. Mr W. Correll discussed the causes and remedyfor this fungus which destroyed wheat crops.Lowrie remarked in the ensuing debate thatfarmers should be able to avoid takeall by workingthe land after a good rain, fallowing early andgenerally avoiding working of dry land whichwould result in loose soil. Mr J. Davey set out theadvantages of keeping sheep on small farms. Theycould graze on land resting from wheat crops,thus using what formerly went to waste andprovide the additional advantage of keeping downweeds. Mr P. Anderson then recommended vine-planting by farmers. He reminded the assembledBureau members that the cultivation of vines takesplace at a comparatively quiet time of year, that is,between harvest and sowing of the followingcrops. An address on General Farming for theDistrict was delivered by Lowrie, then a paper onbeekeeping from Mr C. Smith, and finally Krichauffdiscussed the vine in relation to sandy soil.

The issue of The Garden and Field for July 1894contained the journal with a new title. It had beenchanged to the Journal of the Agricultural Bureauand was now published under the auspices of theDepartment of Agriculture.

The Petersburg Branch was one of the mostactive and innovative in the first years of theBureau. In 1894 it received the following praisefrom Molineux:

The annual report of the Petersburg Branch, ofwhich Mr James Wilson, jun., is the Hon. Secre-tary, shows that the members have lost none ofthe zeal and enterprise that has always beendisplayed from the first. In addition to their bullBonnie Laddie bought from the Hon. J. H. Angasfor £30, the branch raised over £70. Over £41 ofthis was spent on seed wheat intended to testthe value of change of seed. More than 1800forest trees and 1000 vines had been procuredand distributed amongst residents of the

district. They had also organised lectures andaddresses at their meetings, with lively discus-sions following, and all meetings had been wellattended by both members and visitors. (Journalof the Agricultural Bureau, hereafter referred toas JAB, August 1894, p. 143.)

The exchange of information encouraged by theBureau resulted in a trip to Mildura in August1894. Molineux and Perkins and approximately 12branch members attended the Mildura Interco-lonial Horticultural Congress held on the 7th and8th. A Citrus Fair was held at the same time,exhibiting the superior quality produce fromMildura, Wentworth and Renmark. Tropical fruitsfrom Queensland were also on display. In the 28papers considered during the conference, thetheme of union and co-operation between thevarious colonies of Australia was stressed. Theyurged uniformity in legislation with regard topests affecting agronomical industries, and theestablishment of an Australian Federated Fruit-growers' Union.

In September Mr H. Kelly of the Central Bureauvisited the Far North of the State, including ArdenVale where he judged the best farms and orchardsof the district along with Mr McColl of Richman'sCreek and Mr A. F. Noll of Quorn. Framed certifi-cates were awarded for Best Farm, Best Gardenand Best Cultivated and Cleanest Farm. Theresults were:

Best Farm (350 pointsmaximum) —

MrC.F. Pearce267,MrB.Leibich234Mr G. Klingberg 220,MrG.Liebich.200

Best Garden (200 points Mr M. Searle 155,maximum) - Mr A. W. Fricker 135

MrC.F.PearceSO.

Best Cultivated andCleanest Farm (150points maximum) -

MrM.Eckert92, ,Mr C. Klingberg 75,MrC.F. Pearce 52.

Around this time, much discussion hadoccurred in the Bureau with regard to theStandard Bushel of wheat. A lot of unclean wheatwas being offered for sale and received the sameprice as clean samples. It was generally felt that astandard weight should be set with pricesdecreased or increased for samples below or aboveweight respectively. Thus, wheat growers wouldbe encouraged to present their wheat for sale asclean as possible, ensuring a good reputation withoverseas buyers. On 22 January 1895, the CornTrade section of the Chamber of Commerce setthe Standard Bushel at 62i/2]b. They arrived atthis figure after inspecting average samples from

37

'

Harvesting at Roseworthy Agricultural College.

all areas of the State. The weight referred to theamount of wheat in the volume when all extra-neous matter had been removed.

The work of the Bureau continued in the newyear with as much force as before. The Woolun-dunga Branch held a show on 31 January with avery impressive display of local produce. Mostnotable, according to the branch report, were GrosMignonne peaches exhibited by a Miss Uma ofSpring Creek, Wilmington, Mr C. J. Zeisling wasawarded the prize for best worked block. Theshow was followed by a concert in the evening.

Times were difficult, and wheat farmers werefinding it particularly hard to meet their costs.The Bureau did what it could to alleviate thepressure. As a consequence of agitation by theOrroroo Branch, the railways agreed to a 15%reduction in carriage charges for wheat. Mr F. H.Snow of the Central Bureau offered quantities ofThomas phosphate for trial in the 1895 growingseason. Thomas phosphate was in fact basic slag,the waste product of iron ores rich in phosphate.It looked like a promising fertiliser, but it turnedout to be a very poor season and those who triedit felt it was impossible to come to any reliableconclusion.

Farmers had been forced to contend with thelate frosts that occurred from time to time. October1888 saw a very bad frost which caused a greatdeal of damage over a large area of the State. Again,in September 1891, reports of frost damage camein from branches as far north as Laura, spreadingto Nuriootpa where temperatures of 27 degrees F.were recorded. The vast damage to the vines, fruitand crops prompted the Angaston and NuriootpaBranches to form a committee of all members in1895 in order to fight the frost with smoke fires onhigh risk nights.

Conferences proved to be enormously popular,and more were added to the annual calendar. TheNorthern branches expanded to include FarNorthern branches as well. On 8 March 1895representatives from Carrieton, Pt Germein,Woolundunga, Davenport, Hawker, Cradock,Quorn, Richman's Creek and Arden Vale met atQuoin with Kelly, Lowrie, Perkins and Grasby fromthe Central Bureau.

The conference was opened by the Chairmanof the Quorn Branch, Mr Jno. Cook, then HenryKelly read a paper on Dairying and Creameries.

He explained the modern system of dairying,the benefits arising from the invention of the

centrifugal cream separator, the improvementsin churns and all dairying appliances, thediscovery of the bacilli beneficially affecting thesouring of maturation of cream, their isolation,and cultivation for the use of dairying after thesterilization of the milk and cream, thusdestroying the ferments which injuriously affectthe aroma, flavor, and general good quality ofthe manufactured product. (Garden and Field,September 1895, p. 99.)

In the ensuing debate, Mr R. W. Foster spoke ofthe good done by the butter export bonus, andadvised farmers that England had an almostunlimited market for Australian butter. Mr W. J.Gleeson of the Carrieton Branch reiterated hisstatement about the selling of wheat made at theprevious Congress, and his disappointment thatit was still not graded and sold according toquality. Mr M. Searle of the Arden Vale Branchread a paper on vermin destruction followed byan address by Perkins on How to fill up blanks inthe Vineyard. He showed three separate systemsby means of layering, using blackboard sketchesto illustrate the discussion.

The afternoon session commenced with a paperfrom Mr J. McColl, Secretary of Richman's CreekBranch, on experimental wheat growing. Hepointed out the necessity for wheats that willgrow in dry seasons, which the district frequentlyexperienced, and early ripening varieties. Of the14 varieties he had planted in the past season, hefelt that Budd's Rust-resistant and Allora showedmost promise and were worthy of further trial.Lowrie spoke on dairying, and then Mr N. Rogersof the Woolundunga Branch read his paperfrom the previous year on summer-pruning, con-cluding it was an unsuitable practice for theirarea. Mr C. Pearce of the Arden Vale Branchdiscussed water conservation, and the conferencefinished on the rather low note of The PresentDepression, a paper read by Mr A. Dixon in theabsence of Mr J. L. Watson of the WoolundungaBranch. The worst causes were listed as "overproduction, dependence on export markets,competition from producers much nearer ourchief markets, the evils of the credit system, andobs t ruc t ions between the p roduce r andconsumer." (Garden and Field, September 1895,p. 100.) It could almost have been written today.

A Mid-North conference was held at Petersburgon 27-28 March 1895, Krichauff, Molineux, Lowrieand Perkins met with 29 Bureau members fromCherry Gardens, Redhill, Narridy, Gladstone,Jamestown, Gumeracha, Dawson, Yacka, Appila-Yarrowie, Qrroroo, Woodside and Petersburg, and

approximately 250 ladies and gentlemen. Itincluded a trial of winnowers on the first day. MayBros entered a new machine, and Mr J. T. Pascoeworked on a two year old machine made byBagshaw and Son. After observing both for half anhour, 13 of the local farmers offered their opinions,voting in favour of the Bagshaw winnower by eightto five. The competition was closer than this mayseem: between them the judges awarded 1080points and 1068 points respectively.

In the evening Krichauff read an abstract froma bulletin issued by the US Department of Agricul-ture concerning tuberculosis in cattle. It wasrecommended that any cattle discovered sufferingfrom this disease should be separated from theother animals at once and the milk from suchanimals should not be used in any way. As Perkinswas present, he addressed the meeting uponvinegrowing in the North, but had little hope forcommercial vineyards in the area due to thelimited rainfall. Then Mr H. Williamson read apaper on summer fodders. Ensilage was recom-mended, but he felt live crops were preferable fordairy cows whenever available.

The following day members inspected exhibitsof local produce before settling down to hearseveral more papers. The Chairman of the OrrorooBranch, Mr Jas Jamieson, began by discussing theproblem on every wheatgrower's mind that year,How Shall We Live and Pay our Way? With pricesfalling much faster than costs, this was becomingmore and more of a problem, and the only answerlay in economising and developing new sourcesof income, such as butter, eggs and bacon. Theideas were elaborated by Molineux in a paper,Wasted Substances and Neglected Opportunities.Again, he advised that co-operation amongstfarmers would ease their situation. By establishingthe minor industries of the farm, the supplemen-tary income would be useful and also make farmlife more attractive for all concerned. A great dealof discussion followed, with many suggestionsput forward by Bureau members. Mr J. Moody ofOrroroo then read a paper on bacon curing. Hebelieved the farmer was better off feeding wheatto pigs than accepting Is 6d per bushel as wascurrently being offered. According to him, 5 Ib ofwheat resulted in 1 Ib of pork, therefore a bushelwould give 12 Ib which at 3d per pound wouldbring 3s, clearly a much better deal. He went on todescribe the best way to cure pork: rub into themeat a mixutre of 12 Ib salt, 6 Ib dark sugar, V^lbcarbonate of potash or bicarbonate of soda, and2 oz saltpetre. Do this every day for a week, turningevery day, then eveiy second day for another.

39

Mr W. Cornish of Gumeracha was called uponto describe his experience of take-all, which hadfirst been observed on his farm about 39 yearspreviously. He found the best course of action toprevent the effects of this disease (namely, cropsdying off in patches), was early, wet fallowing andthen working the land as little as possible. Early,dry sowing was likely to result in take-alldestroying the crop. Lowrie proceeded with adiscussion on breeds of dairy cattle, and Mr R.Caldwell of the Woodside Branch continued witha paper on the dairying industry. Although pricesfor dairy products had dropped a little in recentyears, it was still a profitable business providedthe farmer managed his herd efficiently. Mr ThosDunsford of Narridy Branch then described themethods adopted by the English farmers, and theconference finished with a paper from Mr J. M.Cadzow of Orroroo on How to Increase Forage.He combined wheat growing with dairying, andfound that by using a sheaf binder to reap part ofhis crops early, the straw was a very useful fodder.

Having carried on dairying for years in connec-tion with wheat-growing, he thought that strawcould be used as fodder in place of burning iton the fields. Twenty years ago he cut the strawwith a mower, dragged it together with thehorse-rake, and cocked it, but it was dirty andpartly spoiled for general feeding purposes.When he stacked it he put a stable bucket of saltto each load of straw. Next year hay was scarce,and he chaffed most of the straw for his horses,and considered it equal to wild oaten hay chaff.The pressure of harvest work does not permitof getting straw together until it is next touseless for feeding purposes. The plan ofbreaking down the stubbles with harrows ordragging a rail over saturates the straw with soil,and stock will almost starve before they willtouch it. When dairying took such an impetushe used the sheaf-binder on 20 acres a weekbefore the crop was fit for the stripper. When itwas dry enough he stacked, and afterwardsthrashed it with the aid of an old stripper, beltedto horseworks. This was very satisfactory. Thegrain was better than that left for the stripper,and the straw was something between hay andstraw. Next year he sheaved 40 acres, left it instocks till March, and although about seveninches of rain fell during harvest, the grain wassuperior to that which stood unreaped till deadripe. It was not bleached, weighed 62 Ibs. perbushel, and there was double the amount ofscreenings under the winnower to what wasgot after the stripper. This Was a distinct gain,because these screenings could be crushed,

and fed to stock, instead of being scatteredbroadcast by the stripper, entailing no end oflabor and expense in afterwards clearing theland whilst the straw made excellent chaff, notbeing in the least musty. The stooks werecircular, 20 to 45 in number, the butts apart toallow air to circulate, and heads close together.These were practically safe from wind, hail, andfire. To thrash, he used an old Ramsay stripper,with patent beaters, shortened to take one sheafthrough. His son stood behind, and caved thestraw out with a pitch as fast as Mr Cadzow cutthe bands and fed to beaters, and a younger sondrove the horses. They could just put throughone good wagon-load per day. They stacked thestraw in the morning, thrashed the load,brought in another load for the following day,and winnowed when the whole thrashing wasthrough. There were about four tons of straw tothe load, which, at present low prices for hay,was worth £1 per ton. It should be chaffed forhorses or cows, but can be fed whole to storestock. (Garden and Field, September 1895,p. 103.)

Field trials were really the only way to test theusefulness of machinery. The Robertstown Branchrecognised this, and organised a trial of theMassey-Harris four-furrow plough on 10 May. Itproved to be very beneficial for local farmers tosee it in action, for they voted it the best ploughthey had seen for the clear, light soil of theirdistrict. A further field trial was held under thecombined auspices of the Northern Yorke Penin-sula branches at Mr A. Bussenschutt's farm atPaskeville on 11 December. Among the imple-ments tested were the ordinary stripper, dampweather stripper, winnowers and stringbinder.

At the suggestion of the Pine Forest Branch, apreliminary meeting of the North Yorke PeninsulaAgricultural Field Trial Society had been called on21 November 1894. The fruits of this discussionwere to be seen in Mr Norman's paddock nearBute on 31 July 1895 when the first Field Trial andStallion Show was held. In a history of the NorthYorke Peninsula Field Trial Society, Mr T Roddarecords the first committee of organisers:

President Mr R. W. BawdenVice-President Messrs E. Ebsary and J. M.

InglisSecretary Mr H. S. MackleyTreasurer Mr A. WightAuditors Messrs W. E. Millstead and T.

E. Yellandand the Chairmen of participating Branches.Their efforts were rewarded by the presence of

approximately 2,000 people. Krichauff, Molineux

40

and Kelly from the Central Bureau were there, aswell as members of the participating branches(Bute, Pt Broughton, Pine Forest, Paskeville,Arthurton and Nantawarra). To ensure it was anorderly affair and no gambling took place, policeprotection was provided. There were visitors fromKadina, Ardrossan, Redhill and the surroundingdistricts. Three-, four- and six-furrow ploughswere tested, the last mentioned being approvedby all. The following entries were submitted fortrial :-

3-furrow - Edwards, Hahndorf, Ballinger andLawry, J. Martin & Co., W. H.Sharman.

4-furrow - C. H. Smith, W. Blake, H. Alchurch,W. H. May

5-furrow - B. G. Axford (smith plough)6-furrow - C. H. Smith (awarded highest points

= 89V2)W. S. Sluggett (smith plough), W.Blake, W. Jones, W. H. May, J. H.Rosewarne.

37 horses were entered in addition to the 16ploughing teams.

A summer show was arranged in the first weekof December. Trials of binders, strippers,winnowers, thrashers, headers, and side-deliveryrakes were conducted. Then towards the end of1899, the Commissioner of Crown Lands awardedthe society its own permanent block of land - 119acres near Paskeville, rented at the nominal rateof 3d/acre. The North Yorke Peninsula Field Trialsare still a major event in the Agricultural Bureaucalendar and attract a huge crowd each year.

The Agricultural Bureau was concerned withdiversification in production and the improve-ment of current farming practices. Sometimes thiswas taken to great lengths, as in the suggestionsput before the Minlaton Branch by Mr R. Higgins.

It was only by thoughtful breeding, selection,and management, that our domestic animalshad been brought to such a state of perfection,and made necessary to our well-being. He needonly instance the woolled sheep, dairy cows,draught and other horses. They have improvedthe breeds of various animals indigenous toother parts of the world and he saw no reasonwhy we should not improve our own indige-nous animals, especially the Kangaroo. Hethought a great deal could be made out ofkangaroo farming, by carefully selecting thestock, and breeding from the best strains. Byproper management they would soon have agrand animal whose skin and flesh would be ingreat demand all over the world. He said flesh,

advisedly, as he firmly believed that the carefullybred kangaroo would compete with the bestvenison in any market and now that frozenmeat could be successfully exported to Englandand elsewhere there should be a grand futurefor our "venison". There would, of course, be aprejudice against the meat to overcome, but iftheir first impressions of mutton and beef werederived from the flavor of ten year old rams orbulls, would they enthuse over their succulentmerino chops or rump steak. The price ofkangaroo skins runs up to 2s lOd per Ib whilebest bullock skins vary from 3d to SVad. Couldthey not by careful selection, surgical attentionetc., almost double the weight of the skins andimprove the quality at the same time? There arenumerous islands and peninsulas in the colonyadmirably adapted for the establishment ofkangaroo ranches. The inferior males could becastrated, only the best developed being usedfor stud purposes, and by careful attention toother details of management as is given to thebreeding of cattle on well-managed cattlestations, the quality of the animals vastlyimproved both in flesh and hides. The kangaroois very prolific, hardy, readily adapts himself tocircumstances, and he could not see why aproperly managed kangaroo ranch should notpay handsome dividends to the enterprisingpromoter. (Garden and Field, September 1895,pp. 98-99.)Molineux had recommended the use of

Question Boxes in the branches to ensure livelydiscussion at meetings. The Mylor Branch was thefirst to implement this idea, and used it for their 2November 1895 meeting.

A brief resume of the questions and answerswas reported to the Central Bureau:

Q. What is best to grow for hay in this district?A. Oats and wheat.Q. At what time should it be sown?A. With the first rains.Q. What varieties should be sown?A. Algerian oats and Purple Straw wheat.Q. What is best for green feed and fit to cut

earliest?A. Barley and Oats. (Garden and Field, January

1896, p. 207.)

Many branches approved of this method forintroducing topics for discussion, placing theboxes in public places for both their own use andfor interested members of the public wishing togain particular information when attendingmeetings.

41

Sheaves fed into thresher at rear, and straw baled in the foreground, using steam power. Roseworthv AgriculturalCollege, c 1905.

Moves were afoot to establish a Fruitgrowers'Association at Angaston at this time. In August1893 Molineux had visited the branch to discusshow they might set up a co-operative. The organ-isers envisioned something along the lines of theSouth Australian Farmers' Co-operative Unionwhich had grown from its origins at Jamestownto a statewide concern. A committee wasappointed to look further into the matter, with thesuggestion that they might form a branch of theSouth Australian Gardener's Society. However, itwas not until December 1895 that an Associationwas finally formed to protect the interests ofgrowers and to market the fruit from the BarossaValley. It embodied the spirit of co-operation formutual benefit encouraged by the AgriculturalBureau, a quality to be found throughout thebranches of the Bureau.

The Minlaton Branch organised a farm compe-tition on 14 March 1896. The judges, Mr Kelly andMr Goode of the Central Bureau inspected farmswithin a 15 miles radius of the town. Theyconsidered

1. The general condition of the land, whether ithad been properly tilled, considering if it wasallowed to stand as bare fallow or used forsummer fodder.

2. The best kept and laid out garden, includingorchard, vineyard and vegetable patch, with

regard for natural conditions since not allfarms have suitable land for such areas.

3. The general condition of water supply bothfor domestic use and for stock, natural advan-tages taken into consideration.

4. The general condition of all stock, machineryand fences.

5. The laying out of paddocks, and conveniencefor working from the homestead.

6. The general condition of homes, outbuild-ings, stabling and yards.

Finally they awarded certificates to Mr T. KingofSandahvood, Brentwood, Mr H. Evans of Upland,Curramulka, and Mr A. McKenzie of Spring Farm,Minlaton

Another conference was added to the list on 19March 1896. Held at Tanunda, it was attended bydelegates from Angaston, Gawler River, Rivertonand Tanunda, plus several visitors, resulting in atotal gathering of 50 to 60 people. Lowrie, Sandfordand Molineux of the Central Bureau were present.

After some introductory remarks from Mr J. H.Walden, Chairman of the Tanunda Branch, Mr R.Player (Chairman of the Angaston Branch) read apaper on sheep-breeding. He stressed the impor-tance of keeping only good sheep, no matter howsmall the flock, and recommended the Merino asthe best all-round breed. This was followed by a

\2

paper on dairying by MrJ. Badman of Gawler river,then Mr E. S. Matthews of the Angaston Branchread a long paper criticising the judging carriedout at agricultural shows. This was refuted byMolineux, who claimed the judges deliberated atgreat length before coming to fair decisions. Thegeneral feeling was that agricultural shows wouldbe more useful if fewer were held; the profusionof small country shows was really of no advantageto anyone, and a great deal more could be achievedin the way of competition and exhibition if only afew larger shows were held each year. Lowrieprovided a practical paper on the subject of haygrowing. This was followed by a discussion of soilmoisture by Mr A. M. Dawkins of Gawler River anda paper sent by Perkins on the question of Matarogrape vines. Grapegrowers had been advised tograft their Mataro vines to Cabernet, but Perkinsfelt the answer lay in more, smaller wineries.South Australia could not hope to compete withEuropean wines on the international market untilthere were almost as many vinegrowers aswinemakers. Then each grower would understandall of the peculiarities of his produce and usethem to best advantage in winemaking. The dayended with report on the Codlin Moth inTasmania by the Rev. H. T. Hull.

The following day visitors were driven aroundto various places of interest in the district,including the Chateau Tanunda with its storageaccommodation for over one million gallons ofwine, and Seppeltsfield. Here the group inspectedthe labour-saving devices installed, many of whichhad been invented by Mr Benno Seppelt himself.

Over 40 people attended a conference of Hillsbranches on 8 December 1896. They came fromCherry Gardens, (the host branch), Clarendon,Upper Sturt, Meadows and Mylor to discuss topicsof mutual interest with Molineux and GeorgeQuinn, the codlin moth inspector.

The first paper, by Mr A. L. Morphett of theClarendon Branch, discussed fruit cultivation inthe Hills. He believed apples were ideal for thisarea, requiring no irrigation and fetching 13s to17s Gd/case on the London Market. Freight andpacking costs amounted to approximately 7s/caseat that time, and were expected to decrease byabout 6d in the near future. Even on the localmarket apples were sold at IDs/case. The mostpopular varieties were Rome Beauty andCleopatra; Mr Morphett had reservations aboutthe Jonathan apple, considering it best tried on asmall scale first. However, it did look like apromising variety since Jonathans from theAdelaide Hills could be sent to London before the

Tasmanian apples were ready to be picked. As wenow know, Jonathans have become one of themost popular varieties in South Australia.

The Hon. Sec. of the Cherry Gardens Branch, MrC. Ricks, then read a paper on Waste of Wealth,and How to Prevent it by means of Cooperation.He claimed that local producers could supply farmore in the way of dried and preserved fruits,hams, bacon etc. than they were at present for thehome market. Looking at the import figures forSouth Australia, he found that approximately£121,000 were paid by consumers for food thatcould easily be grown in the colony. A co-operativesociety could ensure that local farmers receivedfair prices for their produce, at the same timereducing the cost for consumers. A further savingwould be possible if the co-operative societybought fertilizers, implements etc, wholesale anddistributed them cheaply among members.

The next paper, Best Breed of Cattle for DairyPurposes, was delivered by Mr E. Giles of theClarendon Branch. He agreed with the Agricul-tural Bureau policy of introducing good bulls toimprove the herd, and reminded his audience ofthe importance of good feed to ensure goodproduction. The day ended with a discussion ofcommercial manures by Mr W. Nicholls of theMylor Branch.

It was around this time that farmers began usingbluestone to pickle wheat. They found that graintreated in this way usually produced crops free ofbunt, one of the main diseases decreasing yield.As poor seasons added up, any methods ofimprovement were sought. To ensure the fertil-izers used were available to benefit the seed,farmers gradually began drilling small amounts inwith the seed. This technique gained acceptance,and is standard practice today. The Pine ForestBranch reported average wheat yields of 2V2bushels/acre in the Bews area for the 1895/96harvest. The Pt Broughton/Pine Forest SpringProduce Show was abandoned because there waslittle to show for the season's work. Farmers hadto do all they could to increase yields in the faceof the capricious elements. A useful tip was offeredto the Yorketown Branch by Mr J. Koth in March1896. He informed his contemporaries of a methodof protecting fence posts from white ants withsalt.

He had made a study of the habits of white ants(termites), and had found that they neverattacked posts set up in salt swamps. He,therefore, adopted the practice of putting ashovelful of salt in each hole when filled towithin six inches of the surface, and then filling

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Horses were of majorimportance to the fannerbefore motor powerbecame available.

up with soil. When rain falls it dissolves the salt,which impregnates the soil around the posts,and the termites, or white ants, refrain fromattacking posts so treated. Telegraph posts andall timber could be protected in a similarmanner. He strongly recommended farmerswho had salt lakes on their holdings to soaktheir posts in the lake for twelve months beforeusing them, when the extra salting in the postholes would not be necessary. He had beeninformed that the posts for a stockyard, madeof red gum have been dressed with tar, but thewhite ants soon attacked them. He then paintedthe posts with strong brine, which had the effectof driving the insects away. (Garden and Field,April 1896, p. 273.)The Journal of the Agricultural Bureau was used

more and more by Bureau members as a meansof communicating with other branches. A seedexchange column was suggested, and in 1896branches sent in their remedies for common stockdiseases.

Particular care had to be taken of horses — thefarmer relied on them to put in crops, the pastor-alist for transport to round up his stock. Mr J. H.Dunn read a paper to the Johnsburg Branch onthe proper care of horses. Since the shoulders areunder great strain in working horses, he proposedthe following preventative measures and cure:

To prevent sore sholders - Have a well fittingcollar, keep both shoulders and collar clean,and, above all, feed the horse according to thework he has to do. By feeding properly, thewaste of tissue caused by work will be repaired,and the sore shoulders will rarely occur. Some

horses, especially if free, are liable to scald onthe shoulder upon being put to work after aspell. To prevent this, it is a good plan to eithersmear the face of the collar or shoulders withcommon soap previously soaked in water forseveral hours. This will work into the leather,and so lubricate the shoulders that they will notbe injured by the friction of the collar. Of course,it must be cleaned off the next day.

To cure sore shoulders — Should a blister benoticed, at once clip off all hair surrounding it,adjust the draught if possible so as to removepressure from that particular spot. It is a goodplan to cut a slit in a bran bag large enough topass over the horses head, and to fit the necknicely, so as to be between the shoulders andcollar. Should a bad wound, nevertheless, occur,cut a hole in the collar, and fill with horsehair,as previously recommended. Should sore shoul-ders occur through boils, ten drops of tinctureof arsenic is a good thing, but the main cure, aswell as prevention, is to drive carefully, as welland regularly. A horse should not be drivenmore than four or five hours without food.(Garden and Field, November 1896, p. 150.)

The following remedies were put before thePetersburg Branch by Mr R. McPherson andprinted in the Journal:

Windy Colic or Gripes, stoppage of the bowels.- Spirits of ammonia, 11/2 oz; laudanum, 2 oz;ginger, li/z oz; 1 quart hot ale; hot water appliedto the abdomen, and if any injecting syringe isat hand (which every farmer should possess)large quantities of water at a temperature of 100

degrees should be injected and will in mostcases give relief.Ointment for wounds, etc. - Beeswax, 4oz; lard,8oz; resin, 4oz; honey, 2oz; mix and boil slowly;while boiling add 1 pint spirits of turpentine;stir until cool. Splendid ointment for sore shoul-ders, sore backs, cuts or bruises. (Garden andField, November 1896, p. 149.)

Members of the Dawson Branch suggested:Inflammation of the Bladder or Kidneys. - ByMr Dowden - Give laudanum, 1 oz, raw linseedoil 1 pint. Foment the loins with hot cloths,using a little turps in the hot water to preventcold or chills. Cover with warm rugs or a freshsheepskin . . .Sprains. - By Mr Renton - Mix and rub in well,twice a day, pulverised bay salt, 8oz, crude salammoniac, 2 oz, sugar of lead, V4oz, vinegar,1V2 pints.Mange or Itch. - Take common sulphur, 6 oz;train oil, 1 pint; spirits of turpentine, 3 oz. Mixwell, and rub in with flannel or a painter's brush.(Garden and Field, December 1896, p. 179.)

A salt lick commonly used in the South-Eastwas made of a mixture of 10 Ib pulverised sulphateof iron in 100 Ib of common salt.

The Millicent Branch held its first "Grange"meeting in November 1896. It was to act as anauxiliary of the Agricultural Bureau, encouragingwomen to make rural home life more interestingand comfortable. They swapped recipes for bushsoap, toilet soap, candles, starch, jams, crystallisedand bottled fruits, dried fruit and vegetable, etc. Itwas a useful source of information about how todeal with the new vegetables and fruit introducedby the Agricultural Bureau through experimentalseeds.

The 1896-97 season was a severe drought. ADistressed Farmers' Relief Fund was set up, andthose Bureau members who could contributedgenerously. Reports describing conditions camein from all over South Australia. Horses were dyingof starvation, and stockowners in the Woolun-dunga area cut down tress to feed their animals.Farmers needed more hardy fodders to stand upto these sorts of seasons. Saltbush looked as if itmight be the answer and Molineux advised theBalaklava Branch that "seed of saltbush, if carefullycovered in the autumn, will generally germinatereadily, though best results are obtained by sowingin prepared beds, and transplanting in the spring".(JAB, July 1897, p. 389.) Now more than ever before,the Agricultural Bureau was needed as a means of

disseminating information to help farmers makea living in this harsh land.

It was a bad year for fruitgrowers in the South-East, as well. The codlin moth infestation of thisarea had reached mammoth proportions. So badlywere apples affected, that farmers fed them tocows since there was no market for them. Orangeround scale was causing trouble, too, and MrQuinn suggested a resin wash for infested trees.This is made from 10 oz common resin, 10 Ib sodacrystals and 5 Ib soft soap boiled together anddiluted to make 50 gallons of the mixture.

Despite these problems, the export market forfruit was growing as Australian produce gained areputation in Britain. Mr E. Burney Young,Manager of the London Produce Depot reportedthat 10,000 cases of South Australian apples, pears,grapes, and quinces had been sold in Londonduring the season. Of the apples, Cleopatras hadproved to be the most popular, realising 20s,whereas Jonathans had brought only 12s sincethey were such bad travellers.

In order to deal with their difficulties, Agricul-tural Bureau members searched for newtechnology and knowledge to improve farmingpractices. They believed one of the answers lay inthe new seed and fertiliser combined drills. Bydrilling in seed together with fertiliser, they hopedto increase yields. They favoured this method overbroadcasting because:

l.The seed is put in at an even depth and atregular intervals;

2. If manure is used it goes in with the seed, andis ready to nourish the seedling at once;

3. The drill acts as a cultivator;4. There is a large saving in the quantity of seed,

and much less seed is malted, owing to itsbeing better covered. (Garden and Field, June1897, p. iii.)

Trials were held all over the state to determinewhether the outlay involved in buying newmachinery was worthwhile. On 7 April the CrystalBrook Branch held a trial on the farm of theirChairman, Mr W. J. Venning. An enthusiasticresponse was evoked, followed by much discus-sion among local farmers. Then in May thePetersburg and Mt Pleasant Branches tested theFarmers' Favourite drill. Mr J. King of Gladstoneclaimed that he could sow 15-18 acres per daywith the new drill, which was a little slower thanbroadcasting. The quantities of fertiliser (usuallyThomas phosphate) recommended varied (at thistime Thomas phosphate cost approximately£4 9s/ton compared to bonedust at £414s/ton

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*

The combined drill used to put fertiliser in with seed.

and 6s 6oVton for Kangaroo Island guano) from3/4 to 2 cwt per acre. The Murray Bridge Branchalso held a trial, this one on the farm of Mr J. G.Nicolai; again the onlookers were pleased with theresults, surprised at how well the Farmers'Favourite managed the rough ground. (Trials werealso held at Kapunda, Tatiara, Mt Gambier, Yankal-illa and then at Bute on 11 August under theauspices of the North Yorke Peninsula Field TrialSociety.)

Due to the increasing scope of the Departmentof Agriculture, the Journal of the AgriculturalBureau was replaced by a larger publication, nolonger a supplement to The Garden and Field.The new magazine was called The Journal ofAgriculture and Industry and was to be the officialorgan of the Department. Free copies would stillbe sent to all Bureau members, and others couldacquire copies at a cost of 5s per annum. The firstedition came out in August 1897. It still containedreports of Bureau meetings, and also includedgenera] seasonal notes contributed by departmentexperts, and illustrations to help farmers identifynoxious weeds.

As is often the case in farming, one's misfortuneis another's salvation. The 1897 wheat crops failedin the Northern Hemisphere, causing world pricesto increase. Although South Australia had another

dry year, the wheat available for export fetchedhigh prices, 5s 2d - 5s 4 Vzd per bushel at PtAdelaide. Best roller-flour sold for £12 15s - £13 5s.Uournal of Agriculture and Industry, September1897, p. 142, hereafter referred to as JAI.I Theprevious year farmers were lucky to get 4s 6d perbushel for wheat at Port Adelaide.

In comparison, the following figures for keeping10 cows and 1 bull were provided by Mr A.Bairstow, Chairman of the Narridy Branch. As aconservative estimate, he suggested that each cow,in milk for nine months of the year, would bring3s/week or a total of £54/annum for the herd.From this, £6 5s must be extracted for rent on 100acres and £3715s wages "for a girl and otherexpenses". This left a profit of about £10/annum.

As the tenth anniversary of the AgriculturalBureau of South Australia drew near, Molineuxcould look back at his work with pride. In its firstdecade the Bureau had become firmly establishedas an important link between the agriculturalexperts and the men on the land. Many innova-tions of scientists had been introduced to farmersthrough this organisation. All fields of agricultureand horticulture had advanced during this period;none more so than wheat growing, which remainsone of South Australia's most important indus-tries. New methods of seeding and harvesting had

46

been introduced, and superphosphate was beingused in large amounts. Farmers had beenpersuaded to diversify, and many more now ran afew sheep, kept dairy cows and laying hens, andgrew vegetables and fruit for their own consump-tion. Gradually these sidelines were developedto provide a supplementary income as farmers

realised they could not rely on wheat for their soleincome. Branches of the Agricultural Bureauorganised field days and conferences to includeother local farmers in their program andencourage them to adopt more efficient farmingmethods to increase production.

The Agricultural Bureauof South Australia

1888-1948

Diamond Jubileeof the formation of the Agricultural Bureau

and the

55th Annual Congress >

6th, 7th and 8th September,

1948

The cover of the first Journal of Agriculture and Industry, designed in1897 by Mr Fred Coleman of the Saddleworth Branch (and member ofthe Advisory Board of Agriculture/, was used again for the 1948Congress Programme.

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